Dear Members of the Brown Community,

Following the recent announcement that Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences Dr. Jack A. Elias will transition to a new role as senior advisor for health affairs, I am writing to share news regarding the search process for his successor.

The Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences is the strategic and academic leader of medical education and biomedical research at Brown University. The dean oversees Brown’s Division of Biology and Medicine, which encompasses campus-based biology departments and the Warren Alpert Medical School. The dean also manages the Alpert Medical School’s relationships with its affiliated hospitals and provides intellectual leadership for research by clinical faculty at affiliated hospitals. The individual in this position reports to the University president and provost.

Provost Richard M. Locke will chair the search committee and has engaged the firm Spencer Stuart to support the search. The committee will be composed of the following members representing students, faculty and staff:

• Stephen Beswick-Bozier, Medical Student
• Angela Caliendo, Professor and Executive Vice Chair of the Department of Medicine at Warren Alpert Medical School, and President of Brown Physicians, Inc.
• Wafik El-Deiry, Professor of Medical Science, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Associate Dean for Oncologic Sciences, Director of the Cancer Center at Brown University and Director of the Joint Program in Cancer Biology at Brown University and affiliated hospitals
• Ashish K. Jha, Dean of the School of Public Health and Professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice
• Diane Lipscombe, Professor of Science, Professor of Neuroscience and Director of the Robert J. and Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science
• Idowu Olugbade, Medical Student
• Patricia Poitevien, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Clinician Educator, and Assistant Dean for the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs
• Sohini Ramachandran, Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Computer Science, Director of the Data Science Initiative and Director of the Center for Computational Molecular Biology
• Louis Rice, Professor of Medicine, Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, and Chair of the Department of Medicine
• Mae Staples, Graduate Student
• Kimani C. Toussaint, Professor of Engineering and Senior Associate Dean in the School of Engineering
• Methodius Tuuli, Professor and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Elizabeth Doherty, Deputy Provost for Academic Affairs, will staff the search committee.

Members of the Brown community will have opportunities to engage in the search process as we move forward. Thank you for your continued commitment to Brown’s efforts in elevating the biological sciences and medicine.

Sincerely,

Christina H. Paxson
President