Degen Named UC Vice President for Research

Sandra Degen, PhD, has been appointed vice president for research at the University of Cincinnati, pending approval by the UC Board of Trustees.

Dr. Degen has served as acting vice president for research since September 2004. She was selected after completion of a national search.

Reporting directly to Jane Henney, MD, senior vice president and provost for health affairs, Dr.Degen is responsible for the oversight and strategic development of the university’s research mission, which last year received more than $332 million in funding. She also is responsible for supervision of research compliance, technology transfer, entrepreneurial affairs and sponsored programs.

“After an exhaustive search, we determined that the best person for this vital position was already with us,” Dr. Henney said. “Sandra has been a very active researcher and has skillfully undertaken the many administrative functions given her. She is the perfect person to continue leading the university’s broad research initiatives as outlined in the UC|21 strategic plan and further nurture the burgeoning UC research environment.”

Recent rankings by the National Science Foundation places UC 22nd in federal research expenditures among all public universities.

Dr. Degen is professor of pediatrics and associate chair for academic affairs in the UC College of Medicine’s department of pediatrics. For the last five years she has served in the provost’s office as associate senior vice president for health affairs.

After receiving a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Washington, Dr. Degen completed two years of postdoctoral work at the Friedrich Miescher Institute, Basel, Switzerland. She joined the faculty and staff of the College of Medicine and Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation in 1985.

A Pew Scholar in the biomedical sciences, Dr. Degen's scientific interests include the biological function of the blood coagulation agent prothrombin, as well as a protein identified in her lab that is involved in growth control. She has enjoyed continuous grant support since she received her first academic position. Dr. Degen holds two patents and has one pending for her discoveries.

Her many honors include an Established Investigatorship from the American Heart Association, membership of the Hematology II Study Section at the National Institutes of Health, and participation in the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program. She recently was awarded the 2005 Special Recognition Award in Thrombosis from the American Heart Association.

Dr. Degen currently serves on the board of directors for BIO/START, a Cincinnati biotech business incubator, and TechSolve, a Cincinnati-based company which works to enhance the competitiveness of manufacturing and technology businesses.