Cushion Appointed Senior Associate Dean for Research

Dean Thomas Boat, MD, has appointed Melanie Cushion, PhD, senior associate dean for research, effective Sept. 1. Cushion, a professor of internal medicine, will create a team to oversee all research areas and doctoral training programs within the college.

Additionally, she will preside over the College of Medicine Research Council; oversee grants acquisition and management; direct the graduate component of the Medical Scientist Training Program; work closely with research leadership across the university and with its clinical and research partners and oversee core research facilities. "An important priority for Dr. Cushion will be to increase grant submissions, awards and extramural funding from all sources,” Boat said.

Cushion replaces Stephen Strakowski, MD, who stepped down earlier this month as senior associate dean for research to become senior vice president of strategic planning and business development at UC Health. He continues as the Dr. Stanley and Mickey Kaplan Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience.