Promotions to Full Professor on the Charles River and Medical Campuses
From Dr. Jean Morrison, University Provost and Chief Academic Officer
and Dr. Karen Antman, Dean of the School of Medicine and Medical Campus Provost
On behalf of President Brown, we are delighted to announce the promotion of eight members of our Charles River Campus faculty and eight members of our Medical Campus faculty to Full Professor at Boston University.
Through seminal scholarship, field-defining exploration, and passion for the transmission of knowledge, these exceptional faculty members have emerged as leaders, both in their respective areas of research and in their classrooms. They are merging disciplines to discover solutions to some of our most pressing challenges, producing foundational writings that help to evolve our understanding of the world, and working to inspire a new generation of young scholars and professionals. In doing so, they help to demonstrate each day the true depth of Boston University’s talented academic community. We are proud to count them as members of our faculty and pleased that they have reached this significant milestone here at BU:
Rutao Cui, MED, Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics and Dermatology, specializes in cancer biology, focusing both on the molecular basis of melanoma development and potential treatments. He is Director of the BUSM Laboratory of Melanoma Research in Cancer Pharmacology and his department’s Vice-Chair for Laboratory Administration. An internationally recognized researcher, he has published numerous articles in top field journals and has served on seven NIH Study Sections, as well as on research review committees in six countries, including China, Israel, Iceland, and the United Kingdom.
Paul Duprex, MED, Microbiology, specializes in examining the pathogenesis and spread of viruses, centering much of his research on rational vaccine design, the evolution of viruses, and diseases that can be passed between animals and humans. Recognized internationally for interdisciplinary and highly translational work, he serves as Director of Cell and Tissue Imaging in the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory and has published extensively in premier journals on virology and neuropathology.
Noyan Gokce, MED, Medicine (Cardiology), specializes in the study and treatment of obesity and cardiovascular disease and the effect of adipose tissue on vascular biology. Consistently rated among the top researchers and teachers in his field, he serves as Director of Echocardiography at Boston Medical Center, chairs the NIH Section on Translational Research in Diabetes and Obesity, and has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He has authored dozens of articles in top journals, is a past NIH Research Career Development Award winner, and has twice received the Cardiology Section’s Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award.
Haiyan Gong, MED, Ophthalmology and Anatomy & Neurobiology, specializes in the study and treatment of glaucoma, focusing on the disease’s underlying mechanism in the eye. She is considered among the leading experimental morphologists and cell biologists in her field, having developed a technique to examine the structure and function of the aqueous outflow system – an advance that assists in the testing of potential new drugs and surgical devices. The recipient of numerous NIH grants, she has authored dozens of articles in top field publications and serves on the editorial board of two international journals.
Dirk Hackbarth, Questrom, Finance, specializes in corporate finance, creating and calibrating dynamic models applicable to capital structure, investment behavior, and mergers and acquisitions. A Dean’s Research Scholar and recipient of Questrom’s Distinguished Service Award, he is an Associate Editor of Management Science. He has earned considerable distinction in his field, authoring more than a dozen refereed articles in premier economics, management, and finance journals and delivering more than 150 invited talks at seminars and conferences.
Marc Howard, CAS, Psychological & Brain Sciences, investigates memory, developing new mathematical models and utilizing behavioral and computational tools to better understand the mechanisms of episodic and semantic memory. Recognized internationally among the top researchers in his discipline for bridging cognition and systems-level neuroscience, he has received numerous NSF grants to support his work, while his publications have been cited in more than 3,200 research articles.
Marc Lenburg, MED, Medicine and Pathology & Laboratory Medicine; ENG, Bioinformatics, specializes in the use of genomic technology and translational bioinformatics to detect and treat lung cancer, emphysema, and COPD. He has developed computational methods for a commercially available gene-expression biomarker used in the clinical care of patients with suspected lung cancer. Frequently cited among his field’s leading innovators, he has published extensively in leading journals and serves as deputy director of the Bioinformatics Core of BU’s Clinical & Translational Science Institute and as the Academic Editor for PLoS One.
Pushkar Mehra, GSDM, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, specializes in the surgical treatment of obstructive sleep apnea, maxillofacial pathology, nerve repair, and complex functional and esthetic facial reconstruction. He serves as Chair of his department and as his school’s Associate Dean for Hospital Affairs, overseeing the clinical training of postdoctoral residents at Boston Medical Center. The author of more than 60 articles in medical and dental journals and textbooks, he is a Fellow of, and a Massachusetts delegate to, the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and serves on the Examination Committee of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
J. Pieter Noordzij, MED, Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, specializes in the medical and surgical management of disorders affecting the larynx and thyroid gland, including voice and swallowing disorders. His research on proton pump inhibitor therapy for laryngeal reflux is considered a landmark development in the treatment of non-specific laryngitis, and he has earned international recognition for research in hypocalcemia after thyroidectomy. He is a past recipient of the Charles Vaughan Excellence in Teaching Award and the Didactic Teacher of the Year Award, both given by otolaryngology residents to a single faculty member.
Anatoli Polkovnikov, CAS, Physics, specializes in the study of non-equilibrium systems, merging atomic, molecular, optical, and condensed matter physics and quantum information science to better understand various properties of interacting many-particle systems. A leading trailblazer in his field, he has published dozens of widely cited papers in high-impact journals over the last five years, including Nature and PNAS, is actively funded by the NSF and Army Research Laboratory, and been named a Sloan Research Fellow and Simons Fellow in Theoretical Physics.
Björn Reinhard, CAS, Chemistry, specializes in plasmonics research, discovering new applications at the interface of nanotechnology and biological systems to help profile tumor cells, manipulate optical energy, and enhance our understanding of biological systems at the cellular level. An NSF CAREER Award recipient and frequent international speaker, he has served as PI or Co-PI on numerous major NSF, NIH, and Army Research Laboratory grants and has published dozens of articles in premier journals, with nearly 3,400 citations of his research.
Renee Spencer, SSW, Human Behavior in the Social Environment, specializes in the study of youth mentoring and the creation of innovative, effective approaches to improve outcomes for young people, parents and guardians. An active member on numerous national boards, she serves as Chair of her department, has published three book chapters and more than 40 widely-cited articles in top journals, and has received major grants supporting her research from a variety of federal institutions, including the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education.
Dimitrije Stamenovic, ENG, Materials Science and Biomedical Engineering, specializes in theoretical cell mechanics, focusing on the biomechanics of the lung, as well as on development of a pneumatic knee brace capable of relieving symptoms of osteoarthritis. He is considered among his field’s top teachers and collaborators and has secured substantial grant funding and a patent for his research, authored eight book chapters and more than 90 highly-cited journal articles, and received his department’s Teacher of the Year Award.
Karen Warkentin, CAS, Biology, specializes in evolutionary biology, examining the ability of organisms to adapt to variable environments through changes in behavior, physiology, and development. Credited with initiating an entirely new subfield of behavioral ecology known as “environmentally cued hatching,” she holds leadership roles in numerous scientific societies, has secured significant NSF grant funding to support her research, and has published dozens of articles in top journals bridging multiple disciplines.
Lauren Wise, SPH, Epidemiology, specializes in reproductive and perinatal epidemiology, focusing on the genetic and environmental determinants of uterine fibroids in African-American women, as well as on risk factors for delayed conception and adverse pregnancy outcomes. The author of dozens of publications in top journals, she has received numerous awards for her research, including the Young Investigator’s Award for Distinguished Research in Public Health by the Association of the Schools of Public Health Pfizer/ASPH and the 2013 Article of the Year award from the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Catherine Vance Yeh, CAS, Modern Languages & Comparative Literature, specializes in 19th and 20th century Chinese literary, media, and visual culture, exploring the social impact of entertainment culture and literature in late imperial and Republican era China. In addition to numerous articles, she has authored or translated four books exploring Chinese politics and entertainment, including The Chinese Political Novel: Migration of a World Genre (2015), Shanghai Love: Courtesans, Intellectuals, and Entertainment Culture, 1850-1910 (2012), and a forthcoming project on the use of female impersonators in Chinese theatre from the 1910s to 1930s.
Please join us in congratulating these wonderfully talented colleagues on their recent promotions and in wishing them success in their new positions. It is thanks in large part to their hard work and to yours that Boston University upholds its tradition of excellence and is on track to remain a research and teaching leader for many years to come.
Promotions to Full Professor on the Charles River and Medical Campuses – 2.17.16