After a search that lasted more than two and a half years, the University announced Wednesday that Dr. Eli Adashi will become dean of biology and medicine on Jan. 18.
Adashi, professor and chair of the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center, will replace Interim Dean Dr. Richard Besdine, who has served since the departure of now-emeritus Dean Dr. Donald Marsh in July 2002.
A 1973 graduate of the Sackler School of Medicine of Tel Aviv University in Israel, Adashi began his U.S. career at the New England Medical Center in Boston. His impressive record in research and administration includes founding Utah's Ovarian Cancer Program at the Huntsman Cancer Research Institute.
Adashi told The Herald he will be leaving his career as a prolific researcher behind in Utah. "I gave it a lot of thought - I think it's probably time to let it go and focus on the full plate that is in front of us," he said.
But he said expanding research opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and medical students will be "a top priority."
"My sense is that an overall enhancement of the (research) enterprise will increase the opportunities for all involved," he said. Attracting new research grants will be a component of his plan.
Adashi said what attracted him to Brown was "not the region per se. It's really the opportunity at Brown - you might say the challenge that the position offers and just a sense that the time is right, that all sorts of possibilities are rising and we can all capitalize on those." In particular, Brown's heavy investment in facilities, research and faculty under the Plan for Academic Enrichment will allow for a strengthening of the overall medical and biology programs, he said. Also, the current stability in the ownership and administration of Brown's affiliated teaching hospitals will provide an opportunity to build bridges among the hospitals.
"There was a time when the health care market was very volatile, individuals were turning over, hospitals were changing hands. Much of that stabilized for the foreseeable future and makes it a strong environment for moving forward," he said.
Adashi built the research program at Utah Health Sciences Center into a magnet for research funding for the National Institutes of Health, among others. The OB/GYN department there moved from 32nd to a consistent fixture in the top 10 among institutions that receive NIH money and has received as much as $5 million a year in grants.
Adashi also said he hopes to build upon the momentum to build the Program in Public Health into a professional school of its own - Brown's second, along with the Medical School.
