Dr. Kenneth Pienta has been appointed as associate vice president for research, health sciences, effective Jan. 1, and pending approval by the Board of Regents at its next meeting.
Pienta, whose appointment was announced last week by Vice President for Research Stephen Forrest, is a professor of internal medicine and urology as well as director of Experimental Therapeutics at the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology in the School of Medicine. He also has previously served as associate dean for clinical and health research at the school.
As AVP, Pienta will serve as liaison between the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) and the schools, colleges, institutes and centers involved in scholarly and creative activities in the health sciences and related disciplines and professions.
A senior member of the OVPR administrative team, he will help orchestrate major initiatives in the health sciences, deal with policy issues, oversee selected research units reporting to OVPR, and work with U-M’s Washington, D.C., office to promote the broad health sciences research agenda.
Internationally recognized as a leader in prostate cancer research and translational science, Pienta not only is engaged in basic scientific discovery but also in the translation of his research to patient care.
A graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, he joined the U-M faculty in 1994 as an associate professor of medicine and surgery. He is the author of more than 270 peer-reviewed articles and has been the principal investigator on numerous clinical trials. He serves currently as president of the Society for Clinical and Translational Science.
Pienta will succeed Dr. James Shayman, professor of internal medicine and pharmacology, who is returning to full-time faculty responsibilities.
