Gregory A. Storch, M.D., has been named director of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Pediatrics and the first Ruth L. Siteman Professor of Pediatrics at the School of Medicine.
The endowed professorship, given by Alvin J. and Ruth Siteman, will support leadership in pediatric infectious diseases.
“We are most grateful to Al and Ruth Siteman for their generous support of the Department of Pediatrics and pediatric infectious diseases, a field which has eliminated so much childhood disease through vaccine development and early recognition and therapy,” said Alan L. Schwartz, M.D., Ph.D., the Harriet B. Spoehrer Professor and chair of pediatrics, professor of molecular biology and pharmacology at the School of Medicine and pediatrician in chief at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
“The inaugural recipient, Greg Storch, is a nationally renowned scholar, teacher and clinician in pediatric infectious diseases as well as a superior citizen of the School of Medicine and St. Louis Children’s Hospital.”
The professorship is part of the St. Louis Children’s Hospital/Washington University School of Medicine Joint Program in Pediatric Chairs, which set a goal to have 12 new pediatric professorships by 2008.
“This is the latest endowed chair in the 10-year-old program in which St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine have developed for revered pediatric leaders,” Schwartz said.
“I am deeply honored to be appointed to the Siteman chair because of the tremendous contribution that the Siteman family has made to the University, particularly in the area of cancer care, which is very meaningful to me personally,” Storch said.
Storch, professor of pediatrics, of medicine and of molecular microbiology, will continue in his role as director of the Division of Laboratory Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics. He also is director of the virology and bacteriology laboratories.
Storch is internationally recognized as an expert in virology and the molecular identification of new and emerging pathogens. He is medical director of Project ARK, or AIDS/HIV Resources and Knowledge, the St. Louis program for mothers and children with HIV/AIDS that has received national recognition. His research interests are in developing molecular diagnostic tests for viral infections and other unconventional pathogens as well as in pediatric HIV.
He also served as chairman for two years of the School of Medicine’s Executive Committee of the Faculty Council, the highest elected position among the more than 1,500 medical school faculty. For that committee, Storch organized a faculty retreat that took place in November 2003 and chaired the Retreat Implementation Committee, whose work led to the development of new standards for appointments and promotions at the School of Medicine.
“We are indebted to Al and Ruth Siteman for their generosity, which effectively endows our vision of clinical excellence throughout St. Louis Children’s Hospital,” said Lee F. Fetter, president and senior executive officer of Children’s Hospital. “Greg Storch is a wonderful choice to fulfill this role, given his outstanding record of expertise within many of our clinical specialties and contributions that have advanced the medical field.”
Storch came to the School of Medicine in 1973 as an intern and resident at Jewish Hospital. He then worked for the Epidemic Intelligence Service office of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and returned to the School of Medicine in 1978 as a clinical and research fellow in infectious diseases.
He joined the faculty in 1981 as an assistant professor of pediatrics.
Storch serves on the editorial board of Clinical Microbiology Reviews and is a reviewer for several other medical journals. He serves as faculty adviser for the STATS (Students Teaching AIDS to Students) Program and was formerly co-faculty master of the Cori Society.
Storch also served a three-year term as an elected director of the Harvard University Alumni Association and is the representative for former house staff members of the Executive Council of the Washington University Medical Center Alumni Association. He has been listed numerous times in the Best Doctors in America.
St. Louisans Alvin J. and Ruth Siteman have given generously to the Medical Center over the years. In 1999, they committed $35 million to Barnes-Jewish Hospital and the University to advance cancer research and treatment in what became the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center.
The Sitemans are are Life Patrons of the William Greenleaf Eliot Society. They also established the Phillip L. Siteman Professorship in Marketing at the Olin School of Business in 1985 to honor his father. Alvin received the Dean’s Medal for exceptional dedication and service to the business school in 1994 and the Robert S. Brookings Award that same year for furthering the alliance between the University and its community. He also established the Alvin J. Siteman Cerebrovascular Research Fund.