Evan D. Kharasch, M.D., Ph.D., has been named interim vice chancellor for research, effective July 20.
Edward S. Macias, Ph.D., provost, executive vice chancellor for academic affairs and the Barbara and David Thomas Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences, made the announcement.
Kharasch
“I want to thank Ed Macias for moving so quickly to identify such an outstanding candidate,” said Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. “We are pleased to be able to appoint Evan Kharasch to this position. Professor Kharasch is a highly respected faculty member with a laudable record of achievement in research. His major contributions in translational anesthesiology demonstrate that he is tuned in both to the intricacies of basic science and to its practical application. He is very well prepared to encourage interdisciplinary research initiatives throughout the University.”
Kharasch, the Russell D. and Mary B. Shelden Professor of Anesthesiology and professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, succeeds Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D., who left June 30 to accept an appointment as president of the State University of New York Stony Brook. Stanley had been vice chancellor for research since 2006, when he took over the position following Theodore J. Cicero, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and of anatomy and neurobiology.
“Following the announcement of Sam Stanley’s departure, I e-mailed the entire faculty and consulted widely to seek nominations for an interim appointment,” Macias said. “Many potential candidates were contacted to determine their interest, interviews were conducted and an extended version of the advisory committee that chose Sam Stanley was consulted on the applicant pool. Professor Kharasch was selected as a top candidate, and it pleases me that he has agreed to take on this significant role.”
As interim vice chancellor for research, Kharasch will be an officer of the University and a member of the University Council.
“It is a privilege and honor to serve this great University and its research mission,” Kharasch said. “I appreciate the confidence of Chancellor Wrighton, Provost Ed Macias and the members of the team who advised him.”
As interim vice chancellor, Kharasch will be the chief officer responsible for the University’s research mission, overseeing an enterprise that generates more than $500 million for sponsored research from an array of funding sources. He will become the institutional official responsible for all compliance programs that oversee the University community’s adherence to guidelines governing laboratory animal care and use and research involving human volunteers.
His areas of oversight also will include the development of research policies, management of grants and contracts, the continuing education of faculty and staff regarding research regulations, issues related to conflict of interest and research integrity and intellectual property and technology transfer.
“Research at Washington University is an extraordinary enterprise with local, national and global impact. I look forward to working with our deans, department heads and wonderfully talented faculty to support their efforts and foster excellence in all our research endeavors,” Kharasch said.
Kharasch has directed the Department of Anesthesiology’s Division of Clinical and Translational Research since 2005, when he came to WUSTL from the University of Washington in Seattle. In 2007, he was named to the Shelden Professorship. His own research interests include basic, translational and clinical pharmacology, with an emphasis on mechanisms and clinical aspects of drug disposition, interactions, toxicity and pharmacogenetics, toward a better understanding of individual differences in responses to drugs and optimized therapy.
“Assuring that the policies and procedures associated with our research enterprise remain robust and effective is an important responsibility for the vice chancellor for research, and I am confident that Professor Kharasch will continue the wonderful work done by Sam Stanley and Ted Cicero before him,” Wrighton said. “He is committed to serving the University and all of its faculty and will be an important advocate for our research mission. I look forward to working with him as a member of the leadership team.”