Etty “Tika” Benveniste, Ph.D., has been named the senior vice dean for Basic Sciences at UAB School of Medicine by Selwyn M. Vickers, M.D., F.A.C.S., senior vice president for Medicine and dean of the UAB School of Medicine.
Benveniste previously served as senior associate dean for Research Administration and Development. Under her new title, she will be responsible for the strategic recruitment of all basic scientists in both Joint Health Sciences and clinical departments. This will require her to develop and to implement a formal process to ensure an appropriate level of SOM integration into the departments' recruitment process. Her office will also assume responsibility for the oversight and management of the majority of the Institutional Cores at UAB. This will involve assessing the Cores and forward thinking about new technologies needed by SOM faculty to stay at the forefront of biomedical sciences.
Benveniste, an international expert on the biologic pathways linking the nervous and immune systems, came to UAB in 1986 as an assistant professor in the Department of Neurology and became a full professor in 1995 serving in the Departments of Cell Biology, Physiology and Biophysics, Neurology and Neurobiology. From 2000-2011, she was chair of the Department of Cell Biology and became the founding chair of the Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology in 2012. She is associate director for Basic Sciences at UAB’s Comprehensive Cancer Center and co-director of the UAB Multiple Sclerosis Center. Benveniste holds the Charlene A. Jones Endowed Chair of Neuroimmunology.
The senior associate dean position was created in 2014 to help lead the school’s efforts in advancing innovative, collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches to research. Benveniste served as interim director before assuming the role permanently on September 1, 2015.
“Dr. Benveniste has been an essential part of the SOM leadership team over the past several years,” said Vickers. “Her ability to multi-task as a leader, a researcher, a professor and more is truly phenomenal, and I am extremely confident that she will continue to provide a positive impact in this new role.”
Benveniste’s new appointment went into effect on September 3, 2018.
“I am honored to hold this position and to continue to work hand-in-hand with department chairs, center directors and institute directors to promote research excellence in the School of Medicine,” said Benveniste.