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Newswise The University of Chicago Medicine named its first two deans for faculty affairs, appointments designed to support the needs of faculty within the Biological Sciences Division.

Melina Hale, PhD, professor in the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, and Karen Kim, MD, professor in the Department of Medicine, will report to Kenneth Polonsky, MD, executive vice president for medical affairs at the University of Chicago and dean of the Biological Sciences Division and the Pritzker School of Medicine, and work closely with faculty, the elected Faculty Advisory Committee, department chairs and section chiefs.

Both Drs. Hale and Kim have extensive experience in leadership and initiatives that support and promote faculty efforts, said Polonsky, who is also the Richard T. Crane Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine.

Hale and Kim will concentrate on identifying issues that are important to the faculty and developing mechanisms to address areas of concern. Kim will focus on clinical faculty, while Hales attention will be on basic science faculty, but their activities will not be restricted to these areas.

They will work with Melissa Gilliam, MD, MPH, in her role as dean of diversity and inclusion, and Martin Feder, PhD, dean for academic affairs, who will concentrate on academic appointments and reappointments, promotion and tenure, and other academic issues, Polonsky said.

Hale is chair of the Research Resources Oversight Committee, the faculty committee that oversees BSD core facilities, and she works with faculty across the university as the spokesperson for the Committee of the Council of the University Senate.

She also serves on various committees related to institutional initiatives and education, including the University of Chicago-Marine Biological Laboratories Faculty Advisory Committee and the College Council. Nationally, she has served on National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation proposal review panels and been involved in NSFs efforts to develop priorities related to the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative.

Kim is director of the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Centers Office of Community Engagement and Cancer Disparities, where she works with faculty across the institution to develop and support community-based research. She is chair of the Department of Medicines Womens Committee and is serving a three-year term on the Universitys Womens Leadership Council.

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University of Chicago Medicine Names First Deans for Faculty Affairs