NASHVILLE, Tenn., June 21,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Vanderbilt
University has named John
Kuriyan, one of the world's leading structural biologists,
as its next dean of the School of Medicine Basic Sciences, C.
Cybele Raver, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs,
announced today. Kuriyan's appointment, effective Jan. 1, 2023, will advance the university's goal
of expanding its global research impact by leveraging fundamental
investigations in molecular, cellular and developmental biology
into foundational advances in drug discovery, pharmacology and
genetic engineering.
Kuriyan, Distinguished Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology
and professor of chemistry at the University
of California, Berkeley, and a Howard Hughes Medical
Institute investigator for more than 30 years, will succeed
Lawrence J. Marnett, the founding
dean of Basic Sciences, who has agreed to extend his leadership
through December. Kuriyan is a member of the National Academy of
Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, a fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a foreign member of the
Royal Society, the independent scientific academy of the
United Kingdom.
"As a superlative and highly accomplished biomedical scholar,
Kuriyan fully understands Vanderbilt's university-wide ambitions to
catapult our research reputation forward," said Raver, who led
Kuriyan's appointment as dean. "That he has chosen to advance his
career at Vanderbilt speaks volumes about our capacity to make
quantum leaps in the life-changing innovation for which he is
known."
A widely published and cited scholar in biochemistry, cancer,
and the mechanisms of signal transmission inside cells, Kuriyan's
research focuses on the workings of molecular switches in the cell,
which has revealed pioneering new insights into the ways that many
drugs used to treat certain forms of cancer gain their specificity
at the molecular level. Kuriyan is a co-founder of Nurix
Therapeutics, a publicly traded biotech company that is developing
and testing therapies for late-stage cancers in the clinic.
"The School of Medicine Basic Sciences is a cornerstone of
Vanderbilt's research enterprise,
critically bridging the gap between scientific discovery and making
a positive impact on society," Chancellor Daniel Diermeier said. "We are thrilled to
welcome John Kuriyan, an
internationally renowned biomedical scientist and innovator, to
lead this vital area for Vanderbilt and strengthen it for the
future."
Kuriyan, originally from India,
studied for two years at the University of Madras before
transferring to Juniata College in
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. He
earned a bachelor of science in chemistry from Juniata College in 1981 and enrolled in graduate
school at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, where he earned a doctorate in physical
chemistry in 1986. His influential graduate advisers were
distinguished scientists Martin
Karplus and Gregory A.
Petsko, who continued to serve as Kuriyan's mentors while he
completed a brief postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University on the dynamics of proteins.
Karplus won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for the development of
multiscale models for complex chemical systems in 2013.
"The opportunity to come to Vanderbilt and join the leadership of one of
the nation's best schools for cutting-edge biomedical research is a
tremendous honor and privilege," Kuriyan said. "I am impressed by
Vanderbilt's deeply collaborative
and collegial community, its innovative and interdisciplinary
approach to research, its unique partnership with a world-class
medical center and its unwavering commitment to diversity and
belonging. Most of all, I am inspired by the long-term investment
in basic science that has been demonstrated by the leadership of
Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, manifested in
the way they have created an inter-institutional environment in
which basic science will be nourished and allowed to flourish. I
look forward to building on Larry
Marnett's outstanding leadership and anticipate even greater
discoveries made by Vanderbilt
scientists in the days ahead."
Kuriyan has received numerous scientific honors, including the
Richard Lounsbery Award from the
National Academy of Sciences, the Stein and Moore Award and the
DuPont-Merck Award, both from the Protein Society, the ASBMB-Merck
Award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology, the American Association for Cancer Research Award for
Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Research (given to investigators
under the age of 40), and the Eli Lilly Award from the American
Chemical Society. He was a Pew Biomedical Scholar from 1989 to
1993.
"John Kuriyan is an exceptional
scientist, and we are excited to welcome him to this vitally
important Vanderbilt leadership
position," said Jennifer Pietenpol,
chief scientific and strategy officer and executive vice president
for research at Vanderbilt University
Medical Center, who participated on the search committee. "His
vision and deep appreciation of curiosity-driven research and its
translation to human endpoints, along with his thoughtful insights
and innumerable scientific contributions, make him an ideal dean
for Basic Sciences."
Raver expressed thanks to Marnett and to members of the School
of Medicine Basic Sciences Dean Search Committee, led by
John Geer, Ginny and Conner Searcy Dean of the College of
Arts and Science, as well as leaders across the university and the
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
for their guidance and collaboration. Marnett has served as dean of
the School of Medicine Basic Sciences from its creation in 2016,
and he helped to craft the school's unique biomedical research
partnerships following the legal separation of the university and
VUMC.
"John Kuriyan is recognized
around the world for the quality and longevity of his research,"
said Marnett, who will return to the faculty after a sabbatical.
"We share a collaborative approach to leadership and to engaging
our community to generate the very best ideas for the school's
future, so I am excited for John's leadership. He will be a beacon
for attracting the very best biomedical scientists to campus."
Contact:
Damon Maida
damon.maida@vanderbilt.edu
View original
content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vanderbilt-school-of-medicine-basic-sciences-names-renowned-scholar-john-kuriyan-as-next-dean-301571350.html
SOURCE Vanderbilt University