Dean Nancy Andrews, MD, PhD announced the appointment of Mark W. Dewhirst, DVM, PhD, professor of radiation oncology, to the position of Associate Dean for Faculty Mentoring.
Read the announcement below.
[toggle title_open="Close when finished reading" title_closed="Dewhirst appointed Associate Vice Dean for Faculty Mentoring" hide="yes" border="yes" style="default" excerpt_length="0" read_more_text="Read More" read_less_text="Read Less" include_excerpt_html="no"]In this newly created position, Mark will spearhead a school-wide initiative to provide mentoring to junior faculty that will complement our broadening faculty development efforts. His first priority will be to initiate a series of workshops, starting in October, that are designed to guide faculty through the grant writing process. Timed to coincide with NIH deadlines, three consecutive initiatives will walk faculty through the crucial steps of the grant writing process. This will start with specific aims review sessions, internal review of full proposals and sessions to follow up on changes made based on the internal reviews. This process will ultimately serve to ensure that grants submitted to the NIH are as competitive as possible.
Mark will also work with Ann Brown and the Office for Faculty Development to develop mentoring programs that address professional faculty development in clinical and health professional careers.
Mark has a recognized, long-standing passion for and experience with mentoring students and faculty. During his nearly 30-year career here at Duke, he has mentored more than 20 graduate students, and many postdoctoral fellows, residents, junior faculty and medical students. He has been particularly successful in assisting those he mentored in obtaining DOD and NIH fellowships, K awards and first R01 grants. The Duke Cancer Institute and the Medical Physics Graduate Training programs have recognized his mentoring skills, and he has received several “Mentor of the Year” awards from the School of Medicine. His mentoring skills were also the basis of his being named Fellow of the American Society for Radiation Oncology.
As the Gustavo S. Montana Professor of Radiation Oncology, and co-Director of the Radiation Oncology/Imaging Program for the Duke Cancer Institute, Mark is also an active researcher in the areas of tumor hypoxia, angiogenesis, and the use of hyperthermia to treat cancer. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and has authored more than 500 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters and reviews.
Please join me in congratulating Mark on this appointment.[/toggle]