As part of the Board of Visitors' efforts to facilitate new science and technology research, Mark Yeager has been appointed chair of the University's department of molecular physiology and biological physics.
R. Ariel Gomez, vice president for research and graduate studies, explained the Board of Visitors' initiative to encourage new research includes hiring "outstanding individuals who will bridge the gaps between the areas of excellence already at U.Va."
Gomez added that it is hoped Yeager will "initiate collaborations and help train a new cadre of scientists" in the department.
Yeager "is a great scientist, a great teacher and a great clinician ... who has a tremendous amount of expertise," Gomez said.
Yeager's expertise in the area of structural biology can be applied to the cure of diseases as well as research in other areas, such as the development of medical tools, Gomez said.
Yeager said he is honored to work at the University.
"There are several aspects of the campus that appeal to me -- the enthusiasm for the kind of research that I'm doing," he said. "I've enjoyed interacting with every person on campus."
Yeager added that returning to a medical school setting is appealing because the "goals of clinical medicine and basic research are different, so there are always problems with integration. Being on [a] medical campus will allow more opportunity to translate basic research to clinical medicine."
While at the University, Yeager will continue both his research and a clinical cardiology practice. The department he is chairing is responsible for teaching physiology to medical students and has a doctoral program as well.
Yeager said he graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a bachelor's degree in chemistry, earned his master's degree and doctorate at Yale University and completed a residency at Stanford University. His doctoral research concentrated on molecular physiology and molecular biology, and clinically, he specializes in cardiology.
Yeager comes to the University from the Scripps Institute in La Jolla, Calif., where he conducted research about protein and macromolecule structure and also had a clinical cardiology practice.
Gomez said Yeager's appointment is representative of the University's main focus, which has always been "to continue to build on a tradition of excellence"
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