Kosorok and Stevens appointed to second terms as department chairs
| November 19, 2010 | |
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Two members of the public health faculty have been reappointed to lead their departments in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, Dean Barbara K. Rimer, DrPH, has announced. The reappointments follow upon the favorable reviews of their first terms as chairs.
Dr. Michael Kosorok
Dr. June Stevens
Michael Kosorok, PhD, has been appointed to a second five-year term as chair of the Department of Biostatistics. June Stevens, RD, PhD, has been appointed to a second five-year term as chair of the Department of Nutrition. Kosorok, professor of biostatistics, came to UNC in May 2006 when he was chosen to chair the department. He is known internationally as a multi-faceted biostatistician who blends both methodological and collaborative research. He also is a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.
“[Dr. Kosorok] is one of the leading biostatisticians in the world in both the development of innovative statistical methods that are used worldwide and in the application of these methods to important public health issues, such as the treatment of cystic fibrosis and cancer,” Rimer said. “He has proven his ability to be a strong leader of an impressive department, and also an invaluable leader within the School.”
Kosorok has built upon the school’s success at collaborating with other departments, universities, government organizations and industry. For example, he is principal investigator for a project funded through a $12.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute to develop new methods for the design and analysis of cancer clinical trials. The project includes researchers from UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke and N.C. State universities.
Stevens, the American Institute for Cancer Research/World Cancer Research Fund (AICR/WCRF) Distinguished Professor of nutrition, has been chair of the nutrition department since April 2006. She has been a faculty member in the departments of nutrition and epidemiology since 1993. She also is a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. The nutrition department is a part of both the medical and public health schools at UNC.
Stevens’ work has spanned from bench research of adipocytes to observational epidemiologic studies of large populations to obesity prevention among children and adolescents and has helped to uncover and define links between obesity and diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. She has impacted policy decisions in the U.S. and other countries and is internationally recognized as a critical thinker and opinion leader in the field of obesity.
“Dr. Stevens is a committed, accomplished researcher, teacher and mentor,” Rimer said. “She has served in numerous leadership roles within the department, the School, and throughout the research community. Also, she has a strong commitment to research on health disparities. Much of her own research has been conducted within minority populations, and she is especially devoted to mentoring minority students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty. We are fortunate to have her on our School’s leadership team.”
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu.
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