School of Medicine administrators have tapped Gene Siegal, M.D., Ph.D., to serve as the interim chair of the Department of Genetics beginning Jan. 15.
Siegal replaces former chair, Bruce Korf, M.D., Ph.D., who was named the Chief Genomics Officer for UAB Medicine in 2017 to lead the implementation of clinical medicine at the School of Medicine.
“I look forward to working with an expanded group of outstanding colleagues to take the Department to the next level of excellence in research, teaching and clinical practice,” said Siegal.
A prominent physician and researcher with more than 25 years’ experience, Siegal recently served as the interim chair of the UAB Department of Pathology. He continues to serve as the executive vice-chair of the UAB Department of Pathology, a position he has held for nearly 10 years. Previously, he was the director of the Division of Anatomic Pathology at UAB for 25 years.
“We greatly value the contributions he has made to the Department of Pathology through the years, both scientific and administrative, and look forward to his leadership in this role serving the Department of Genetics,” said Selwyn M. Vickers, M.D., FACS, senior vice president of Medicine and dean of the UAB School of Medicine.
As the interim chair, Siegal will chart the strategic direction of the Department, including its clinical and research productivity, and its compliance with School of Medicine and UAB policies. He will serve on the School of Medicine Executive Committee and represent the department in the Joint Health Sciences chair meetings.
Siegal earned a medical degree from the University of Louisville in 1974 and a doctorate in molecular biology from the University of Minnesota in 1979. He completed residency and fellowship training at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine and the University of Minnesota and a postdoctoral experience at the National Cancer Institute, NIH.
The search for a permanent chair is expected to take 12-18 months.