Benos Named First Holder of UAB's Endowed Professorship in Physiology

Dale J. Benos, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), has been named the first holder of UAB’s Endowed Professorship in Physiology. The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees announced the appointment at last week’s meeting.

February 10, 2005

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Dale J. Benos, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), has been named the first holder of UAB’s Endowed Professorship in Physiology. The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees announced the appointment at last week’s meeting.

Benos is internationally recognized for his contributions to the field of physiology and biophysics. His research focuses on better understanding the movement of sodium ions present in the membranes of surface and nerve cells. The process is relative to the progression of certain diseases such cystic fibrosis.

Prior to joining UAB in 1985 as associate professor of physiology and biophysics, Benos was an associate professor of physiology and biophysics at Harvard Medical School. He was named a professor of physiology and biophysics at UAB in 1987 and appointed chair of the department in 1996. He also holds professorships in the departments of Cell Biology and Neurobiology.

He is a senior scientist with UAB’s Gregory Fleming James Cystic Fibrosis Research Center, the Nephrology Research and Training Center, the UAB Center for AIDS Research, the Center for Biophysical Sciences and Engineering and the Vision Science Research Center.

Among his numerous honors he is recipient of the National Research Service Award, the First Physiology Faculty of Basic Biomedical Sciences Lecturer and 1996 Dharmsathaphorn Memorial Lecturer, University of California at San Diego; 1996 Distinguished Lecturer, University of Kansas Medical Center; 1998 Dunaway Burnham Visiting Lecturer, Dartmouth; and Whitney Memorial Lecturer, University of Arkansas.

He is a member of various professional organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physiology Society (APS), the American Society of Cell Biology and the Society of Neuroscience. As a member of APS he has served as chair of its Publications Committee and Joint Managing Board as well as an ex officio member of the its Finance Committee and the APS Council. He has also served on various review and site visit committees for the National Institutes of Health.

Benos received his undergraduate degree in biology from Case Western Reserve University and his doctorate degree in physiology and pharmacology from Duke University, where he also completed his postdoctoral training.