Steven Austad, Ph.D., and David Pollio, Ph.D., were each named chair of a department within the College of Arts and Sciences.
Austad, the new chair of the Department of Biology, is an expert on aging studies whose research interests are comparative biogerontology and development methods for the assessment of animal health spans. Austad comes to UAB from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, where he served as professor in the Department of Cellular and Structural Biology and interim director of the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies.
Pollio, the new chair of the Department of Social Work, is a senior scientist for the Center for AIDS Research. His interests and expertise include mental health and addiction services, homelessness, runaway and street youth, evidence-based practices and group interventions. Pollio comes to UAB from the University of Alabama, where he served as the Hill Crest Endowed Chair in Mental Health in the School of Social Work.
