UAB will begin a national search for a senior vice president of Medicine and dean of its Heersink School of Medicine to replace Selwyn Vickers, M.D.
A committee co-chaired by David Standaert, M.D., Ph.D., chair of Neurology, and Brian Burnett, Ph.D., senior vice president for Finance and Administration, will guide the national search for a permanent candidate with assistance from AMN Healthcare, an executive talent firm with specific expertise in health care and academic medicine.
The senior vice president for Medicine and dean of the Heersink School of Medicine reports to the president of UAB and serves on the joint operating leadership committee for UAB Medicine, which engages with UAB Medicine leadership to provide strategic guidance and support in order to achieve the clinical goals of the organization.
This leader also serves on the UAB Medicine Enterprise Board, UAB Health Authority Board, UAB/Ascension St. Vincent’s Alliance Board, Callahan Eye Board and Baptist Healthcare Authority Board, and as chair of the Health Services Foundation Board — the faculty practice plan of the Heersink School of Medicine.
President Ray Watts is confident the process will identify an ideal candidate who can support excellence across UAB’s missions in medical education, research and patient care.
“The Heersink School of Medicine is acclaimed for our excellence in training physicians and scientists for careers in practice, teaching and research, and our success is evident in our record growth in federal research funding and excellence in patient care,” Watts said. “This is an exciting time to be in academic medicine, and with our investments in personalized medicine and genomic research, I expect this to be a very attractive position. I thank the search committee for dedicating their time to this important search.”
In addition to Standaert and Burnett, the search committee includes leaders and key constituents across UAB:
- Tika Benveniste, Ph.D., senior vice dean for Research
- Michael Bivins, M.D., president of the Medical Alumni Association
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Tom Brannan, vice president, Advancement and Strategic Initiatives“The Heersink School of Medicine is acclaimed for our excellence in training physicians and scientists for careers in practice, teaching and research, and our success is evident in our record growth in federal research funding and excellence in patient care.”
- Chris Brown, Ph.D., vice president for Research
- Dawn Bulgarella, interim CEO of the UAB Health System, CFO of the UAB/Ascension Alliance
- Cheri Canon, M.D., Witten-Stanley Endowed Chair of Radiology
- Herb Chen, M.D., chair, Department of Surgery
- Mona Fouad, M.D., senior associate dean for Diversity and Inclusion
- Craig Hoesley, M.D., senior associate dean for Medical Education
- Tony Jones, M.D., chief physician executive
- Reid Jones, CEO, UAB Medicine
- Seth Landefeld, M.D., chair of the Department of Medicine
- Lakisha Mack, senior associate dean, School of Medicine
- Janet May, chief human resources officer
- John McMahon, former UA System Board of Trustees member
- Tapan Mehta, Ph.D., Faculty Senate representative, Department of Family and Community Medicine
- Maria Shirey, Ph.D., dean, School of Nursing
- Barry Sleckman, M.D., Ph.D., director, O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Roger Smalligan, M.D., regional dean of the Huntsville Medical Campus
With his departure, Vickers vacated his roles as senior vice president for Medicine, dean of the UAB Heersink School of Medicine, CEO of the UAB Health System and CEO of the UAB/Ascension St. Vincent’s Alliance. Since June, those roles and responsibilities are being shared by Anupam Agarwal, M.D., and Dawn Bulgarella. Agarwal, Heersink School of Medicine executive vice dean, now is the interim senior vice president of Medicine and interim dean of the school, and Bulgarella is interim CEO of the UAB Health System in addition to her roles as president of UAB Health System and CFO for the UAB/Ascension St. Vincent’s Alliance.
“UAB is fortunate to have a broad and deep reservoir of leadership and talent to ensure it succeeds, uninterrupted, in its missions to improve the lives of everyone we serve,” said University of Alabama System Chancellor Finis St. John. “I have every confidence we will continue to attract the highest-quality leaders to this internationally renowned academic medical center.”
Parallel to the search process for the senior vice president and dean, UAB looks to assess leadership structure.
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“UAB is fortunate to have a broad and deep reservoir of leadership and talent to ensure it succeeds, uninterrupted, in its missions to improve the lives of everyone we serve.” |
“When longtime leaders depart, we have the opportunity — and the obligation — to assess the best path forward,” Watts said. “That is what we intend to do now with input from our leaders within UAB, UAB Medicine, and the University of Alabama System Office and UA System Board of Trustees.”
In recent years, UAB has employed different systems of leadership structure between the Heersink School of Medicine and UAB Health System — unified and separate/complementary. “Both structures worked well and allowed us to be successful and build positive momentum,” Watts said.
The Health System CEO roles and responsibilities will not be assumed by the next senior vice president of Medicine and dean of the Heersink School of Medicine at this time. Dawn Bulgarella will remain interim CEO of the Health System, and Reid Jones will continue as CEO of UAB Medicine.
A new description of the position and other search-related information soon will be available on the UAB Executive Search site.
Women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and veterans are encouraged to apply. UAB does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion or veteran status.
