Ken Palmer, Ph.D., assistant dean for graduate programs, recently announced the appointment of Dr. Ambika Mathur, WSU professor of pediatrics, as director of the School of Medicine's formal M.D.-Ph.D. joint degree program.

Dr. Mathur will provide administrative leadership to insure our medical scientist program continues to grow, remain innovative in its training and attractive to top scientific talent seeking such a unique education.

Dr. Mathur received her Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology with Dr. Richard Lynch at the University of Iowa. After a post-doctoral fellowship at the Institute of Human Genetics at the University of Minnesota with Dr. Brian Van Ness, she was subsequently appointed assistant professor and then tenured associate professor of tumor immunology at the University of Minnesota, where she developed a strong interest in research training. She mentored post-doctoral fellows, doctoral students, master's students and undergraduate students, as well as medical fellows, medical residents, medical students and dental students.

Dr. Mathur was associated with developing and implementing a number of National Institutes of Health-funded training grants, including the NIH-funded Clinical Scientist Training Program, T32 training grants, summer research training grants and training grants to support minority high-school students.

She served on the University of Minnesota's Medical School admissions committee as well as on the Education Policy Committee of the School of Dentistry and was responsible for overseeing curriculum development. After serving as professor at West Virginia University, for the past year Dr. Mathur has been on the faculty of The Carman & Ann Adams Department of Pediatrics at Wayne State University and the Children's Hospital of Michigan, where she is currently associate director of the Institute of Medical Education, Scientific Faculty Development.

Dr. Mathur and her husband, Dr. Deepak Kamat, professor and vice chair for education in the Department of Pediatrics, have twins, who are 13 years old. Dr. Mathur is also a published author of a series of books for children, and her passion is promoting literacy among children.

Dr. Mathur will be aided by the program's associate director, Dr. Stan Terlecky, associate professor of pharmacology. Dr. Terlecky has been intimately involved in the original M.D.-Ph.D. concept at the School of Medicine and was the principal author of the program proposal approved by the University's provost and president.

Dr. Terlecky brings to the program his enthusiasm, a strong record of funded research and successful student mentorship. Drs. Mathur and Terlecky share a common vision to elevate WSU's M.D.-Ph.D. program to national prominence and enable the University to recruit the very best candidates.