John Crissman, MD, dean of the Wayne State University School of Medicine, has announced the appointment of Daniel Walz, PhD, as assistant dean for research at the medical school.
Dr. Walz says his immediate goals are to improve the research infrastructure and to build on established programs. “Dr. Uhde and I have an active and global approach to positioning Wayne State’s centers of excellence. We hope to improve our current programs and build them into thriving enterprises.”
The reorganized research department is led by Thomas Uhde, MD, associate dean of research and graduate programs, and two assistant deans. Dr. Kenneth Palmer has been assistant dean for graduate programs since 1999, and Dr. Walz will lead the research component of the office, effective January, 2000.
Dr. Walz has been a physiology faculty member since 1973, and most recently served as Wayne State University’s vice president for research and dean of the graduate school. Prior to that, he was associate vice president for research and associate dean of the graduate school. He now returns to the medical school, where he will lend his expertise in promoting and sustaining faculty research.
His objectives for the faculty are pointed. First, he wants WSU’s research profiles to parallel or exceed the funding expansion at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). “In other words, if NIH doubles its funding in cardiovascular medicine, I want to double ours,” said Dr. Walz. “We need to keep up with expansion and we need to be very competitive in obtaining funding.”
Second, he wants all departments to rank in the top half of their fields, according to the NIH. “I want WSU to appear in at least the 50th percentile of NIH rankings,” said Dr. Walz. “We need our basic science and clinical departments to have national recognition and to prove that they can compete with other programs throughout the country.”
Finally, Dr. Walz wants to make sure the medical school’s research programs are on target with the university’s strategic plan and with the needs of the community. As WSU embarks on major initiatives such as the Research and Technology Park and the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor, certain areas will receive more emphasis—particularly genomics, diabetes, neuroimaging, and neurotrauma, just to name a few.
Dr. Uhde believes Dr. Walz can help make research operations more efficient. “In this changing world of academia, there are more demands on researchers who have complex administrative responsibilities. There are new government protocols and standards, new rules for investigation, cost accounting systems, and complex cost-sharing issues. All these things are very labor intensive. Dr. Walz understands the world that researchers operate in, and he can help them succeed,” said Dr. Uhde. “Moreover, under Dr. Walz’s leadership we have initiated an assertive grants writing services program that has become a model for several other institutions. The purpose of this program is to promote young investigators in obtaining first awards and markedly increasing the number of program project, training and center grants at the School of Medicine,” he said.
“His experience with students, administrators, researchers, and faculty members gives him a wealth of valuable insight and perspective,” said Dr. John Crissman. “He has been on every side of the research operation and understands how it functions.”
Dr. Walz is an authority on blood coagulation physiology and has trained 14 WSU graduate students. The recipient of numerous grants from the National Institutes of Health, he has more than 130 research publications and citations to his credit. Dr. Walz received a bachelor of science degree in biology and chemistry from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y. He holds a master’s degree in biochemistry from St. Louis University and a doctorate in physiology from Wayne State.