News Briefs

Murad Resigns Chairmanship

Ferid Murad, M.D., Ph.D., has resigned as chair of the Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston.

Dean Stanley Schultz, M.D., said, “Our institution is fortunate that he will remain as director of the Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases and continue his distinguished record of discovery and commitment to academic excellence.”

Norman Weisbrodt, Ph.D., currently vice chair of the Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology, has agreed to serve as interim chair until a permanent chair is appointed. Both Murad and Weisbrodt also hold faculty appointments in the UT Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston.

Murad, holder of the John S. Dunn Sr. Distinguished Chair in Physiology and Medicine, joined the Medical School faculty in 1997 as chair of the Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology. He was named co-recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Assistant Dean, Student Affairs

Sheela Lahoti, M.D., has accepted the position of assistant dean for student affairs at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, in addition to her position as clinical assistant professor of pediatrics, which she has held since 1998.

As assistant dean, Lahoti plans to counsel students at risk for poor performance on the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination Step 1, and will help develop a systematic and preventive approach to maximize student results. In addition, she will assist Margaret McNeese, M.D., associate dean for student affairs, in career counseling throughout the students’ four years, but specifically with third- and fourth-year students in the residency application and match process.

New Visitor Center at IAH

The Houston Airport System and several Texas Medical Center (TMC) institutions, including The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, have teamed up to open a new international visitors’ area at the Bush Intercontinental Airport, aimed at international guests visiting the Texas Medical Center. More than 10,000 international patients arrived in Houston in 2004 with the TMC as their destination.

The health science center’s Hui-Ming Chang, M.D., associate vice president for international programs, and Leslie Holland, graphic designer in the Office of Public Affairs, collaborated on the development of and signage for the lounge. Chang expressed her appreciation to the health science center’s president, James T. Willerson, M.D., and senior executive vice president, Michael McKinney, M.D., for their support of the project.