August 21, 2018

Three graduate faculty members have been selected to lead the new Ph.D. Program in Biomedical Sciences.

Georgiana Purdy, Ph.D., will lead the program as director. She is joined by Alex Nechiporuk, Ph.D., associate program director and chair of the Curriculum Committee, and Ujwal Shinde, Ph.D., associate program director and chair of the Admissions Committee. 

The leadership team was appointed by Allison Fryer, Ph.D., associate dean for graduate studies, OHSU School of Medicine, based on the recommendation of the Selection Committee (see membership list below).

"The number of faculty who applied for these leadership positions was inspiring," said Dr. Fryer. "I want to thank all faculty who applied. There were many qualified applications for each position, and the selection committee had difficult decisions to make. Thank you to the committee for selecting an excellent leadership team."  

Dr. Purdy, associate professor of molecular microbiology and immunology, OHSU School of Medicine, is currently director of the Graduate Program in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology. In that role, she manages one of the most interdisciplinary graduate programs in the school, with students performing research at the OHSU Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute, Oregon National Primate Research Center, V.A. Portland Health Care System, Providence Portland Medical Center, the Division of Infectious Diseases in the school's Department of Medicine, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. As an educator, she's implemented novel teaching strategies for graduate students and developed and directed many new courses, including interactive courses on public speaking and work in progress.

Dr. Nechiporuk, associate professor of cell, developmental and cancer biology, OHSU School of Medicine, is currently associate director of the Cell and Developmental Biology Graduate Program, and is active in that program as well as the Neuroscience Graduate Program. Dr. Nechiporuk's commitment to mentorship includes training many highly successful students and postdocs.  

Dr. Shinde, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, OHSU School of Medicine, served eight years on admissions for the Program in Molecular and Cellular Biology. Dr. Shinde is highly engaged in graduate education, directing courses and mentoring many graduate students.

"Please join me in congratulating Georgiana, Ujwal and Alex," said Dr. Fryer. "And I hope all faculty will join us by engaging actively in the new program."  

The new Ph.D. Program for Biomedical Sciences is currently pending approval by the statewide Provosts' Council. If approved, the school anticipates admitting students to matriculate in fall of 2020.  

The Selection Committee included members of the Graduate Program Steering Committee. 

Selection Committee 

• Rick Goranflo, chair (Graduate Studies Academic Affairs)
• Karen Eden (Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology) 
• Amanda McCullough (Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, and Molecular and Medical Genetics)
• Suzanne Mitchell (Behavioral Neuroscience) 
• Kelly Monk (Vollum Institute and Neuroscience) 
• Diane Stadler (Human Nutrition) 
• Matt Thayer (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) 
• Gabriel Romero (graduate student in Physiology and Pharmacology, and Research Roadmap Scholar '16-17)
• Eileen Torres (student representative and Research Roadmap Scholar '17-18)

Pictured, from left: Drs. Shinde, Purdy, Nechiporuk