Interim Provost for Health Affairs at UC Medical Center Named
CINCINNATI -- Thomas F. Boat, MD, director of The Children's Hospital Research Foundation (TCHRF) and chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, has accepted a position on an interim basis as Interim Provost for Health Affairs at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
Dr. Boat will take on this new responsibility on January 1 while a search continues for a new Senior Vice President and Provost for Health Affairs -- a position from which Donald Harrison, MD, announced earlier this year that he would step down on January 1.
"Dr. Boat is a seasoned leader, with the experience and judgment necessary to provide direction for our Medical Center as we conduct this search," says Joseph A. Steger, president of the University of Cincinnati. "I appreciate his willingness to fill in at this time, in addition to his other duties."
Dr. Boat plans to devote about 30 percent of his time to this position, which was only a part of Dr. Harrison's job. William Martin II, MD, dean at the College of Medicine, will be responsible for other programs and activities that have reported to Dr. Harrison in the past.
During the next month, Dr. Boat will help develop a plan to broaden the distribution of management responsibilities related to the department of Pediatrics and TCHRF.
"I look forward to working with faculty and leaders in all of the Health Affairs schools to ensure that the current, impressive progress does not lose momentum," says Dr. Boat. "During this interim period, we will also be on the watch for new opportunities to move programs forward."
Dr. Boat joined Cincinnati Children's in 1993. He is also physician-in-chief and a member of the Board of Trustees of Cincinnati Children's. When Dr. Boat joined Cincinnati Children's, the department of pediatrics included 144 faculty, with total external grant funding of less than $20 million. Today, the department includes more than 300 full- and part-time faculty. Total sponsored program awards now exceed $90 million. In addition, more than a dozen new division chiefs have been appointed since 1993, and nearly a dozen new divisions or programs have been created.
Earlier this year, U.S. News and World Report ranked the department of Pediatrics as the fourth best pediatric program at a medical school in the United States, behind only Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University. The fourth-place ranking, based on a survey of medical school deans and senior faculty, was found in the U.S. News & World Report annual guide to America's best graduate schools.
Dr. Boat is a member of the prestigious Institute of Medicine. He has served as a member and chair of the Biochemistry II Study Section of the National Institutes of Health, and as a council member of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. He chairs the Research Development Program Advisory Committee for the National Cystic Fibrosis Association and is a member of their Medical Advisory Committee. He has been chair of the American Board of Pediatrics and president of the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs. Dr. Boat is past president of the American Pediatric Society.
Contact Information
Jim Feuer, 513-636-4656,
jfeuer@cchmc.org
