President Michael Williams emailed the following to all team members Nov. 29, 2017:
Team,
I am pleased to share with you that Anuja Ghorpade, PhD, has accepted the position of UNTHSC’s Vice President of Research, a role in which she has skillfully served on an interim basis since July 2016.
Dr. Ghorpade arrived in 2007, serving as vice chair and then as department chair since 2010 before assuming the interim Vice President for Research duties. She has been a leader and a resource to fellow researchers and students. Anuja is a graduate of cohort 1 of the HSC Fellows program. She continues to be a role model in our ongoing cultural journey toward becoming One University, built on values, defining and producing the providers of the future.
On the research front, Dr. Ghorpade is a leading expert in HIV-related dementia and was instrumental in the development of UNTHSC’s HIV program – as well as the establishment of a brain bank for neurodegeneration research. In addition, she has mentored numerous graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and been a critical part of the UNTHSC team that is launching a joint institutional review board with JPS Health Network that will increase the teamwork among our two institutions and improve the quality of research in Tarrant County.
Dr. Ghorpade has also been personally helpful to our leadership team on a number of levels, from serving as chair of the President’s Research Council to being a member of the dean search committee for the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine.
One of our key goals in the See 2020 plan is to increase total research expenditures to $55 million. I am confident that Dr. Ghorpade is the right person to lead this effort.
I want to thank members of the search team, who helped evaluate 24 highly accomplished applicants for this critical role. They led a process that included focus groups, one-on-one discussions, and an online survey that provided valuable feedback from more than 200 faculty and staff.
The Faculty Senate also provided valuable input as we conducted a search for the best possible candidate. Thank you for your help.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Ghorpade on this well-deserved appointment.
My best always,
Dr. Michael R. Williams
UNTHSC President