Rebecca Dutch, PhD, Selected as Vice Dean for Research

After a thorough search, the College of Medicine is excited to announce that Rebecca Dutch, PhD, has been selected to lead the college's research efforts as vice dean for research. James Geddes, PhD, previously served in this position but has entered into a phased retirement to focus on his research.
 
Dr. Dutch has proven her commitment and leadership capability through her more than two decades at the UK College of Medicine, most recently as chair of molecular and cellular biochemistry; however, her efforts this year during the COVID-19 pandemic have shown her willingness to go above and beyond for the good of the Commonwealth.
 
Since spring 2020, she has led the COVID-19 Unified Research Experts (CURE), a team within the College of Medicine’s Alliance Research Initiative to support COVID-19 related medical research. To aid in our efforts for restarting our campus last fall, she was a vital member of the College of Medicine START team. She also played a key role in developing the new compensation plan for research faculty members.
 
In her time as an educator at the College of Medicine, Dr. Dutch has served as primary mentor for 24  PhD or MD/PhD students as well as mentoring postdoctoral and undergraduate researchers. She has also been very active on graduate student committees and in classroom teaching. Before becoming chair of molecular and cellular biochemistry, she was associate dean for biomedical education.
 
Dr. Dutch is a well-funded researcher with an extensive record of groundbreaking research in virology and biochemistry and a resume filled with national accolades. She has been continuously funded by the NIH since 2001, and has also received funding from the American Heart Association and March of Dimes, and held contracts with MedImmune/Astrozeneca. She currently chairs the NIH MIG study section, is an editor for PloS Pathogens, Journal of Virology, and mSphere, and is an external advisory board member for T32 awards at the University of Florida and at the Mayo Clinic. In addition, she recently served as president for the American Society for Virology.
 
Her work in important decision-making is demonstrated in her roles as chair for the associate dean for diversity and inclusion search committee and member of the dean’s search committees for the College of Medicine and the Lewis Honors College and the regional campus implementation committee.
 
Dr. Dutch completed her undergraduate training at Michigan State University, a Master of Philosophy at Cambridge University as a Churchill Scholar, and a PhD at Stanford University. She performed postdoctoral work at both Stanford University and Northwestern University before joining the UK College of Medicine in 2000 as an assistant professor.
 
We are thankful for Dr. Dutch’s hard work and leadership, especially this past year, and we are excited for what she will be able to help us accomplish as vice dean for research.
 
As we welcome Dr. Dutch in this position, we also thank Dr. Geddes for his tremendous leadership during his tenure in this position.