Geddes Appointed as Associate Dean for Research

[A Letter from Fred de Beer, MD]

Colleagues: 

I am pleased to announce that Dr. Jim Geddes has accepted the position as Associate Dean for Research.  In this role, Dr. Geddes will work with Dr. Alan Daugherty, Senior Associate Dean for Research, to lead the newly formed College of Medicine Office of Research. 

Dr. Geddes is the founding and current Director of the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center (SCoBIRC) and Professor in the Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology. He received a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada and his doctorate in Neurochemistry from the same institution. Following postdoctoral research at the University of California at Irvine, he moved to the University of Kentucky in 1991. Dr. Geddes has authored over 100 papers in
leading journals including Science, Nature, and the Journal of Neuroscience. His research focuses on the role of calcium-activated mechanisms in the signaling cascade following traumatic injuries to the brain and spinal cord, and is supported from several sources including the National Institutes of Health and the Kentucky Spinal Cord and Head Injury Research Trust.  

Dr. Geddes is active in the scientific community, serving as an Associate Editor for Experimental Neurology and on NIH Study Sections. He has held leadership roles in the Society for Neuroscience, where he recently completed a three year term as chair of the Membership and Chapters Committee. Additionally, Dr. Geddes is the faculty sponsor for the CoM Basic Sciences IBU and is on the internal advisory boards for CCTS and MD/PHD program.  

Dr. Geddes is also very active in education and mentoring, serving as co-director of the proposed undergraduate Neuroscience Major, directing a Grant Writing Workshop for graduate students and postdocs, and has served on 78 doctoral dissertation
committees.  

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Geddes on his new role as Associate Dean for Research. 

Sincerely,

Frederick C. de Beer, MD
Dean, College of Medicine
Vice President for College of Medicine