Jennifer K. Lodge, Ph.D., has been named associate dean for research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The appointment is effective Feb. 1, 2009.
In the newly created position, Lodge will coordinate efforts to advance research at the school, focusing particularly on projects that involve multiple departments, multiple disciplines and core facilities that can serve a wide variety of researchers. She will assist faculty in identifying potential funding opportunities and maximizing the benefits of school-wide investments in research.
In addition, Lodge will join the School of Medicine faculty as professor of molecular microbiology and continue her research into the pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans, which causes meningitis in immune-compromised individuals. Her laboratory is identifying biochemical processes essential for fungal survival that could be targeted by novel antifungal therapies. The lab has two major interests that have potential as targets for antifungal treatments.
“Jennifer is an accomplished scientist with experience in administration within a university and medical school environment,” says Larry J. Shapiro, M.D., executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. “She has successfully faced the challenges of maximizing funding opportunities and managing internal processes. We are excited that she will bring her exceptional talent to the School of Medicine.”
“I am thrilled to be rejoining the Washington University community,” Lodge says. “With its rich and vibrant research environment and outstanding investigators, Washington University is uniquely poised to substantially improve health care in the 21st century. I am looking forward to working with Washington University investigators who are making basic discoveries that broaden our understanding of how living organisms function and translating those discoveries into major advances in medicine.”
Lodge was a research instructor and research assistant professor at the School of Medicine from 1993-1997. She earned a doctorate in microbiology at Washington University in 1988 and was a postdoctoral fellow in plant sciences at Monsanto Co. from 1989-1991. She was a post-doctoral fellow in the School of Medicine’s Department of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology from 1991-1993.
Lodge was most recently associate dean for research and a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. She also previously served as a research assistant at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and at Harvard University. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio.
Lodge is principal investigator of three National Institutes of Health-funded grants and one grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. She has published more than 30 papers in peer-reviewed journals and holds a U.S. Patent for virus-resistant potato plants.
Washington University School of Medicine’s 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked third in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.