November 13, 2003

Two appointed associate vice presidents for research

Gary Borisy and Lewis J. Smith have been appointed associate vice presidents for research, it was announced by C. Bradley Moore, vice president for research and professor of chemistry.

Borisy has been appointed to provide research leadership with an academic focus on biomedical research. He will also continue his active research portfolio in understanding the nano-machinery of cytoplasm as it is manifested in the process of cell division, in the crawling movements of cells and in the generation of cell form.

Smith has been appointed to oversee biomedical research that utilizes human or animal subjects; the Office for the Protection of Research Subjects and the Center for Comparative Medicine will report directly to him. Smith will also maintain an active clinical research program in the study of asthma pathogenesis, and continue his association with the General Clinical Research Center.

Borisy joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1969, received tenure in 1972 and was promoted to full professor in 1975. He was named Perlman-Bascom Professor of Life Sciences in 1980 and served as chairman of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology from 1980-2000. He joined The Feinberg School of Medicine in 2000 and holds the Leslie B. Arey Chair in the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology and the position of Distinguished Investigator in the Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute.

Borisy’s key contributions include the discovery of tubulin, elucidating microtubule dynamics, introducing novel techniques to analyze cytoskeletal function in living cells, dissecting the mechanism of chromosome movement, and understanding the supramolecular basis of the actin machinery in cell motility. His contributions have entered standard textbooks in cell biology and his publications include 194 papers, two books and an educational videotape.

His honors include fellowships from NIH, NSF and NASA, the Romnes Award and an NIH RCDA Award. He has served on numerous NIH and University panels, scientific advisory boards, editorial boards and professional society committees. He is a member of the American Cancer Society Council for Extramural Grants, a member of the scientific advisory board of two biotechnology companies, CombinatoRx and Zetiq, and is past-president of the American Society for Cell Biology. He also served as a member of the International Selection Committee for the Japan Prize in Biology.

Borisy received a Ph.D in biophysics from the University of Chicago in 1966 and completed three years postdoctoral study at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England.

Smith joined the Northwestern faculty in 1979, was awarded tenure in 1985 and was promoted to professor of medicine in 1991. He served as chief of the school’s Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division from 1982 to 1998. He was associate director of the Office of Clinical Research and Training from 1988-2002, at which time he developed a training program in clinical investigation, which awards a Master of Science degree from the Graduate School. 

He currently directs the Research Subject Advocate program of the NIH-funded General Clinical Research Center and has served as executive director of the Office for the Protection of Research Subjects since the fall of 2002. 

For nearly 25 years, Smith’s laboratory-based and clinical research programs have been supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the NIH, foundations and industry. For the past 20 years he has studied various aspects of asthma pathogenesis including the role of leukotrienes, oxidants and diet. He currently is a lead investigator in the American Lung Association’s Asthma Clinical Research Centers program. He has served on the editorial board of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, as ad hoc reviewer for other journals, on several research grant review committees, and as a consultant to industry. 

He chairs the Research Grant Review Committee of the American Lung Association and is a member of their Scientific Advisory Committee. He has extensive knowledge of and experience in the regulated environment, having served as a member of Northwestern’s Institutional Review Board for 12 years, including nine as chairman, and has participated in national forums on research subject protections.

Smith received an undergraduate degree from the City College of New York and a medical degree from the University of Rochester. He completed training in internal medicine at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.Y., and in pulmonary medicine at Boston University.