Hamilton, Spann named to leadership positions at BCM

HOUSTON -- (November 19, 2008) -- The Baylor College of Medicine Board of Trustees has named Dr. Susan Hamilton as senior vice president and dean of research and Dr. Stephen J. Spann as senior vice president and dean for clinical affairs.

The appointments are effective immediately.

Both have been serving as department chairs at BCM. Hamilton has been serving as the chair of molecular physiology and biophysics and Spann as chair of family and community medicine.

As dean of research, Hamilton will work with the chairs and center directors to create a continuing strategic plan for research at BCM, establish standards of research, oversee the solicitation of research funding and implement research policies and priorities. She will have responsibility and authority for the budgets of the basic science departments and centers.

She received her doctorate in biophysics from the University of Colorado Health Science Center in Denver and did her postdoctoral work in the Department of Neurology at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in New York City.

Hamilton's research at BCM is focused on skeletal muscle excitation-contraction coupling and human diseases associated with alterations in this process. She helped to found the BCM Translation Biology and Molecular Medicine Graduate Program and the new Mouse Phenotyping Core.

As dean for clinical affairs, Spann will have responsibility and authority for the budgets of the clinical departments and centers. He will further strengthen the college's focus on patient-centered care, with a commitment to quality and service. He will work with the leadership of BCM's affiliated teaching hospitals and advance clinical outreach programs in the community.

Spann received his medical degree from BCM and interned at BCM-affiliated hospitals. He completed his residency at Duke University School of Medicine. He returned to BCM in 1997 to serve as professor and chair of family and community medicine. Before coming to BCM, he served as chair of family medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. He previously held faculty positions at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine and the Oklahoma University Health Center.