UCLA announces new interim dean of David Geffen School of Medicine
Dr. Steven Dubinett, associate vice chancellor for research at UCLA and senior associate dean for translational research, will serve as interim dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine beginning Sept. 1. (Daily Bruin file photo)
By Victoria Ke Li
Aug. 31, 2021 12:18 p.m.
UCLA appointed a new interim dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine, according to an announcement Friday.
Dr. Steven Dubinett will serve as interim dean beginning Sept. 1. He will succeed Dr. Kelsey Martin, a neuroscientist who has served as dean since 2016 and was the first ever woman appointed to lead the School of Medicine.
UCLA announced in July that Martin would step down from her role to direct the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative in New York City.
Dubinett is currently the associate vice chancellor for research and senior associate dean for translational research. He is also the director of the UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute, which he will continue to lead as co-director, according to the announcement.
Dubinett first joined UCLA in 1988 as a lung cancer researcher and later went on to also become the chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine and the Division of Clinical Immunology and Allergy at UCLA Health.
“We are grateful to have him at the helm of our medical school during this period of change,” said Emily Carter, executive vice chancellor and provost, and John Mazziotta, vice chancellor for UCLA Health Sciences and CEO of UCLA Health, in the announcement.
Carter and Mazziotta said that they expect Dubinett will serve as interim dean for up to two years while they evaluate the leadership structure of the School of Medicine and UCLA Health, they added in the announcement.
The three of them intend to focus on investing in faculty recruitment and research, increasing the dean’s autonomy and furthering equity, diversity and inclusion at the school.
“During Dr. Dubinett’s interim deanship, we intend to embark on a collaborative process to review the leadership structure of the medical school and of UCLA Health in an effort to optimize financial and administrative decision making,” the announcement read. “The feedback of our community will play a significant part in that process.”
