Michael Cain Named Dean of UB Medical School

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The appointment of Michael E. Cain, M.D., as dean of the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo was announced today by David L. Dunn, M.D., Ph.D., UB vice president for health sciences.

Cain is director of the Cardiovascular Division and Tobias and Hortense Lewin Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. A cardiologist who specializes in cardiac electrophysiology, the examination of the heart's electrical system, he also is professor of biomedical engineering at Washington University. His appointment is effective Nov. 1.

Cain was one of four finalists from a national applicant field who were invited to campus for interviews in June. He succeeds Michael Bernardino, who resigned in February 2003.

Dunn noted that Cain "comes to UB with outstanding credentials as a translational researcher, clinician, educator, as well as being an accomplished administrator at one of the country's top medical schools and at one of the nation's leading hospitals.

"The UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences," Dunn added, "will have a dean with the vision and determination to move it into the top tier academically, while continuing to train superb physicians who will populate the ranks of practitioners in Western New York."

Satish K. Tripathi, UB provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, noted that "as an accomplished researcher, clinician, educator and administrator, Dr. Cain's perspective and experience are quite vast.  He understands the complexities of 21st-century medicine and clinical care, and is a progressive and thoughtful leader in the field of biomedical sciences.   

"Building on our university's strong tradition of excellence in medical education, clinical care and research," Tripathi said, "I believe our new dean will provide the vision and leadership to realize the goal of a top-tier, nationally ranked medical school recognized for its integrated health-sciences approach to medical education and innovative biomedical research. We are very excited to welcome Dr. Cain to the University at Buffalo."

UB President John B. Simpson noted that "since UB's establishment as a medical school faculty 160 years ago, the university's medical-school leaders have been called upon to balance several demanding roles -- they must be not only skilled and effective in the administrative world, but also thoroughly versed in research, clinical practice and education.

"We have found a truly exemplary candidate in Dr. Cain, who is equal parts distinguished scholar, accomplished clinician, dedicated educator and experienced medical administrator," Simpson added. "The search for this position attracted a large pool of very impressive candidates, from which Dr. Cain emerged as a truly ideal fit for UB, with the vision and expertise to take UB's School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences to even greater heights of excellence in the 21st century.

"We are delighted to have secured a medical dean of his caliber, which we view as a testament to the direction in which our medical school and the university as a whole are headed."

Cain noted that "a hallmark of a leading school of medicine is the appreciation by faculty and staff that innovative, interdisciplinary approaches are required to advance patient care, biomedical research and education. I was attracted to UB because the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, working with the other four health-science schools, is well positioned to further its leadership role in American and international medicine.

"As important, I sensed the work environment at UB to be one focused on achievement of excellence through internal collaboration and cooperation. This favorable 'work code' was palpable during my initial visit and reinforced during subsequent visits to the university."

Addressing the university's UB 2020 strategic-planning process, Cain added: "The School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences will be a major contributor to many of the strategic initiatives. I hope to take advantage of the enthusiasm that attends innovative strategic planning to energize a talented faculty and staff to implement innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to medicine and science that facilitate fundamental scientific discovery, to develop new technology platforms, to promote early verification and proof-of-concept studies in human subjects and to design definitive clinical trials that lead to new medical, social and economic approaches to health-care delivery and education. The faculty and staff of the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and all who live in Buffalo and Western New York benefit from and deserve the best possible school of medicine."

Maurizio Trevisan, M.D., dean of the UB School of Public Health and Health Professions, was chair of the search committee.

Trevisan said the committee "was very impressed with Dr. Cain's qualifications and vision for the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences."

He noted that "under Dr. Cain's leadership, the Division of Cardiology at Washington University has grown substantially and has established itself as one of the premiere divisions of cardiology in the country, both in terms of research and clinical care. Dr. Cain's energy, vision and leadership skills will serve well the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and the university as a whole and help the medical school and the other schools that are part of UB's academic health center to achieve their goals of academic excellence."

A cum laude graduate of Gettysburg College, Cain received his medical degree from George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. He completed his training in internal medicine at Barnes Hospital/Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. His postgraduate training in cardiovascular diseases included appointments as a research fellow, clinical cardiology fellow and research instructor, all in the Cardiovascular Division at Washington University School of Medicine. He also served as a clinical/research fellow in the Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia.

Cain joined the Washington University School of Medicine faculty in 1981 as an assistant professor of medicine. He was promoted to associate professor in 1987. In 1993 he was promoted to professor of medicine and named the director of the Cardiovascular Division. He has been the Tobias and Hortense Lewin Professor of Medicine since 1994 and a professor of biomedical engineering since 1999. He also is president of the board of directors of the Heart Care Institute, as well as director of arrhythmia services, for the Washington University School of Medicine, Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.

He is certified as a diplomate by the American Board of Internal Medicine in internal medicine, cardiovascular diseases and in clinical cardiac electrophysiology and pacing.

Cain is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, Council on Clinical Cardiology of the American Heart Association and the Heart Rhythm Society. A past president of the Association of Professors of Cardiology and the board of trustees of the Heart Rhythm Society (formerly the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology), he is chairman of the board of directors of The Sarnoff Endowment for Cardiovascular Science. He is a past president of the board of directors of the Missouri Chapter of the American College of Cardiology and the board of directors of the St. Louis Chapter of the American Heart Association.

Previously associate editor of Circulation, Cain is a member of the editorial boards of the American Journal of Cardiology, Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology, Journal of the American College of Cardiology and Heart Rhythm.

Awards that he has received include the Hans-Peter Kragenbuehl Memorial Award for Research in Cardiac Function from the International Academy of Cardiology, the American Heart Association's Arthur E. Strauss Award and the Outstanding Researcher of the Year presented by the American Heart Association's Missourian Award Executive Committee.

Cain has held numerous invited professorships and lectureships across the U.S. and abroad.

His research has been directed at determining the electrophysiological and structural determinants of ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation in the setting of healed myocardial infarction or cardiomyopathy to improve nonpharmacological procedures for arrhythmia ablation by characterizing and localizing the tissue critical to arrhythmogenesis, and to provide the pathophysiological foundation needed to refine methods of ECG analysis that will improve the identification of patients at risk for sudden cardiac death. His research has been funded consistently by the National Institutes of Health since 1984.

Co-author with B.E. Sobel and P.R. Eisenberg of "Medical Management of Heart Disease" (Marcel Dekker, Inc., 1996), Cain has authored or co-authored more than 80 peer-reviewed manuscripts and more than 50 invited publications.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, the largest and most comprehensive campus in the State University of New York. The School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences is one of five schools that constitute UB's academic health center.