Vice President for Health Sciences, Jacobs School Dean

Dear university community:

We are very pleased to announce the appointment of Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, as UB’s vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Dr. Brashear begins in her new roles December 6, 2021.

Dr. Brashear’s appointment results from an extensive international search that yielded a pool of highly competitive candidates. Currently serving as dean of the School of Medicine at University of California, Davis, Dr. Brashear brings to these new roles extensive academic and administrative leadership experience, exceptional research accomplishments, a longstanding commitment to inclusion and social justice, and an innovative, ambitious vision for both the Jacobs School and all of UB’s health science schools. Under her leadership, we are confident that our health sciences schools will continue as global leaders in medical and health care education, training, research and clinical care.

At UC Davis, Dr. Brashear heads one of the nation’s top-tier medical schools. The school has achieved record research awards of $368 million under her leadership and, last year, more than doubled clinical trial awards.

An internationally renowned researcher, Dr. Brashear has received continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health since 2008 for her groundbreaking studies on a group of rare neurologic disorders. During her 30-year career, she has led over 40 clinical trials aimed at developing potential treatments for spasticity after stroke and cervical dystonia—work that led to the approval of three forms of botulinum toxin to treat patients with disabling muscle spasms.

Prior to serving as dean of UC Davis, Dr. Brashear was the chair of neurology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine for 15 years, during which time she was responsible for the near doubling of the faculty. A native of Indiana, Dr. Brashear graduated from the Indiana University School of Medicine, where she completed her residency in neurology and became a professor of neurology. In addition, Dr. Brashear holds an MBA, with a focus on health-sector management, from Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Dr. Brashear serves on the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and the McKnight Brain Research Foundation and has been a member of the board of the American Academy of Neurology as well as the American Neurological Association.

A powerful advocate for promoting diverse leaders in medicine, Dr. Brashear is a frequent lecturer on the topic and was instrumental in creating one of the first national leadership programs in neurology for women.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to co-chairs Dr. Nancy Nielsen and Dr. Timothy Murphy, and all of the members of the search committee, for their outstanding service, which was vital to the successful outcome of this search. We would also like to take this opportunity to again thank Dr. Michael Cain for his exemplary leadership of the Jacobs School and all of UB’s health sciences schools, and for his willingness to continue serving as vice president and dean until Dr. Brashear arrives in December.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Brashear to these important UB leadership roles. For more details on this appointment, please view the full announcement here.

Sincerely,

Satish K. Tripathi
President
 

A. Scott Weber
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs