About

Jeffrey R. Martens, PhD
Senior Associate Dean for Research
Professor of Pharmacology

As Senior Associate Dean for Research, Dr. Martens oversees basic, clinical and translational research programs, centers and strategic initiatives; has joint (with the Senior Associate Dean for Education) oversight for the graduate student and MSTP programs; oversees new buildings and facilities for research and intramural funding mechanisms, leads strategic planning and implementation for research, and participates in strategic faculty recruitment and retention. With the Office of the VP for Research, he works to develop and promote cross-grounds efforts in biomedical sciences.

Linda R. Duska, MD, MPH
Associate Dean for Clinical Research
Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Mary Peace McRae, PharmD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience
Assistant Dean for Research, School of Medicine

Dr. McRae is an NIH-funded principal investigator studying the interplay of HIV and opioids on factors that impact antiretroviral efficacy within the brain. As the Assistant Dean for Research, she provides strategic, tactical and operational leadership for the research initiatives of the School of Medicine. Her role includes fostering collaborations within and outside of the School of Medicine, advising on policy, procedural and operational aspects for the research enterprise, and supporting the development of new research infrastructure.

The Office for Research supports and promotes basic, clinical, and translational investigation in the School of Medicine (SOM) and facilitates research synergies across UVA by leading or participating in:

• strategic initiatives such as the Health System’s recent Integrated Space Planning process;
• the development and maintenance of SOM research infrastructure:  research core facilities, research buildings, research information technology, etc.;
• the administration of SOM internal funding programs;
• the management of SOM research space;
• development of research policies; and
• coordination efforts with other UVA schools, the Office of the Provost, and the Vice President for Research, and building research alliances across the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The office works closely with the SOM Office of Grants and Contracts, which helps faculty and administrators apply for and manage sponsored awards in support of the research and other scholarly activities of our investigator community.

Our overarching research goal is to stimulate biomedical discovery that betters the human condition.  A recent strategic planning process and the school’s Strategic Hiring Initiative have identified seven research themes that we wish to sustain and cultivate.  Each of these themes embraces investigations from foundational discovery to clinical trials and population studies.

• Cancer
• Cardiovascular medicine
• Metabolic disorders
• Neurosciences
• Organ transplant
• Precision medicine
• Regenerative medicine

We also identified five enabling disciplines that intersect with and support several of these areas of research:

• Imaging
• Outcomes/population sciences
• Genomics/bioinformatics
• Immunology
• Infectious diseases/microbiology

We expect that new areas of investigation will occur at the intersections between these themes and disciplines.  Through strategic faculty hiring, partnerships with other UVA schools, and internal funding and training programs that emphasize collaborative and team science, we hope to increase cross-disciplinary research that spans basic to translational to clinical science, and effectively compete for national centers and multidisciplinary awards.