Dean's Message - September 18, 2023

Dear Members of the GSBS Community,

September is a very exciting month the arrival of new students and the beginning of the new academic year. I would like to welcome all the new students and I encourage all of you who have been here longer to welcome to reach out to them as well. There will be some changes in Neuroscience program leadership. I would like to thank Phil Haydon who is stepping down as Chair of Neuroscience and congratulate Chris Dulla as he assumes the role of Interim Chair. We will be working with the Neuroscience Program Faculty to solicit nominations and elect a successor to Chris as Neuroscience Program Director. Chris set a high standard and we expect that the new program director will maintain the commitment to excellence, humanism, social justice and professionalism in recruiting and nurturing the best students.

As many of you know, the SCOTUS decision on affirmative action is having a tremendous effect on the admissions process. Our Director of Admissions, Laura Felch, and all the program admissions directors are working diligently to incorporate guidance and best practices from the University and other Schools with Tufts to maintain our educational mission while being compliant with the law. We are confident that we will continue to recruit talented and diverse students to GSBS.

Hispanic Heritage Month has just begun. Our Tufts SACNAS chapter led by Ivan Albino Flores and Iris Montes is currently planning a GSBS-sponsored celebration event in October, with the exact details to be announced soon. We hope that you all can come and help celebrate.

I would like to say another word about our late colleague, Andrew Bohm. We lost him suddenly at the end of August and his absence continues to be felt. I am proud of how our community has rallied to support his family and to support the educational mission in his absence. I thank all the faculty who have stepped in to fill his many roles in teaching, postdoctoral education, admissions and so on. We are planning an event to honor him in October and will release more information as the plans evolve.

I would like to close by responding to the many who have been asking me about how I am adjusting to my role as Dean ad interim while continuing my previous activities as MSTP director, attending cardiologist and NIH funded investigator. My response is that it is easy to be the Dean ad interim when so many of you are pitching in to support the GSBS. I thank you all for your ongoing effort and enthusiasm.

Michael Chin, MD, PhD, Interim Dean