Marc D. Basson, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., has been appointed dean of the College of Medicine. Dr. Basson will assume this role in July 2023.
Dr. Basson comes to NEOMED from the University of North Dakota’s (UND) School of Medicine and Health Sciences, where he most recently served as the senior associate dean for medicine and research. At UND, Dr. Basson was responsible for the medical program, residency and fellowship programs, and the research portfolio. He also served as the principal investigator for the Dakota Community Collaborative on Translational Activity (DaCCoTA), an NIH-funded consortium that spans five universities and multiple hospitals and clinics across North and South Dakota. Dr. Basson previously held positions at Michigan State University, where he served as chair of surgery, and at Wayne State University as associate chief of staff for surgical services at the Detroit VA Medical Center.
Dr. Basson earned his M.D. from the University of Michigan, a Ph.D. in experimental pathology from Yale, and an M.B.A. from Wayne State University.
“With its outstanding faculty and clinical network of nationally ranked hospitals, NEOMED has been training outstanding physicians for half a century while also conducting research that focuses on important community health issues,” Dr. Basson said. “The opportunity to build upon such excellent work with advanced clinical and translational research, while expanding enrollment and collaborating with the University’s Colleges of Pharmacy, Graduate Studies and Dentistry, excites me. I look forward to working with leadership, faculty, staff and students at such a pivotal time for the College of Medicine.”
Dr. Basson is a practicing general surgeon with a history of innovation in medical education. He has had continuous extramural funding for more than three decades and has published over 300 papers. Current research interests include cell signaling in benign and malignant epithelia and the influence of blood pressure variability on patient outcomes. Dr. Basson is the co-inventor on three filed patents related to focal adhesion kinase (FAK) signaling and is currently developing a series of small molecule FAK activators toward large animal testing and clinical trials to promote gastrointestinal mucosal healing.
“As a physician-scientist, educator, innovator and collaborator, Dr. Basson brings unique experiences to his position as dean,” noted President John Langell. “His abilities to diagnose and discover as well as transform approaches to medical education, practice and research are remarkable. He’s an extraordinary complement to our leadership team and our vision of being a model of excellence in innovative education and impactful research to create transformational health care leaders of tomorrow.”