Evan D. Kharasch, MD, PhD, the Russell D. and Mary B. Shelden Professor of Anesthesiology and professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, has been appointed vice chancellor for research at Washington University in St. Louis, effective April 5. He had served as interim vice chancellor since July 2009.
Washington University Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton made the announcement.
“I want to thank Ed Macias and the search committee, chaired by Professor Deanna Barch, for their efforts,” Wrighton says. “After several months of outstanding work in an interim role, we are pleased that Evan Kharasch has accepted this position permanently and know that he will serve and lead with distinction.”
Kharasch succeeds Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD, who last year left the university to become president of the State University of New York at Stonybrook. Stanley had been vice chancellor for research since 2006, when he took over the position from Theodore J. Cicero, PhD, a professor of psychiatry and of anatomy and neurobiology.
“Professor Kharasch has demonstrated an understanding of the intricacies of basic science and its practical application,” Macias says. “He is well-positioned to encourage interdisciplinary research initiatives throughout the university. I am pleased and excited that he has agreed to stay on in this significant role.”
As vice chancellor for research, Kharasch is an officer of Washington University and a member of the University Council. He is the chief officer responsible for the university’s research mission, overseeing an enterprise that generates more than $500 million annually for sponsored research from a wide array of funding sources. He also is the institutional official responsible for all compliance programs that oversee the university community’s adherence to guidelines governing laboratory animal care and use and research involving human volunteers.
His office also oversees the development of research policies, management of grants and contracts, the continuing education of faculty and staff regarding research regulations as well as issues related to conflict of interest, research integrity, intellectual property and technology transfer.
“It has been a privilege and a pleasure to have served the university on an interim basis for the last several months,” Kharasch says. “The experience of working with the faculty, department heads, deans and senior university leadership as well as the outstanding and dedicated team of individuals in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research solidified my interest in continuing in the permanent position to foster innovation and excellence in our research endeavors.
“I appreciate the confidence of Chancellor Wrighton, Provost Ed Macias, Professor Deanna Barch and the other members of the search committee,” Kharasch says.
Kharasch has been the director of the Department of Anesthesiology’s Division of Clinical and Translational Research since he arrived at the university in 2005. In 2007, he was awarded the Shelden Professorship. His own research interests include basic, translational and clinical pharmacology, with an emphasis on mechanisms and clinical aspects of drug disposition, interactions, toxicity and pharmacogenetics, working toward a better understanding of individual differences in response to drugs.
A Chicago native, Kharasch earned a bachelor’s degree in medical sciences, a doctorate in pharmacology and a medical degree from Northwestern University in Chicago. He then completed an internship, residency and a research fellowship in anesthesiology at the University of Washington in Seattle before joining its faculty in 1988.
Kharasch has received various honors and awards throughout his career and is one of 23 inaugural members of the Honorary Academy of Mentors for the American Society of Anesthesiologists Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research.
“We were very impressed with Professor Kharasch, both as a scientist and as an administrator,” says Barch, PhD, professor of psychology in Arts & Sciences and chair of the search committee. “We conducted a thorough, national search over several months, and in evaluating the candidates for the position, we determined that he was a natural choice. Further, there was the added bonus that he has spent several months on the job already as interim vice chancellor and gained important hands-on experience.”
Kharasch is the author of more than 180 scientific articles and also is a co-editor of two textbooks on anesthetic pharmacology.
Washington University School of Medicine
Washington University School of Medicine’s 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked third in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.