Alexander G. Bassuk has been named chair and departmental executive officer of the Stead Family Department of Pediatrics in the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. Bassuk also will serve as physician-in-chief of UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Bassuk will begin his new role on Sept. 1, pending approval by the Iowa Board of Regents. He currently serves as a professor in the Stead Family Department of Pediatrics and is director of the department’s Division of Pediatric Neurology. He also holds a secondary appointment in the Carver College of Medicine Department of Neurology.
“Dr. Bassuk has been an effective leader in the Stead Family Department of Pediatrics-as a faculty member and as a division director-and he’s an outstanding choice to lead the entire department,” Brooks Jackson, UI vice president for medical affairs and the Tyrone D. Artz Dean of the Carver College of Medicine, stated in a release. “He’s highly respected among the department’s faculty and staff, and he has an impressive record as a clinician, researcher, educator, and administrator. I’m pleased for the department and our entire organization.”
Board-certified in pediatrics and neurology with a special qualification in child neurology, Dr. Bassuk joined the UI faculty in 2007. His research focuses on the neuroanatomy, molecular biology, protein biochemistry, and genetics of human disease. Specifically, he and his research colleagues study genetic and molecular mechanisms of epilepsy, autism, inflammation, retinal diseases, and traumatic brain injury. A recipient of numerous National Institutes of Health grants, he has authored or co-authored more than 140 peer-reviewed research articles.
The Stead Family Department of Pediatrics has more than 170 faculty members and offers a three-year pediatric residency program and 12 subspecialty fellowship programs. As chair and physician-in-chief, Dr. Bassuk will work in partnership with Pamela Johnson-Carlson, chief administrative officer for UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital.
