New Associate Dean Steers Graduate Education at School of Medicine

Edith M. Lord, Ph.D.

With approximately 430 Ph.D. students enrolled in the School of Medicine and Dentistry and close to 125 in master’s programs, Edith M. Lord, Ph.D., professor of Microbiology and Immunology, and of Oncology, has assumed the vital role of school’s new senior associate dean for graduate education.

A faculty member since 1976, Lord will direct the School’s Ph.D. and master’s degree programs, as well as its postdoctoral fellows. She succeeds Paul L. LaCelle, M.D., who will return to full-time research in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Lord’s track record includes leading graduate studies programs in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology since 2006, as well as directing the school’s NIH-funded Post-baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP), which encourages underrepresented minorities to pursue research doctorates and equips them for careers as scientists and leaders in the biomedical community. A resourceful problem-solver, she had already set innovative goals that build on the strength of the programs, including creating a postdoctoral office to support and guide fellows, and developing new courses to meet the unique career objectives of students and faculty.

David S. Guzick, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the School, said he was pleased the search committee recommended Lord for the position with such enthusiasm. “During a tenure at the medical school that has extended over 30 years, she has demonstrated, time and time again, her excellence as a scientist and her passion for graduate education,” Guzick said. “At a time when graduate education in biomedical science is becoming increasingly important, Dr. Lord has developed a thoughtful and creative set of short- and long-term goals that will greatly enhance Rochester’s contribution to training the next generation of biomedical scientists.”

Lord will maintain her research, which focuses on immune responses that can limit tumor growth, and also on the unique microenvironment present within growing tumors. She has published, as author or co-author, more than 100 scientific articles.

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