UCSF Names Hawgood as Interim Dean of the School of Medicine

Sam Hawgood, MB, BS, chair of the Department of Pediatrics in the UCSF School of Medicine and physician in chief of UCSF Children's Hospital, was named interim dean of the UCSF School of Medicine, effective immediately. He succeeds David A. Kessler, MD, who has left his office as medical school dean and vice chancellor for medical affairs on December 14. Chancellor J. Michael Bishop, MD, informed department chairs, directors of organized research units and faculty of Kessler's departure in an email sent today. "I thank him for his energetic service to the University and his substantial achievements on behalf of UCSF," Chancellor Bishop wrote of Kessler. "Professor Sam Hawgood has graciously agreed to serve as interim dean, effective immediately," Bishop wrote. "I ask that you give him your wholehearted support. An international search for a successor to Dean Kessler will be initiated promptly." Hawgood was named chair of pediatrics in 2004 and physician in chief of UCSF Children's Hospital, one of the nation's top children's hospitals. He also has been instrumental in laying plans for construction of a new children's hospital at UCSF Mission Bay. He is currently president of the UCSF Medical Group, which represents more than 900 physicians at UCSF. Hawgood joined the pediatric faculty at UCSF in 1984 and led the Division of Neonatology from 1994 to 2006. He is also a senior staff member in the UCSF Cardiovascular Research Institute. As chief of the Division of Neonatology, Hawgood directed the William H. Tooley Intensive Care Nursery at UCSF Children's Hospital, one of the first neonatal intensive care units in the United States and an international model for treatment of premature and critically ill infants. He is past president of the Society for Pediatric Research and a trustee of the International Pediatric Research Foundation. As a scientist, Hawgood has a special interest in infants' developing lungs. He directs a major National Institutes of Health grant supporting a range of UCSF projects that seek a new, basic understanding of lung biology and pulmonary diseases. The UCSF Department of Pediatrics ranks among the nation's best for pediatric training. Residents and fellows trained in pediatrics and its subspecialties at UCSF go on to leadership positions in medical institutions around the world. Research led by pediatrics faculty ranges from studies of the molecular basis of heart defects and improved treatments for high-risk newborns to the study of adolescent risk-taking behavior. Hawgood graduated from the University of Queensland in Australia with first-class honors. He completed his pediatric training at the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane, Australia, and his neonatal fellowship at the Queen Victoria Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, and at UCSF. He began his laboratory research career working with UCSF Professor John Clements, MD, whose work has revolutionized the way physiologists and physicians view the workings of the normal and the diseased lung. Clements recalls that Hawgood's progress as a scientist was "meteoric," adding that "...within five years, he had established himself as a world leader in the study of pulmonary surfactant apoproteins." First discovered by Clements, surfactants are essential to keeping the lungs of all mammals inflated as they breathe out. Hawgood and his research group have used biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology to discover additional roles for surfactants, including a previously unsuspected role in innate immunity. Hawgood and his wife moved to the United States in 1982 from their native Australia, expecting to stay only two years. "It took us six years to realize we were here to stay," Hawgood said. Related Links: Statement by UCSF and University of California Office of General Counsel Concerning the Leadership of the UCSF School of Medicine
UCSF Today, Dec. 17, 2007 Sam Hawgood, Neonatologist UCSF School of Medicine