The School of Medicine has named Jeffrey R. Martens, PhD, as the new Senior Associate Dean for Research.
The University of Virginia School of Medicine has named Jeffrey R. Martens, PhD, an internationally recognized pharmacology researcher, leader, and educator, as the new Senior Associate Dean for Research. Martens will assume his new role on May 15, 2023.
“Professor Martens will be a key contributor in the transformation of the School of Medicine and UVA Health medical research program, while also managing a rapidly growing portfolio of resources, innovative projects, and talent for the School of Medicine and the greater University,” said Melina R. Kibbe, MD, the dean of the UVA School of Medicine and chief health affairs officer for UVA Health.
Martens comes to UVA from the University of Florida College of Medicine, where he has served as chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics for the past eight years. He has driven a 10-fold increase in outside research funding during his tenure. He also spearheaded collaboration within the College of Medicine as well as with research centers and institutes across the University of Florida. In addition, the academic and scientific achievements of his faculty resulted in U.S. News & World Report ranking for Pharmacology and Toxicology at UF in the top 17 nationally, the top nine among public universities and 50th internationally.
The impact of Martens’ research is demonstrated through his long list of peer-reviewed publications and the fact that his research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and the American Heart Association, among others, since 1990. Dr. Martens’ research is focused in two areas of pharmacology and therapeutics, including sensory neuropharmacology and cardiovascular pharmacology, with work in both the heart and olfactory systems.
Martens holds longstanding memberships in several professional societies, including the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics and the Association of Chemoreception Sciences. He also has served in several editorial board positions for scientific publications, most recently as an editorial advisory board member for Molecular Pharmacology.
Martens earned his bachelor’s degree and doctorate from the University of Florida and did his post-doctoral training at Colorado State University. Before joining the faculty at the University of Florida, Martens was a faculty member at Oregon Health & Science University and the University of Michigan.
“This position at UVA is a new and different opportunity to lead across department boundaries and integrate the School of Medicine’s excellent clinical, translational and basic science efforts,” Martens said. “I am excited to collaborate with the School of Medicine’s world-class faculty and join a respected leadership team at a time of transformational growth.”
He succeeds Linda Duska, MD, MPH, who has served as interim Senior Associate Dean for Research since March 15, 2021. “The strategic guidance, leadership and program oversight Dr. Duska has provided to the School of Medicine has been invaluable,” Kibbe said. “I have extraordinary gratitude for her dedication and commitment to the School of Medicine and UVA Health.”
Duska will continue in her roles as Associate Dean for Clinical Research in the School of Medicine, Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and as a gynecologic oncologist at the UVA Cancer Center.
