Basson new associate dean for medicine at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Document Type

News Article

Publication Date

6-29-2015

Campus Unit

School of Medicine & Health Sciences

Abstract

GRAND FORKS, N.D.—Marc D. Basson, MD, PhD, MBA, FACS, has been named the associate dean for medicine at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

He is an educator, scientist and surgeon who is recognized internationally for his research on the extracellular physical forces that affect intracellular signaling in cancer biology and the healing of the gastrointestinal tract of critically ill or injured patients. Basson previously served as professor and chair of the Department of Surgery, director of the Program for Surgical and Biomedical Research, and assistant dean for faculty development in research in the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University in Lansing.

As associate dean for medicine, Basson will help coordinate the school’s teaching, clinical and research efforts related to medical students, residents, and practicing physicians. All of the clinical departmental chairs as well as the regional campus deans will report to Basson. His position is analogous and equivalent to that of Dr. Tom Mohr, who was recently named the associate dean for health sciences; all of the health science departmental chairs now report to Mohr.

Basson will begin work at UND on August 17, 2015.

“We are fortunate indeed to be able to recruit an outstanding individual of the caliber of Dr. Basson,” said Joshua Wynne, MD, MBA, MPH, UND vice president for health affairs and dean of the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences. “Marc is the consummate quadruple threat—he is an accomplished and clinically active surgeon, a first-rate scientist, a revered teacher, and an experienced administrator. Additionally, he brings a unique fusion of experiences at both a large research-intensive medical school like Yale University as well as more recent experience at a smaller community-based medical school like Michigan State. Both of those experiences will stand him in good stead here in North Dakota.”

“I am excited to be joining the University of North Dakota,” Basson said. “The School of Medicine and Health Sciences at UND has made great progress in the past several years under Dr. Wynne’s leadership and with the strong support of North Dakota’s physicians and hospitals as well as the communities in which UND trains students and residents. This community partnership will be essential to UND’s success as we build the UND reputation as a leader in clinical training for students, residents and practicing physicians and as we synergistically foster the research enterprise.”

Basson earned his medical doctorate from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, completed his residency training in surgery at a Yale University-affiliated program and then did a further postdoctoral research fellowship in surgery at Yale. He also earned his doctoral degree in experimental pathology at Yale University. He received a master’s in business administration from Wayne State University in Detroit. Basson has received major research support from the American Cancer Society, the Department of Veterans Affairs and several private foundations as well as receiving the National Institutes of Health’s highest-level grant funding. As a teacher, Basson has mentored two dozen surgeons and professors who now teach and practice around the world, from the United States to Germany, India and China. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Omega Alpha, and Beta Gamma Sigma honor societies for undergraduate, medical school, and business school, respectively. He serves on the Academic Committee for the Shanghai Wu Mengchao Medical Science Foundation. Basson is also past president of the Association of Veterans Affairs Surgeons, which is dedicated to improving patient care, medical education and research in surgery in the VA.

Basson has edited or co-edited three books on medical ethics and humanism in medicine. Basson reviews for numerous scientific journals as well as NIH and VA grant review panels, and serves on the editorial boards of 12 journals dedicated to publishing research on cancer, gastroenterology and surgery. He is editor-in-chief of Cancer Growth and Metastasis, a journal that focuses on developments in the biology and treatment of malignant disease. He is the author or co-author of more than 400 peer-reviewed articles, abstracts and book chapters.

“Ultimately, our goal is to improve the health of the citizens of North Dakota as well as the nation by training outstanding physicians and asking and answering important research questions related to patient health and welfare,” Basson said. “The UND faculty is a vibrant and dedicated group, and I look forward to working with them.”

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