Newswise — SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS (February 3, 2017) – Texas Biomedical Research Institute announced that its Board of Trustees has named Dr. Larry Schlesinger as the Institute’s new President and CEO. Dr. Schlesinger will take the helm of Texas Biomed effective May 31, 2017. He is currently the Chair of the Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity and Director of the Center for Microbial Interface Biology at Ohio State University.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Schlesinger as the new President and CEO of Texas Biomed,” said Dr. James O. Rubin, Board Chair. “After an extensive search, Dr. Schlesinger stood out as a man of vision, purpose and confidence who can lead Texas Biomed into a new era of growth and global prestige in scientific research. He is an eminent researcher in his own right and will bring with him a team of experts and funding which will greatly grow our efforts to combat tuberculosis.”
Dr. Schlesinger has more than 30 years of experience in medicine and infectious disease research. He is an internationally recognized medical scientist with significant expertise on the origin and development of tuberculosis and other airborne communicable infections of great concern to human health globally. He and his research team have made major discoveries on the human immune response to pathogens, and he is translating these into host-directed drug discovery platforms. His laboratory studies innate immunity to these infectious pathogens by focusing on their interactions with human mononuclear phagocytes, which are cells that protect the body by ingesting harmful cells, bacteria or foreign particles. Dr. Schlesinger will continue his research at Texas Biomed, bringing with him a team of experienced researchers.
“I am honored to join Texas Biomed at an exciting time for biomedical research,” said Dr. Schlesinger “This organization has a unique, pioneering history, and I look forward to being a part of that history and the Institute’s future. Texas Biomed’s research faculty has earned worldwide recognition and support for the quality and impact of their research. I am excited to join them as both a scientific colleague and executive leader. The Institute has a reputation for dealing with some of the most difficult medical issues in the world, and I look forward to what we can all accomplish together in the future.”
Dr. Schlesinger is a prolific scholar, having authored more than 170 peer-reviewed articles, served as editor of two books and has written several chapters in leading textbooks on tuberculosis and lung biology. He has been continually funded for nearly 30 years by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other federal agencies, as well as private foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He is a current NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Council member, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Association of American Physicians and American Academy of Microbiology, and OSU’s 2011 Distinguished Scholar and 2015 College of Medicine Distinguished Professor. He also has a long and distinguished track record as an outstanding educator and mentor, leading training grants and fostering the careers of more than 170 trainees, many of whom have gone on to successful careers in academia, industry and public service. He plays a major role on a national level in the Association of American Medical Colleges on the training of M.D. Ph.D. students.
Dr. Schlesinger earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Cornell University and his medical degree from Rutgers Medical School. He served his residency and chief residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Hospitals in Ann Arbor, Mich., and then was a Clinical Fellow in infectious disease and a Research Fellow in bacterial pathogenesis at the UCLA Center for the Health Sciences and UCLA –San Fernando Valley Medical Program in Los Angeles, Calif.
Dr. Schlesinger is married to Judy Schlesinger, and they have two children, Michael and Eva.
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Texas Biomed is one of the world's leading independent biomedical research institutions dedicated to advancing health worldwide through innovative biomedical research. Texas Biomed partners with hundreds of researchers and institutions around the world to develop vaccines and therapeutics against viral pathogens causing AIDS, hepatitis, herpes, hemorrhagic fevers and parasitic diseases. The Institute also has programs in the genetics of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and other disorders. For more information, please visit www.TxBiomed.org.
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