Wing hopes to fly as new BioMed dean
Cancer studies potential target for Alpert gift
George Miller
Issue date: 4/2/08 Section: Campus News
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"Our programs have risen like rockets," Wing said, speaking at a press conference in the Maddock Alumni Center. He was introduced by President Ruth Simmons and Provost David Kertzer '69 P'95 P'98, who chose Wing from a list of five names selected by an advisory search committee.
Simmons praised Wing for the "breadth of experience and expertise that will make him effective" in the Division of Biology and Medicine, saying he was well-acquainted with the National Institutes of Health - the primary source of funding for medical research at Brown - and with federal funding processes.
Wing came to Brown from the University of Pittsburgh 10 years ago as a professor and chair of the Department of Medicine, a position he will leave July 1 when he takes over from the current BioMed dean, Eli Adashi.
He will also give up his physician-in-chief positions at the Miriam Hospital and Rhode Island Hospital, along with his other positions at Brown's affiliated hospitals. He told The Herald he will shift roles in July, becoming no longer connected to the hospitals, but representing all aspects of the division, which includes, as Simmons described it, everything from introductory biology classes to its assorted doctoral programs.
Associate Professor of Medicine Stephen Gregory is Wing's research partner and has known him for 20 years, ever since Wing recruited him first to Pittsburgh and then to Brown. Though his primary responsibilities have since drifted toward the administrative, Wing "absolutely turned around research" at Brown, Gregory said. He said he has seen research growing in the Jewelry District during his time here.
"Ed Wing had a lot to do with that," he said.
Gregory watched from his office in the Jewelry District as the building at 70 Ship St., once the home of the Spiedel watch band company, was turned over to Brown and became the home of molecular medicine labs.
Gregory worked with Wing on researching the immune defenses of the liver - which clears most of the bacteria entering the bloodstream - in responding to the bacterium Listeria, using that pathogen as a model. He said Wing told him a month or two ago that he was being considered for the dean position but that with the added responsibilities, Wing "wasn't really interested" in the job. When he was offered the position and took it, though, Gregory said Wing told him of his earlier comment: "I was just joking." Wing told The Herald he has no specific plans yet, but will have "a rapid strategic planning process" to decide how to use the $100 million gift to the medical school from the Warren Alpert Foundation. He said Brown's cancer research is one likely recipient of the money.