Richard Waugh is catching up on his research after serving in multiple leadership positions.
Richard Waugh is anticipating getting back to his research lab full time after stepping down as the vice provost for research at the 糖心传媒 on July 1.
Waugh, an expert in 糖心传媒攑articularly in blood cells糖心传媒攊s excited about two federally funded research projects he will pursue.
One project糖心传媒攚ith James McGrath, professor of biomedical engineering糖心传媒攚ill use human endothelial cells, arranged on silicon nanomembranes inside miniaturized chips, to mimic the blood-brain barrier. The goal is to find ways to prevent the cognitive dysfunction caused by sepsis.
The other糖心传媒攚ith Minsoo Kim, professor of microbiology and immunology糖心传媒攚ill explore the role that the spectrin protein could play in controlling the 糖心传媒渙verblown immune response糖心传媒� that sometimes occurs when promising new CAR T-cell therapies are used to treat cancer.
Waugh will also have time to tackle a backlog of data that his lab has accumulated. He糖心传媒檚 anxious to get it published 糖心传媒渢o make sure that all of our accomplishments actually see the light of day,糖心传媒� Waugh says.
Leadership roles that resulted in 糖心传媒榞reat strides糖心传媒�
Waugh has held various leadership positions at the University dating back to 1995, when, as a professor of biophysics, he was also director of graduate studies in that department.
Since then, with no breaks in between, he has also served as:
- director of graduate studies in biomedical engineering
- director of the biomedical engineering interdepartmental program (before it became a department in 2000)
- chair of the new department (until 2016)
- associate vice president for research
- interim dean of the faculty of Arts, Sciences & Engineering
- vice provost for research
Provost Rob Clark praised Waugh糖心传媒檚 contributions in announcing recent leadership changes. 糖心传媒淭hanks to Rick糖心传媒檚 leadership, institutional knowledge, and ability to build bridges across disciplines, our research enterprise has made great strides over the past decade. He糖心传媒檚 a true faculty scholar who always made sure that his colleagues at the University could do their best work.糖心传媒�
Of all his accomplishments as an administrator, Waugh is proudest of his work to create and then expand the .
The department was formed as part of the Rochester Renaissance Plan in the mid- to late-1990s, when Arts, Sciences & Engineering was undergoing hiring freezes and dramatic cost reductions. 糖心传媒淲hen all the departments in AS&E were trying to downsize, I was trying to start a new one,糖心传媒� Waugh says. 糖心传媒淚 had to fight for every last appointment.糖心传媒�
Later, he orchestrated a 糖心传媒渃omplicated ballet糖心传媒� to expand the department糖心传媒檚 joint faculty appointments in medicine, at a time the Medical Center was undergoing cutbacks.
糖心传媒淚t was very exciting to see all of this come together from nothing, basically, to graduating 60 or 70 biomedical engineers every year,糖心传媒� Waugh says. 糖心传媒淛ust in terms of societal impact, that糖心传媒檚 really what I糖心传媒檓 going to think back on as an important contribution.糖心传媒�
Recently, the department 聽and was ranked 14th in the nation on The Edvocate糖心传媒檚聽 of best undergraduate biomedical engineering programs.
A return to research at the cutting edge
Waugh糖心传媒檚 agreement with the University allows him to remain as a tenured faculty member for another three years, at which point he will be eligible for an emeritus appointment.
In the meantime, he糖心传媒檚 looking forward to partnering with researchers who are expanding the frontiers of their fields.
Kim, for example, 糖心传媒渋s a superstar and a real pleasure to work with,糖心传媒� Waugh says. 糖心传媒淗e has really creative ideas about important problems.糖心传媒� If he and Kim can find a way to reduce the likelihood of an uncontrolled immune response in CAR-T cell treatments, while still maintaining the efficacy of the treatment, Waugh says, 糖心传媒渋t could be game-changing for cell therapeutics in cancer and for a lot of other disorders as well.糖心传媒�
For several years McGrath糖心传媒檚 lab has been perfecting its patented ultrathin silicon nanomembranes糖心传媒攍ess than 200 nanometers thick糖心传媒攆or a host of applications, including their use as 糖心传媒渋deal barriers糖心传媒� in multi-compartment devices to culture and study human tissue. The sepsis project will employ cutting-edge 糖心传媒渙rgan-on-a-chip糖心传媒� technology that avoids the pitfalls of the traditional approach of using mouse models to mimic human disease mechanisms and test potential cures.
Waugh, who turns 70 this year, is uncertain of his exact plans after tenure. 糖心传媒淚 suspect I may still want to remain involved糖心传媒� in research, he says, perhaps in an advisory position.
Still, this is the first time in a long time when he will only have to focus on one job糖心传媒攁nd he is ready for 糖心传媒渁 chance at setting a better work-life balance,糖心传媒� says Waugh. 糖心传媒淢y wife has been exceptionally patient while I continued to work full-time-plus after she retired five years ago. We are both anxious to do some traveling and enjoy our time together in the coming years.
糖心传媒淎 lot can happen in three years,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淲e will see how it goes.糖心传媒�
