Newswise — Bethesda, MD – J. Stephen Dumler, MD, has been selected to chair the Department of Pathology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences’ (USU) F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, “America’s Medical School,” effective in January 2016.

Dumler will lead a greatly expanded academic enterprise that aligns the academic and service work of the Department of Pathology at USU, the Department of Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and the Joint Pathology Center, the successor organization to the former Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.

Dumler, who is currently a professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, succeeds Robert Friedman, MD, who retired in 2014 after 34 years as chair of the department.

Dumler received his M.D. degree from the University of Maryland at Baltimore. His professional training includes residencies in anatomic pathology and laboratory medicine from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a pathology residency and postdoctoral fellowship in Infectious Disease Pathology from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Before joining the University of Maryland’s faculty in 2013, Dumler was a member of the faculty of The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine for 17 years, and at the University of Maryland School of Medicine for six years.

His professional and research interests include vector-borne pathogens and tick-borne bacterial diseases, including an improved understanding of the pathogenesis of rickettsial infections such as anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and typhus. He has also made important contributions to research in medical microbiology and parasitology, especially in the development of molecular diagnostics for etiologic agents of acute febrile infections worldwide, including malaria, relapsing fever, and African sleeping sickness, among others.

The alignment of the pathology activities and personnel of the Uniformed Services University, WRNMMC and the Joint Pathology Center will create one of the most formidable academic pathology programs in the world.

“The expanded department Steve Dumler is coming to USU to lead combines the outstanding education and cutting-edge research capabilities of our existing Department of Pathology with Walter Reed National Military Medical Center’s world-class Clinical and Anatomic Pathology services and a renowned Pathology residency program,” said Arthur Kellermann, MD, MPH, dean of the Hébert School of Medicine. “In addition, USU’s and WRNMMC’s programs will work closely with the Joint Pathology Center—the federal government's premier pathology reference center supporting the Military Health System, the Department of Defense and other federal agencies. The synergy this combination creates will produce an academic and clinical powerhouse that will provide outstanding service to ill and injured warfighters, advance Pathology research and education and training, and promote high-impact innovations in the United States and worldwide. Steve Dumler’s energy, vision and leadership skills make him the ideal choice to lead this formidable department. We are pleased to welcome him to ‘America’s Medical School.’”

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The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), founded by an act of Congress in 1972, is the academic heart of the Military Health System. USU students are primarily active duty uniformed officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Public Health Service who receive specialized education in tropical and infectious diseases, TBI and PTSD, disaster response and humanitarian assistance, global health, and acute trauma care. A large percentage of the university’s more than 5,300 physician and 700 advanced practice nursing alumni are supporting operations around the world, offering their leadership and expertise. USU also has graduate programs in biomedical sciences and public health committed to excellence in research, and in oral biology. The University's research program covers a wide range of clinical and basic science important to both the military and public health. For more information, visit www.usuhs.edu.