Experimental Medicine

The Department of Internal Medicine recently established a Section of Experimental Medicine with the major purpose to expand and coordinate basic and clinical research with a translational focus. David M. Pollock, Ph.D., Regents Professor, is the Section Chief with Jennifer S. Pollock, Ph.D. Weiss Professor, and Jennifer C. Sullivan, Ph.D. Assistant Professor as part of the founding faculty. Paul O'Connor, Ph.D., is a new Assistant Professor who just joined the section and another faculty search is currently being conducted. This is an experienced group with an outstanding international reputation. In addition to continuing to pursue their own research, they provide mentorship to faculty and trainees, investigational resources for members of the Department of Internal Medicine and other clinical departments, a resource for collaborative interactions within the University, and input into strategic growth of the university’s research programs. This group has considerable expertise in areas related to sickle cell disease including cardiovascular and kidney diseases. They maintain an exceptional track record of NHLBI funding including two Program Project Grants, several RO1 grants, and a T32 training grant. They have been extremely successful with American Heart Association funding, in particular, with pre-doctoral, post-doctoral, Scientist Development grants. Dr. Jennifer Pollock also is Director of the MD/PhD program within the University System of Georgia and is past director of the Vascular Biology PhD program. Dr. Sullivan is currently co-director of the Vascular Biology program and course director for two graduate level courses, one in Fundamentals of Vascular Biology and the other in Experimental Therapeutics. The latter course deals with drug discovery and development and has been utilized for a number of years by clinical fellows including those in the MSTP program. This group has demonstrated an extraordinary capacity to mentor and promote the career development of students, trainees and faculty. We are excited about this new emphasis on research that this section brings to the Department.