Washington, D.C., November 9, 2009—Deborah E. Powell, M.D., associate vice president for new medical education programs and dean emeritus of the University of Minnesota Medical School, began her one-year term today as chair of the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges), in conjunction with the association's 120th annual meeting. Dr. Powell succeeds Elliot J. Sussman, M.D., M.B.A., president and chief executive officer of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network.

Dr. Powell joined the university in 2002 and served as dean of the medical school and assistant vice president for clinical affairs until July 2009. In addition to her new role as associate vice president, she also serves as professor of laboratory medicine and pathology and holds a McKnight Presidential Leadership Chair.

A board-certified surgical pathologist and a medical educator, Dr. Powell has more than 30 years of experience in academic medicine. She has played an integral part in transforming medical education and fostering more focused investments in research at the University of Minnesota Medical School. In collaboration with the university's Institute of Technology, Dr. Powell founded the Institute for Engineering in Medicine, which aims to advance interdisciplinary research in medical devices and other biomedical engineering areas.

In 1997, she was named executive dean and vice chancellor for clinical affairs at the University of Kansas. Prior to that, she served as vice chair and director of diagnostic pathology at the University of Kentucky in Lexington before being named chair of the institution's Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.

Dr. Powell is an active member of several organizations, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Scientific Management Review Board, and was a past board member of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, as well as former president of both the American Board of Pathology and the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology. She is a former chair of the AAMC Council of Deans, a former member of the Advisory Council of the NIH Office of Research in Women's Health, and a former member of the board of trustees of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Dr. Powell received her medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine and completed her residency training at Georgetown University Medical Center and the Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health.

Thomas J. Lawley, M.D., dean and William P. Timmie professor of dermatology at Emory University School of Medicine, was named chair-elect of the AAMC today. He will succeed Dr. Powell as chair of the association next year.

Dr. Lawley was named dean in September 1996 after previously serving as interim dean and executive associate dean. In his role at Emory, he has increased school NIH-sponsored research funding nearly five-fold to more than $265 million per year, ranking Emory 15 among U.S. medical schools. Under his leadership, strategic plans for research and teaching have been implemented and a new innovative curriculum has been created.

Dr. Lawley is also a well-known expert in autoimmune skin diseases, having published more than 150 original articles and chapters. His research interests include cell biology of endothelial cells and regulation of cell adhesion molecules and inflammation.

He spent the early years of his career as a clinical investigator, serving as senior investigator at the dermatology branch of the NIH's National Cancer Institute from 1981 to 1988. Dr. Lawley later went on to become the chairman of the Department of Dermatology at Emory.

In addition to serving on various boards and committees, including NIH study section and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Council, Dr. Lawley is president of the Emory Medical Care Foundation, and is on the board of directors of the Emory-Children's Center. He is immediate past president of the Society for Investigative Dermatology and a former chair of the AAMC Council of Deans. He also serves on the board of the Children's Research Center, The Emory Clinic, and Emory Healthcare. He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, and the American Clinical and Climatologic Association.

Dr. Lawley received his medical degree from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and completed his residency training at Yale, SUNY at Buffalo, and the National Institutes of Health.

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The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association representing all 131 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and nearly 90 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 128,000 faculty members, 75,000 medical students, and 110,000 resident physicians. Additional information about the AAMC and U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at www.aamc.org/newsroom.

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