Dr. Keith A. Joiner, the director of Yale's Investigative Medicine Program, will become the new dean of the UA College of Medicine in March, officials announced yesterday.
"Dr. Joiner is a great selection for the job," said Provost George Davis. "He has a background that bridges research, significant administration experience and business perspectives."
As the dean for the College of Medicine, Joiner will oversee 19 departments at UA.
"He is one of the most uniquely qualified people we have seen," said Ray Woosley, the vice president for Health Sciences. "He is not only a competent physician, but he is also a bench scientist, and he has a MBA in health-care administration."
With this combination, people in the college hope that Joiner will evolve a modern curriculum that sets students up for the challenging practice of medicine, Woosley said.
Joiner is replacing Dr. Kenneth Ryan, who has served as Interim Dean of the College of Medicine since July 2002.
"This is one of the most challenging responsibilities in the university, because of the challenges that lie in academic medicine," Davis said. "He is going to have to work magic."
Joiner will earn $360,000, which is what the last dean of the College of Medicine earned.
It is also the median for dean's salaries, according to the Association of Academic Health Centers.
As the new dean, he will also be expected to improve connections between the university and life sciences, Davis said.
Arizona is a difficult place to practice medicine because malpractice insurance is high and a large number of people are covered by HMOs. This provides little payout for physicians, causing many of them to relocate, Woosley said.
This puts tremendous financial pressure on the physicians who work at the UA. Joiner will closely monitor the reimbursement process, working closely with University Medical Center and University Physicians to ensure that physicians stay in Arizona.
Joiner not only has a background in business, but he is also a renowned physician and scientist who focuses heavily on research.
With his laboratory team at Yale, he has been studying the parasites that cause focal nervous system infections in AIDS patients, according to the press release.
He is also a world expert in research on malaria and oversees an infectious disease section at Yale, Woosley said.
Joiner earned his bachelor's degree with honors from the University of Chicago in 1970.