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Dear Colleagues, 

Today, I am very excited to announce the appointment of Mariano Garcia-Blanco, MD, PhD, as the new chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology effective January 1, 2023. Dr. Garcia-Blanco earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and his MD and PhD from Yale University. He also completed a fellowship at Massachusetts Institute of Technology before joining Duke University. He comes to UVA from the University of Texas Medical Branch, where he has served as chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology since September 2014. Prior to his appointment in Texas, he was a faculty member at Duke University from 1990 to 2014.

A founder of five biotechnology companies and holder of more than 11 patents, Dr. Garcia-Blanco was until this year a member of the United Nations’ Council of Scientific Advisers for the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology and has previously been a member of the National Institutes of Health’s National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council. He has also been elected to the Association of American Physicians and named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Microbiology, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

As a nationally known researcher and leader in his field, Dr. Garcia-Blanco has had a significant impact on human health and disease with his research. Continuously funded by the NIH since the early 1990s, Dr. Garcia-Blanco has co-authored more than 190 peer-reviewed scientific publications. His research has focused on how the interactions between proteins and RNA regulate gene expression in cells and viruses. His projects have ranged from examining ways to dial the immune system — down in autoimmune diseases and up in cancer — to identifying new targets to treat diseases caused by flaviviruses, such as yellow fever, Zika and West Nile. His work has also shed important light on multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune disorders.

As an educator, Dr. Garcia-Blanco has been educating undergraduate, graduate and medical students on topics such as gene regulation, nucleic acids, cancer biology, and autoimmunity, among others.  He has mentored over 20 doctoral students and 40 postdoctoral fellows throughout his career and fostered the career development of countless junior faculty.  Along with his research and teaching at the University of Texas Medical Branch, he is an adjunct professor of emerging infectious diseases at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore. 

I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to Amy Bouton, PhD, who had served as interim chair of the Department since October 1, 2021.  Her commitment and dedication to the department has been clear to all and very much appreciated.

Together, I look forward to working with Dr. Garcia-Blanco whose inclusive style and commitment to servant leadership will help our expert team conduct cutting-edge research of vital importance with far-reaching impacts. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Garcia-Blanco to UVA.

Sincerely,

Melina R. Kibbe, MD
Dean, UVA School of Medicine
James Carroll Flippin Professor of Medical Science
Chief Health Affairs Officer, UVA Health