Colasurdo Named Dean of Medical School

Dr. Giuseppe N. Colasurdo, chair of the Department of Pediatrics, has been named dean of the Medical School, effective Sept. 1.

Colasurdo, an internationally known researcher and clinician, joined the Medical School’s faculty in 1995 as an assistant professor of pediatrics in the Division of Pulmonary Medicine. He became the division head in 1997 and has directed the fellowship training program in pediatric pulmonary medicine since 2001.

“Dr. Colasurdo will be a great dean of our Medical School,” said Dr. James T. Willerson, president of the UT Health Science Center. “He is an outstanding leader, physician-scientist, educator and builder. He will build on the very important earlier efforts of Drs. Jerry Wolinsky, Stan Schultz, Max Buja, John Ribble, Cheves Smythe, and others and will lead our Medical School into the very top echelons of medical schools in the country in a relatively short period of time.”

Dr. Jerry S. Wolinsky, professor and holder of the Bartels Family and Opal C. Rankin Professorships in Neurology, has served as the interim dean since June 2006. Prior to that, Dr. Stanley Schultz was dean from June 2004 until he stepped down for health reasons.

“We are very grateful to Dr. Jerry Wolinsky, who stepped in as interim dean and has worked very hard to achieve progress in our Medical School, recruiting some excellent new leaders, developing new programs and being concerned with financial and compliance matters,” Willerson said. “Dr. Wolinsky will now return to his original role as a physician-scientist and educator with our gratitude and deep appreciation.”

Wolinsky commended Colasurdo’s appointment. “Over the course of the last 15 months I have come to appreciate Dr. Colasurdo’s talents, enthusiasm, energy, and wisdom and agree that he is an appropriate academician who can help chart the course of the school over the next phase of its development,” Wolinsky said.

“The UT Health Science Center at Houston has a solid foundation, and our numerous strengths and talents will lead to a future of excellence in our educational and research programs,” Colasurdo said. “The clinical endeavor will be powered by a strong partnership with a national leader in health care, the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, and will continue to build centers of excellence led by the UT physicians.”

Colasurdo, physician-in-chief at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, specializes in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), pediatric asthma, and other lung disorders in infants and children.

Colasurdo earned his medical degree at G. D’Annunzio School of Medicine in Chieti, Italy, and completed his residency training at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. He completed his fellowship training in pulmonary medicine at the University of Colorado Health Science Center and the National Jewish Research and Medical Center in Denver.

Colasurdo will remain the chairman in the Department of Pediatrics for approximately one year while a search committee is formed to identify and recruit a new chair.

-M. Raine