After a year-long national search, Dr. Stephen Spielberg, a renowned pediatrician and pharmacologist, has been appointed to the position of Dean of the Dartmouth Medical School. Spielberg will also serve as Dartmouth's Vice President for Health Affairs and Professor of Pediatrics and Pharmacology and Toxicology at the medical school.
Spielberg is particularly attracted to the unique opportunities offered by Dartmouth's small community. He stressed the possibilities for cooperation among multiple disciplines, including collaboration with the Tuck School of Business and the Thayer School of Engineering.
"In larger research institutes, people function more as individual investigators," he said. "They close their doors and don't collaborate well with other fields. The future of medicine will require cutting across disciplines."
Spielberg will be leaving his post at Johnson and Johnson's Department of Pediatric Drug Development, which he founded, to join the Dartmouth Medical School on July 1. His department at Johnson and Johnson is heavily responsible for developing new clinical methods for testing pediatric drugs and ensuring that medicines are properly tested before going to market.
Before his work in the private sector, Dr. Spielberg held teaching and research positions at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the University of Toronto. While in Toronto between 1981 and 1992, Spielberg expanded the pharmacology programs at the university, focusing on the safe use of children's medicine. He helped build the largest university department of pediatric pharmacology and worked as a Senior Scientist at the research institute of the Hospital for Sick Children.
Spielberg has also been involved in various initiatives to pass legislation and facilitate international standardization in responsible drug development. The Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act, in which Spielberg had a leading role, provided incentives for private firms to test pediatric drugs more thoroughly. He was also involved in the passing of the Food and Drug Administration Reform Act, which encouraged better labeling of pediatric drugs throughout the market.
Spielberg also chaired the International Conference on Harmonization, leading various programs to harmonize pediatric drug development regulations around the world.
The incoming dean attributes his continuing interest in academia to his mentors while he was at medical school, particularly the Chairman of Pediatrics during his time at the University of Chicago.
"He was an outstanding teacher, researcher and doctor rolled together," Spielberg said. "Probably one of the most important things I can do is contribute back to those fields: education of doctors and development of new knowledge, knowledge to improve the health of the population and improve the treatment of every patient we take care of. It's an important opportunity for me."
