U.Va. names new medical school dean

The University of Virginia has named Dr. Melina R. Kibbe the next dean of its medical school and chief health affairs officer for UVA Health, the university announced in a news release Wednesday.

Kibbe, who starts her new position Sept. 15, is the Colin G. Thomas Jr. Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of North Carolina. She also works in the biomedical engineering department and is editor-in-chief of the JAMA Surgery medical journal.

A member of the National Academy of Medicine, Kibbe has received federally supported awards from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration, and she has served as principal investigator for gene- and cell-based clinical trials studying critical limb ischemia. Kibbe also holds 10 patents or provisional patents and co-founded Illinois-based VesselTek BioMedical LLC, which develops devices to treat vascular disease.

She succeeds Dr. David S. Wilkes, who served in the position for six years. Kibbe holds degrees from the University of Chicago, and she completed her internship, residency and research fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and her vascular surgery fellowship at Northwestern University. She previously served as vice chair of research at Northwestern’s surgery department and as deputy director of the Simpson Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology.

“Dr. Kibbe’s cutting-edge clinical expertise, her impressive research credentials and her outstanding leadership skills make her the ideal person to lead the School of Medicine,” Dr. Craig Kent, U.Va.’s executive vice president for health affairs, said in a statement.