David Standaert, M.D., Ph.D., has been named the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s vice president for research. Standaert has been serving as chair of the UAB Department of Neurology since 2011.
In his new role, Standaert will serve as a senior UAB leader on the President’s Cabinet and will lead the university’s research strategy, operations and growth, while supporting investigators, research centers and core facilities across the institution.
“From an early age, I have been fascinated and motivated by the transformational difference research and innovation has on people’s lives,” said Standaert. “This opportunity to lead the Office of Research at UAB, supporting all of our researchers and the massive research infrastructure that enables them, is a chance to dramatically expand the positive impact I can have for our community and beyond.”
Standaert joined UAB in 2006 and has been recognized for advancing research programs focused on Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. He founded and helped build UAB’s Killion Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, which has grown into an internationally recognized research enterprise comprised of 18 funded laboratories.
Standaert earned his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, magna cum laude, from Harvard University and completed his M.D. and Ph.D. in medicine and pharmacology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He completed his neurology residency training at the University of Pennsylvania and a fellowship in movement disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where he later served on the faculty before joining UAB.