Associate Dean for Research

Welcome

Biomedical research is a critical function of academic medical schools. Research efforts at SIU Medicine directly support our mission to improve the health of the region’s population through innovations and scholarly improvements in education, medical care delivery and advances in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases. These advances directly benefit the patients we serve and transcend borders to benefit health care everywhere. 

SIU employs 175 full- and part-time biomedical researchers, pursuing innovative advances in a wide range of discovery, translational and clinical sciences, including hearing loss, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, women’s health, public health and restorative medicine. 

Trainees involved in biomedical research at the SOM include masters and doctoral students from three individual graduate programs, postdoctoral fellows, medical students, residents and clinical fellows. Faculty provide direct opportunities to integrate research within educational experiences, assuring that medical advances will continue to materialize for generations to come.  
 

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Associate Dean of Research Offices

Learn more about our teams and all the ways that we are organized to advance treatments, technology and educational experiences.

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Research is fundamental to better treatments, improved medical care and a healthier world. And it’s a key component of academic medicine at SIU.

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Research
FEATURE

Busy biochemistry lab is mapping virus

A biochemistry laboratory at SIU School of Medicine is sequencing the genomes of SARS-CoV-2 viruses that cause COVID-19 to determine if distinct variants exist in different Illinois communities and specifically in rural versus metropolitan areas.

“We’re looking for the ‘personality’ of the genome, to see how it’s changing over time,” says Keith Gagnon, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. “There are a couple of variants and we need to determine which is the most dangerous. Based on what we learn, we can tell the virus’ point of origin, whether it’s similar to an outbreak in Chicago, or New York or Italy. We can also see if it is mutating, to see if a new version is emerging.”

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Latest articles

Davie in lab

SIU Medicine scientist gets $445K grant for genetic research on devastating childhood cancer

A scientist at SIU School of Medicine in Carbondale will use a $445K federal grant to explore ways of turning off a genetic switch that allows a rare but devastating cancer to progress in children.
Lynne Ling

Ling receives 2023 Toth Award for research support

The Research Policy Committee honored Lynne Ling with the 2023 Frank J. Toth Award, the highest recognition for SIU School of Medicine research support personnel. Ling is lab manager in the Auditory Neurobiology Laboratory in the pharmacology department.
SCI summer intern trio w Dr. Khan

SCI summer interns present research at Donor Appreciation Reception

Four young cancer researchers got to share the results of their summer internship studies on August 3 at Simmons Cancer Institute in Springfield.