Charles Brenner, PhD, has announced he is stepping down as chair and DEO of the Department of Biochemistry, effective August 13, 2020. Dr. Brenner has accepted a position as the inaugural Alfred E Mann Chair of the new Department of Diabetes & Cancer Metabolism within the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California.

“Leading the Department of Biochemistry for the past 11 years has been one of the greatest joys of my life,” Brenner says. “I’ve been fortunate to have worked with so many dedicated people in our department and across the college, and to expand my own research program. I look forward to continued collaborations with several Iowa colleagues, and I am excited and honored to begin this new opportunity at City of Hope.”

While at Iowa, Dr. Brenner was the recipient of many awards including the Iowa Board of Regents Award for Faculty Excellence (2014) and the 2016 Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education from the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Dr. Brenner is currently the recipient of the Mary Swartz Rose Senior Investigator Award from the American Society of Nutrition.

Kris DeMali, PhD, professor and vice chair of the department, will serve as interim chair and DEO, effective August 14, 2020. Dr. DeMali joined the department in 2006 and has shown leadership as a researcher, teacher, and mentor. Her research focuses on how physical forces and changes in mechanical properties of cells and tissues contribute to development, physiology, and disease. Her research is supported by a Maximizing Investigators' Research Award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health.

We wish Dr. Brenner all the best and we thank him for his many contributions to the Department of Biochemistry.

Congratulations Dr. Brenner!