Tranel to transition from leadership role, search begins for next associate dean for graduate and postdoctoral studies
Daniel Tranel, PhD, professor in the Department of Neurology, will step down as associate dean for graduate and postdoctoral studies in the Carver College of Medicine, effective June 30. He will remain a full-time faculty member in neurology and the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
Carver College of Medicine leaders will be starting a search for Tranel’s successor, and a search committee will be named soon.
“Dr. Tranel has been instrumental in shaping the careers of many students and postdoctoral fellows at Iowa for four decades,” says Denise Jamieson, MD, MPH, UI vice president for medical affairs and the Tyrone D. Artz Dean of the Carver College of Medicine. “His dedication to finding and nurturing hidden talent and potential has been called his ‘superpower.’ Throughout his career at Iowa, he’s focused on actively recruiting students from a wide variety of backgrounds, and so many mentees who have worked with Dr. Tranel have gone on to distinguished careers as researchers, clinicians, educators, and more. Our college has enormously benefited from his leadership and advocacy on behalf of our students and trainees. I am pleased to know that he will continue to train and mentor our graduate students, as he plans to remain a full-time faculty member.”
Tranel joined UI Health Care as a postdoctoral fellow in 1982, and he became a faculty member in neurology in 1986. He has served as associate dean since 2014. In this position, he has:
- Established a successful first-year umbrella PhD program—the Biomedical Science Program—which supports a common curriculum and laboratory rotations for students who then enter one of seven biomedical PhD sub-programs
- Facilitated the addition of two new biomedical PhD subprograms: Cancer Biology and Experimental Pathology
- Fostered cutting-edge best practices in graduate and postdoctoral education in biomedical research training through his work with the Research Training and Professional Development Group in the Carver College of Medicine
- Coordinated with the UI Graduate College to promote central institutional support for research postdoctoral students
- Doubled the Carver College of Medicine funding support of biomedical PhD students
- Built a highly engaged and effective leadership team, including Prabhat Goswami, PhD, Darren Hoffmann, PhD, Michael Geneser, Lisa Avelleyra, and Claire Rooney
Additionally, Tranel has served on more than 100 PhD committees—over 40 as chair or co-chair—and received the Carver College of Medicine’s 2024 Distinguished Mentor Award.
“I am deeply grateful to Donna Hammond, PhD, for her vision and support in creating this associate dean position in the Carver College of Medicine, and for providing me the opportunity to have a lasting impact on the stellar quality of research training in the biomedical workforce at Iowa,” says Tranel. “I am also deeply grateful to John Keller, PhD, whose collaboration and unwavering commitment to graduate education on our campus provided opportunities for the innovative restructuring of our biomedical graduate programs.”
Tranel studies the neural basis of higher order cognition and behavior, using the lesion method and functional neuroimaging in human participants. His research has provided new insights into the diagnosis and treatment of stroke, epilepsy, brain tumors, traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer’s disease, and mental health disorders. He is also an international leader in neuropsychological assessment.