Western University of Health Sciences Release: Baudry Named GCBS Dean

POMONA, CA--(Marketwire - October 18, 2011) -

Dr. Michel Baudry has been appointed dean of the Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences at Western University of Health Sciences, university officials announced today.

Baudry, who most recently was a professor of biological sciences, neurology and biomedical engineering at the University of Southern California (USC), will join WesternU full time beginning in January 2012. His appointment was announced by Ben Cohen, DO, WesternU’s provost and chief operating officer.

“We feel very fortunate to have Dr. Baudry joining the WesternU family,” Dr. Cohen said. “The breadth and depth of his experience as a biomedical researcher will be an enormous asset to the University, to our ongoing research efforts, and to students in the College and across the University.”

After graduating from the prestigious École Polytechnique in Paris in 1971, Dr. Baudry obtained a PhD in biochemistry at the University of Paris VII in 1977, under the direction of professors J.C. Schwartz and J.P. Changeux, two of France’s most distinguished neurobiologists. He moved to the United States in 1978 for a postdoctoral period with Professor Gary Lynch at the University of California, Irvine, and remained at UCI as an associate professor until 1989, when he joined USC.

In collaboration with Lynch, Dr. Baudry developed a biochemical theory for learning and memory that remains one of the most widely accepted theories in the field. His research is directed at understanding the molecular mechanisms of learning and memory, as well as those involved in neurodegenerative processes underlying numerous brain diseases.

Dr. Baudry is an internationally known neuroscientist, and has published more than 350 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. He is one of the 100 most-cited neuroscientists in the world, according to the ISI database, has served on numerous National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health study sections, and is reviewing manuscripts for a wide range of journals.

He succeeds Dr. Steven Henriksen, founding dean of the Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences, who remains with WesternU as a vice president for research and biotechnology.

About Western University of Health Sciences

Western University of Health Sciences (www.westernu.edu), located in Pomona, Calif., is an independent nonprofit health professions university, conferring degrees in biomedical sciences, dental medicine, health sciences, nursing, optometry, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, physician assistant studies, podiatric medicine and veterinary medicine.