FASEB Leaders Take Office for 2021-2022 Term

By: Jennifer Zeitzer
Thursday, July 22, 2021

On July 1, a team of distinguished scientists began their terms as elected leaders of FASEB. In addition to performing a critical role in FASEB’s governance, the new leadership reflects the Federation’s commitment to increasing diversity among the Board.

Patricia L. Morris, PhD, a molecular endocrinologist and pharmacologist, will serve as FASEB President. Morris is a guest investigator in the Laboratory of RNA Molecular Biology at the Rockefeller University and Senior Scientist at Chromocell. Formerly she was Executive Director of Biomedical Research and Development and Senior Scientist, Reproductive Health Program, at the Population Council and Associate Editor for the FASEB Journal. She has been active on the FASEB Board since 2010 and served as Vice President for Science Policy from 2019 to 2020. She is a member of five FASEB member societies: American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET), Endocrine Society, Society for Developmental Biology, Society for the Study of Reproduction, and Society of Toxicology (SOT).

Kevin C. Kregel, PhD, President-elect. Kregel is Executive Vice President and Provost at the University of Iowa (UI). Kregel’s research laboratory at UI has focused on physiological adjustments to exercise, aging, and environmental challenges. He has been actively involved in the FASEB Science Policy Committee, serving as Chair of the Committee’s Animals in Research and Education Subcommittee from 2008 to 2018. He is also a member of the American Physiological Society (APS) and served as the APS representative to the FASEB Board from 2018 to 2020. 

Mary-Ann Bjornsti, PhD, was named Vice President for Science Policy. She is Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and holds the Newman H. Waters Chair of Clinical Pharmacology. She is also Associate Director for Translational Research at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center. Bjornsti served on ASPET’s Science Policy Committee and is currently the society’s Secretary/Treasurer. She is also a member of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Genetics Society of America.

An active member of the American Association of Immunologists (AAI), Beth A. Garvy, PhD, was named Vice President-elect for Science Policy. She is Associate Dean for Biomedical Education at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. Garvy served as the AAI representative on the FASEB Board from 2018 to 2021.

Cherié L. Butts, PhD, was named Treasurer-elect. She is Medical Director and Head of Clinical Assessments, Digital and Quantitative Medicine, at Biogen. A cellular immunologist and clinical trialist, Butts is an active member of AAI, currently on its Committee on Public Affairs and formerly Chair of its Minority Affairs Committee. She is also a Councilor at Society of Leukocyte Biology.

Joining the new officers on the FASEB Board is Vijay P. Kale, MVSc, PhD, DABT, ERT, as an early-career representative. He is currently working as Scientist/Project Toxicologist at Amgen. He is a member of SOT and recently served as President of SOT’s Association of Scientists of Indian Origin.