SMPH establishes new departments

The School of Medicine and Public Health has created two new basic science departments: the Department of Neuroscience and the Department of Cell and Regenerative Biology.

The new departments replace the former departments of anatomy, physiology and pharmacology. Faculty, research and teaching staff and resources from those three departments will be folded into the two new administrative units.

The reorganization reflects the school’s current strengths and its goal of future distinction in areas that are among the most promising in science today.

The change will solidify and expand the school’s national leadership position in cell biology and regenerative medicine, which includes exploring the potential use of stem cells for repairing organs, tissues or cells damaged by disease or age.

The school’s strength in neurosciences within the physiology and anatomy departments will be enhanced as those components are unified in a single department.

The reorganization supports the school’s goal of integrating neurosciences and regenerative medicine and cell biology in the second tower of the Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research (WIMR), scheduled to open in fall 2013. Both new departments will be housed in WIMR II, designed to facilitate interdisciplinary science.