INDIANAPOLIS — Mark W. Geraci, M.D., a pulmonologist and lung cancer researcher who heads the Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus has been named the new chair of the Department of Medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
He also is the associate director of the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute and is the director, and led the creation of, the university’s genomics facility. His appointment is effective Aug. 24, 2015.
“As chair of our largest department, Dr. Geraci will play a pivotal role in setting our future direction at the School of Medicine” said Dr. Jay Hess, vice president for university clinical affairs and dean of the IU School of Medicine.
“Dr. Geraci currently leads the nation’s top program in pulmonary medicine. He is widely recognized for his commitment to teaching and mentoring, the development of physician-scientists and for his leadership of a broad range of initiatives including genomics and translational medicine.”
“I am excited to take this leadership role at the IU School of Medicine,” said Dr. Geraci. “These are times of both challenge and opportunities at large academic medical centers, and I look forward to helping IU meet those challenges while we train tomorrow’s doctors, conduct important research and continue to provide the highest quality patient care.”
Dr. Geraci will chair a department with more than 450 physicians and researchers working in a dozen subspecialties involving heart disease, cancer, lung disorders, kidney and liver disease, infectious disease and others as well as general internal medicine and geriatrics.
In fiscal year 2014 the department’s scientists received $102 million in grants and awards out of the $260 million in total research funding to the school.
Having been funded by the National Institutes of Health for the past 20 years, Dr. Geraci’s research has focused on the biology of lung cancer and pulmonary vascular disease and he has conducted promising tests in humans of compounds to prevent the development of lung cancer in current and former smokers. Currently, he is the principal investigator of the $10.4 million National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute project to develop a biorepository for patients with pulmonary hypertension.
Dr. Geraci received his medical degree in 1987 from Johns Hopkins University and then completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He returned to the University of Colorado in 1990 for a fellowship in Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine and has remained at the school in a variety of positions since.
He was named head of the Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine in 2004 and co-director of the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute in 2007. He’s been a member of the University of Colorado Comprehensive Cancer Center Since 1995 and director of the genomics facility since 1999.
Dr. Geraci and his wife Kathy, a public health nurse, are Cincinnati, Ohio, natives and have been married for more than 33 years. They are the proud parents of four grown children: Chris, Nick, Max and Kara.
“For many reasons, we are fortunate to be able to pursue the next phases of our life so close to home,” he said.
Dr. Geraci succeeds David W. Crabb, M.D., who is stepping down as chair after serving 14 years in the position.