Congratulations to Dr. Mark Gold, Chair of Psychiatry!
Additional article available from Health Science Center News
It is with great pleasure and optimism that I announce the promotion of Mark
S. Gold, M.D., Dizney Eminent Scholar and Distinguished Professor in the
Departments of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, Anesthesiology, Community Health &
Family Medicine, from Interim Chair to Chair of the Department of
Psychiatry. I reached this decision after careful review of Dr. Gold's
prolific accomplishments, outstanding performance as acting and then interim
chair, and his vision for the department, and after consulting with
departmental faculty, College of Medicine leaders, the Faculty Council, and
national and international authorities in academic medicine and psychiatry,
who overwhelmingly endorsed my decision. I feel extremely fortunate that Dr.
Gold has agreed to take on the ambitious task of leading the department to
great national prominence.
Dr. Gold has had a stellar career in academics and leadership, and he has promoted the values and missions of the College of Medicine in an outstanding manner. As a researcher and inventor, Dr. Gold has worked for over 35 years to develop models for understanding the effects of tobacco and other drugs on the brain and behavior. Dr. Gold's research has been of high impact and has led to changes in the treatment of opiate and cocaine addictions and also obesity. He is the author of over 900 (yes, I said "900") medical articles, chapters, and abstracts and twelve professional books on a wide variety of psychiatric research subjects. According to a review of "Tobacco" in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA 272:18, 1996), "Mark S. Gold, M.D. is the most prolific and brilliant of the addiction experts writing today... Dr. Gold has spent his career trying to bridge the gap in medical education and practice with the belief that addictions are diseases and that all physicians have a critical role in prevention and, if that fails, in early identification and prompt treatment." He has been an inventor and patent holder for new pharmacological treatments, medication adherence, drug, and other laboratory testing. Under his leadership, the Division of Addiction Medicine within the Department of Psychiatry has grown into one of the largest and successful addiction medicine research, education and practice Divisions in the United States.
Dr. Gold has been the recipient of multiple awards here as an Exemplary Teacher, Underrepresented Minority Mentor, and Faculty Research Award winner, is a current member of the College of Medicine Alumni Board, and he is honored on our Wall of Fame. Nationally, Dr. Gold has been honored as a Distinguished Fellow of the American College of Pharmacology and of the American Psychiatric Association, the recipient of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry Founder's Award (2005), the 24th Annual Nelson J. Bradley Career Lifetime Achievement Award (2006), and DARE's Public Service Award (2007). He serves as UpToDate's Section Editor in Addiction Medicine.
Dr. Gold has a long history of collaborations across medical specialties and institutions. His current work includes public health research as well as functional imaging with Yijun Liu, Ph.D., post-mortem studies with Bruce Goldberger, Ph.D., nanotechnology with Donn Dennis, M.D., genomics with Henry Baker, Ph.D. and drug-related brain cell injury and death and stem cell repair with Jean Lud Cadet, M.D. Dr. Gold and his research group are currently working on methods and inventions to reverse the neurotoxic, inflammatory and other effects of drugs of abuse. He has been an outstanding mentor to students and faculty at all levels, and a forceful advocate of the career development of underrepresented minorities in the health professions.
Please join me in congratulating and supporting Dr. Gold in his new position. The Department of Psychiatry is in exceptionally capable hands.
Bruce C. Kone, M.D.
Dean, College of Medicine
Folke H. Peterson/Dean's Distinguished Professorship
University of Florida College of Medicine
P.O. Box 100215 (courier: 1600 SW Archer Rd., RM M-110)
Gainesville, FL 32610-0215
TEL: 352 273-7500
FAX: 352 846-3299
