UW News

October 9, 2003

New position supports research at Harborview

Dr. Sheila Lukehart, research professor of medicine in the Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been named assistant dean for research and graduate education in the School of Medicine. The part-time appointment, which is pending UW Board of Regents approval, will make Lukehart a chief administrator for the basic science, clinical investigation, epidemiology, and health-care outcomes research programs at Harborview Medical Center. As part of her responsibilities, she will obtain recommendations from various offices and departments on the efficient use of research space at Harborview and on planning for the future.

In addition, Lukehart will work with other leaders on establishing and funding new research programs that fit Harborview’s mission. She also will assist with faculty development efforts and will facilitate graduate and postdoctoral training at Harborview.

In accepting the appointment, Lukehart said: “I am very pleased to have the opportunity to work with the School of Medicine leadership and with investigators at Harborview Medical Centeer to promote the research programs at HMC.” She noted that the new Research & Training Building there has served as a focus for Harborview bench scientists, and that expansion of laboratory and clinical research space will enhance opportunities and capabilities.

“Harborview is already well-recognized for the excellence of its clinical training, and one of my goals will be to facilitate graduate and postdoctoral research training by HMC investigators,” she added.

Lukehart is noted both for her studies of Treponema pallidum, the causative organism of syphilis, and for the training she has given to college undergraduates, medical students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. She is active internationally and nationally in attempts to control syphilis. At the UW, she has served in several leadership roles on scientific affairs committees. She has also helped in advancing the professional growth of women and minorities in biomedical careers.

Dr. Albert Berger, associate dean for research and graduate education, said: “I am very pleased that Dr. Lukehart has accepted the position as the first School of Medicine assistant dean for research and graduate education at Harborview Medical Center. She comes to this position with considerable biomedical research experience and knowledge skills that perfectly match those we sought in filling this administrative position. Our research and teaching programs at Harborview are rapidly growing and Dr. Lukehart will be a key person to facilitate this growth and ensure that the faculty, fellows, students and staff have their research interests supported.”

“I welcome Dr. Lukehart to her new position and as a fellow member of the Research and Graduate Education team,” said Dr. Evan Kharasch, assistant dean for clinical research. “Basic science research at Harborview is a growing and vital component of the overall UW Medicine research mission, and I look forward to working with her in translating those gains into clinical research activities and improved patient care.”

Lukehart graduated from the University of California, San Diego. She earned a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine. She was a Venereal Disease Research Fund postdoctoral fellow at University of California, San Diego, and at the UW before joining the UW faculty in 1980. In addition to her position as research professor in medicine, she holds adjunct appointments in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine’s Department of Pathobiology, the School of Dentistry’s Department of Periodontics, and in the Department of Microbiology.