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New dean at CSU 'coming home' to Hunting Valley
(by Sali McSherry - June 15, 2011)
New dean at CSU 'coming home' to Hunting Valley
By SALI McSHERRY
Australian native Meredith Bond said she thinks of her move back to Hunting Valley as "coming home."
The cardiovascular researcher and University of Maryland physiology department chairwoman was named dean of the college of sciences and health professions at Cleveland State University. She and her husband, Antonio Scarpa, have been returning to their retreat in Hunting Valley for long weekends for the past eight years. She will begin her new role July 18.
Dr. Bond was a heart researcher at Cleveland Clinic for 16 years and served on the faculty of Case Western Reserve University before her time at the University of Maryland.
At one time, she and her husband, who met at the University of Pennsylvania, were both chairs of physiology departments at universities. Dr. Scarpa, now director of the center for scientific review at the National Institutes of Health, was chairman of the department of physiology and biophysics at Case Western Reserve University.
One of Dr. Bond's missions at CSU is to find innovative ways to increase funding for clusters of research and collaboration and develop and nurture partnerships with other medical and learning institutions and organizations like NASA Glenn Research Center.
"Dr. Bond's outstanding reputation and academic experience positions her well to elevate CSU's role in Northeast Ohio's largest industry -- health care," said CSU President Ronald Berkman.
While at the University of Maryland, Dr. Bond increased the department of physiology's grant rankings from 32nd in the nation to 12th in five years.
With more than 25 years in cardiovascular research funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association, she will work to advance CSU's research and fundraising capabilities.
She will help oversee the development of the university's new medical school program with Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine in Rootstown, which recently partnered to develop a medical school track at CSU that will produce primary care physicians trained specifically for urban communities, the first of its kind in the nation, according to university officials.
"Cleveland State has more health profession programs in the region than any other university, and the growing reputation of our center for gene regulation research will be advanced through Dr. Bond's leadership," Dr. Berkman said.
Her research has focused on the causes of heart failure, specifically by studying molecules in individual heart cells to understand why the heart rate and force of contraction is impaired in diseased hearts.
Dr. Bond earned her bachelor's degree from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and her doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania.
She has served on the faculty of Case Western Reserve University and held various roles with the National Institutes of Health. She has been widely published and was an established investigator for the American Heart Association, among other roles.
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