University of Miami and Miller School of Medicine officially welcomed “world class luminary” Dr. Sylvia Daunert, Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, July 1, 2010.
The University of Miami simultaneously announced the appointment of Dr Leonidas Bachas, as UM’s new Dean of Arts and Sciences.
Both were highly sought-after University of Miami appointments!
Welcome to Miami… Sylvia and Leonidas … We are thrilled to have you here in Miami. Alexandra and I so pleased to have had to honor working with you, your family and your esteemed colleagues in your relocation here! Warmest of welcomes from the Restivo Team!
The goal of the University of Miami and UM’s Miller School of Medicine and Health has been to catapult the University of Miami and UM’s Miller School of Medicine into the top ten universities in the world.
The University is well on their way!
Internationally renowned for her work in bioanalytical chemistry and for having developed molecular devices to detect/ treat health and environmental disorders, Sylvia Daunert is officially now the Chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, effective July 1, 2010.
Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs and Dean of the Miller School, and CEO of University of Miami Health System – UHealth says “One of my most important responsibilities as Dean is to attract leaders who are world-class scientists to our faculty, and Sylvia Daunert is a world-class luminary joining our Miller School family.” “Dr. Daunert’s cutting-edge work will be an inspiration for us all, and I particularly admire her commitment to achieving real-world applications useful to humankind. She is joining a department that has an admirable history of top-tier chairs, including interim chair Louis “Skip” Elsas, and her talents as a premier scientist and educator will help propel the Miller School to new heights.”
Daunert was impressed with Miami in general… and with the University of Miami in particular… and specifically with the high-caliber faculty and the direction in which Dean Goldschmidt is leading the medical school. “The Miller School and the University of Miami have made significant strides over the years, and becoming part of the institution means joining a team that is destined for greatness . I was extremely excited when I spoke with Dean Goldschmidt and saw the teams he put together. He has enormous enthusiasm for the interface of biotechnology and bioengineering and I see unlimited opportunity to help create new programs to educate students and explore new scientific discoveries. ”
Daunert and her Kentucky team have focused on recombinant DNA technology to develop new bioanalytical techniques. The group has genetically altered proteins and cells to develop new biosensors, biomaterials and devices. Bionanotechnology, new devices and methods of drug delivery are important aspects of her group’s scientific endeavors.
Daunert believes in extensive interdisciplinary collaboration and plans to work not only among departments at the Miller School but also across the Coral Gables and Rosenstiel campuses. In Kentucky, she worked closely with faculty in engineering, jointly designing devices, and with physicians who are testing the devices in their clinics.
As she did in Kentucky, Daunert hopes to have Miller School students work with students in partner universities abroad. For one program, Daunert’s Kentucky students worked with students at a university in Spain to design a biomedical device that could be used to help patients. The program, she says, was enormously successful and resulted in students embracing a new language, culture and method of attacking scientific problems.
Daunert, a native of Barcelona, Spain, earned two doctorate degrees in bioanalytical chemistry, both from the University of Barcelona, and a master of science in medicinal chemistry from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Daunert was also a Fulbright Scholar, and serves on several scientific advisory boards and has been part of National Institutes of Health special review panels.
Daunert’s publications include over 200 journal articles, books and book chapters, is editor of Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, executive editor of Analytical Biochemistry, and a member of the editorial advisory board of Bioconjugate Chemistry. She has also been honored with numerous awards from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the American Chemical Society, and other professional and private institutions.
Daunert has moved to Miami with her husband, Leonidas G. Bachas, Ph.D., fomerly the Frank J. Derbyshire Professor of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky who has been named dean of UM’s College of Arts and Sciences. Daunert and Bachas have three children: a daughter, Stephanie, a Princeton graduate who starts this summer in the environmental engineering Ph.D. program at Stanford University; a son, Philip, a sophomore at Georgetown University; and an 8-year-old daughter, Sophie, who is looking forward to Miami. For the original article and faculty/research announcement: by the Miller School of Medicine click here.
