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Anne DeLotto Baier, (813) 974-3300 or abaier@hsc.usf.edu
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USF Health appoints research leader Abdul S. Rao,
noted transplant immunologist
Tampa, FL (Nov. 2005) — USF Health has appointed as its new head of research a pioneer in
translating basic science research to solve clinical problems. Abdul S. Rao, MD, MA, DPhil, will be
Senior Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies at USF Health, and Vice Dean
for Research and Graduate Studies for the College of Medicine. To seamlessly bridge research
across USF and USF Health campuses, he will also serve as a Senior Associate Vice President for
Research at the University of South Florida.
At USF Health, he will lead research for the three USF colleges of medicine, nursing and public
health. Last year, faculty in those colleges earned $134 million in research grants.
“The next frontier is bringing complex scientific findings to bear on improving health,” said
Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, Vice President for USF Health and dean of the College of Medicine.
“We can transform the health research of tomorrow by bringing together our colleges as well as
scientists, educators and clinicians. It’s an ambitious goal, which is why Dr. Rao is perfect for this
leadership position. He has the track record of creativity and entrepreneurship to make it happen.”
"I am very excited about this opportunity to work with faculty, staff, and students at USF Health to
enhance its research capacity and to continue to improve the quality of its graduate programs," said
Dr. Rao. "There is an enormous potential for growth of basic, translational, and clinical research at
USF Health and the prospect of developing productive collaborations between faculty and
students in the College/Schools at USF, the Moffitt Cancer Center, the All Children's Hospital, and
many other local and regional affiliates. I look forward to playing my role as a catalyst in this
process of transformation."
Dr. Rao has been the Vice Provost for Research and Sponsored Programs and Dean, College of
Graduate Studies at the Middle Tennessee State University, where he is a Professor of Biology. He
also served as the Chair of the Research Council for the Tennessee Board of Regents -- the sixth
largest higher education system in the United States, with over 180,000 students enrolled in 45
universities, community colleges, and technology centers.
After earning his medical degree from Dow Medical University, Karachi, Pakistan, in 1983, Dr.
Rao completed his residency training in Orthopedic Surgery. In 1987 he joined the Department of
Physiology, Boston University School of Medicine and graduated in 1989 with a M.A., in
Physiology. After completing a year of post-doctoral Research Fellowship in the Department of
Neurology, Harvard Medical School, he joined the Nuffield Department of Surgery, University of
Oxford, Oxford, UK, as a Clinical Instructor from 1990-1993. He graduated from the University of
Oxford with a D.Phil., (Doctor of Philosophy) in Transplantation Immunology in 1993.
He joined the University of Pittsburgh in 1993 where he served as the Director of the Section of
Cellular Transplantation and the Section of Medical Informatics, Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation
Institute. He also served as the Associate Director of Translational Research at this Institute and as
an Associate Professor of Surgery as well as Pathology.
In 2000, he joined MCP Hahneman University School of Medicine, as the Senior Associate Dean
for Research and Biomedical Graduate Studies and Professor of Surgery as well as Microbiology
and Immunology. He subsequently became the Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Studies at
Drexel University College of Medicine and in 2003, was promoted to the position of the Senior
Associate Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Studies at Drexel University. During his tenure
at Drexel, he also served as the Vice Dean for Information Technology in the College of Medicine.
His area of research interest largely focuses on bench to bedside (and reverse) translation of novel
therapeutic strategies aimed at alleviating a clinical problem. He and his group have worked on the
protocol for induction of donor-specific tolerance in organ allograft recipients (funded by National
Institutes of Health); cellular therapeutic treatment of refractory posttransplant lymphoproliferative
disorders (funded by Cancer Research Treatment Foundation); islet cell transplantation to reverse
type I insulin-dependent diabetes (funded by National Institutes of Health and the Juvenile Diabetes
Foundation International); transmission of infection following animals to humans (funded by an
extramural grant) organ and cell transplantation. Additionally, his group has also been actively
involved in basic cellular and molecular biology research in the following areas: induction of
tolerance, islet cell transplantation, dendritic and NK cell immunobiology, post-transplant
vasculopathy (chronic rejection); liver-derived growth factors; generation of transgenic pigs and
xenotransplantation.
During his tenure at Drexel, he was the principal investigator of over $2.5 million in funding from
the National Center for Research Resources at the NIH to upgrade animal facilities. He also serves
as a principal investigator of a training grant from NIH aimed at enhancing the involvement of
underrepresented minorities in biomedical research.
Dr. Rao has authored more than 130 publications in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, and
has presented more than 180 lectures. He has served on the editorial board of the journal
Transplantation and Graft, and has served as the reviewer for Immunology, Life Sciences, Nature
Medicine, Liver Transplantation Surgery, Surgery, and many other scientific journals. He was a
mentor for more than 25 junior faculty and post-doctoral fellows, and more than 20 pre-doctoral
candidates.
In Tennessee, Dr. Rao played an instrumental role in developing and ultimately facilitating the
implementation of a strategic plan for enhancement of research and graduate education at all
Tennessee Board of Regents universities. This document entitled "Vision of Excellence in Research
and Graduate Studies" not only defined the ultimate goals but the pathway that the universities in
the system have to adopt in order to accomplish the same. He has played a very active role in the
Tennessee Council of Graduate Deans and is spearheading a mission to transform the education and
training of doctoral students in humanities/social sciences and in biomedical/physical sciences.
He has received numerous honors, including an award from the British Vice Chancellor's
Committee; Professor Ad Honorem, Universidada de Antioquia, Medellin, Columbia; Distinguished
Professor Award, The Institute of Kidney Diseases & Research Center, Ahmedabad, India. He
serves as a member of the Tennessee Organ Transplantation Task Force. Dr. Rao's biographical
profile has been recognized in Marquis Who's Who in the East, Marquis Who's Who in Science &
Engineering, Marquis Who's Who in America, and Marquis Who’s Who in the World.
- USF Health USF Health is an enterprise dedicated to making life better by improving health in the wider environment, in
communities, and for individuals. USF Health has, as its core, the three colleges of Public Health, Nursing
and Medicine, including a School of Physical Therapy, as well as the healthcare delivered by its clinicians.
In partnership with its affiliated hospitals, USF Health’s research funding last year was $134 million -more than half of which came from federal sources. www.hsc.usf.edu