The New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University has announced the appointment of Michael I. Kotlikoff as chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences. His appointment is effective July 1, 2000.

Currently, Kotlikoff is a professor and the chair of the Department of Animal Biology and director of the Center for Animal Transgenesis and Germ Cell Research at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine. He also holds a joint appointment in the Department of Medicine in Penn's School of Medicine.

Kotlikoff heads an internationally recognized research group working on ion-channel signaling in muscle and non-muscle cells. That research is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). His research has led to an enhanced understanding of the molecular interactions underlying smooth muscle excitability.

He also has been credited with enhancing the teaching program for both professional and graduate students at Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine, and he was instrumental in establishing the school's Center for Animal Transgenesis and Germ Cell Research.

Kotlikoff received his V.M.D., summa cum laude, from Penn in 1981. After earning a Ph.D. from the University of California-Davis, he returned to Penn in 1984 as a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Medicine, funded by the NIH. One year later, he was appointed to the faculty of the department of animal biology in Penn's vet school. He was appointed professor in 1995 and department chair in 1996.

The Department of Biomedical Sciences is one of five academic departments at Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine and was formed in 1998 from the former departments of anatomy, physiology and a portion of pathology. During the search for a chair, the department has been administered jointly by three acting co-chairs, each representing one of the former departments: professors Cornelia Farnum (anatomy), Barry Cooper (pathology) and John Wootton (physiology), who will continue to serve as chair during this transition year.

During the next several months, Kotlikoff will be making trips to Cornell to facilitate the transition of leadership and to become better acquainted with the faculty and staff of the department and the college.

Research in the department includes reproductive and developmental biology, skeletal biology and clinical neurobiology. Other faculty are involved in cardiovascular-renal biology and cancer biology. In recent months, the department has committed itself to being a full partner in the universitywide genomics effort, with special focus on mammalian genomics. Though the Department of Biomedical Sciences is one of the college's three basic-science departments, several faculty have diagnostic service and resident training responsibilities in pathology. A small number of faculty in the department also manage important clinical specialty services in the college's teaching hospital. Three departmental faculty members have their appointments at the college's James A. Baker Institute for Animal Health. In addition to professional and graduate education, the department also is responsible for undergraduate teaching in animal physiology.