Media Contact:
Dr. Christine McGahan, 919/515-4482
Dave Green, College of Veterinary Medicine, 919/513-6662

Oct. 28, 2005

McGahan Named Head of Molecular Biomedical Sciences Department

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dr. Christine McGahan

Dr. Christine McGahan has been appointed head of
the Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences (MBS) at
North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary
Medicine (CVM). McGahan, a professor of pharmacology,
had been serving as interim department head since April 1,
2004.

“We are pleased to announce that Dr. McGahan will
continue to lead the Department of Molecular Biomedical
Sciences,” said Dr. Warwick Arden, dean of the CVM. “She
has done an excellent job in managing the resources and the
direction of the MBS department in her interim capacity. Her
combination of administrative skill, research expertise, and
appreciation of the role molecular biomedical sciences plays
in the future of the college makes her a natural choice as
department head.”

Dr. McGahan joined the CVM in 1983. Her research involves understanding the causes of cataract formation in animals and humans. She has had research support from the National Institutes of Health and National Eye Institute for 23 years.

As head of the Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, one of three CVM departments, McGahan will lead 34 faculty members who have a diversity of responsibilities including clinical service in the teaching hospital, basic and clinical research, and teaching in both the professional veterinary curriculum and in a number of different Ph.D. programs, including comparative biomedical sciences, immunology, physiology, toxicology, microbiology
and functional genomics. Numerous MBS research projects provide CVM students the
opportunity to participate in investigations that have direct benefits to veterinary medicine and
human medicine.

The MBS department is housed in both the main CVM building and in the recently dedicated CVM Research Building, which contains 33 state-of-the-art laboratories, two BioSafety Level 3 labs, 75 offices, seven conference rooms, and a vivarium that annually will house some 16,000 rodents. The four-story facility reflects the growing emphasis at NC State University on genomic science and biomedical research, particularly in animal and human health care.

McGahan received a doctorate in pharmacology from Mount Sinai School of Medicine
at the City University of New York and did post-doctoral work at the Harkness Eye Institute at
the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

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