UCSF School of Medicine Names King as Chair of the Department of Medicine

Talmadge E. King, Jr., MD, an internationally respected expert in lung disorders, has been named chair of the UCSF School of Medicine's Department of Medicine, effective today (Sept. 19). King, the Constance B. Wofsy Distinguished Professor, had been serving as interim chair of the Department of Medicine since 2006. David Kessler, MD, dean of the UCSF School of Medicine and vice chancellor for medical affairs, announced the appointment today. "Dr. King is not only an esteemed physician-scientist, he is also a trusted colleague and a proven leader," he said. "He will be a great chair of this already outstanding department." Since being recruited to UCSF from the University of Colorado in 1996, King has served as vice chair of the Department of Medicine and chief of medical services at the UCSF-affiliated San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH). At SFGH, King improved the quality of clinical care and research and advocated for the public hospital, particularly its mission of community service. As chair of medicine, King will be the department's academic leader and administrative head, guiding the research, education and patient care activities of more than 500 full-time faculty, 805 volunteer clinical faculty, 194 residents, 210 fellows and 1,500 staff. "It is a privilege to take the helm of one of the best departments in the country," King said. "As chair, I have the chance to help support many important programs and to help steward new, cutting-edge programs in myriad areas. My focus will be to work with faculty and staff to develop resources and to foster a work environment in which patient care, teaching and research can thrive." The appointment of King as the new chair of the UCSF Department of Medicine culminates a search that began in April 2006, when then-Chair Lee Goldman, MD, announced his resignation from UCSF to become dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine at Columbia University in New York. At the outset of the search, Kessler asked a committee of 26 faculty members to identify candidates capable of "mobilizing the entire UCSF community to focus on understanding the mechanisms of disease." The search committee was led by Sam Hawgood, MBBS, chair of the Department of Pediatrics. It included members from 14 departments and organized research units and representatives from the school's multiple campuses. During the 15-month-long search, the committee worked to identify potential candidates from around the nation, reviewed the qualifications of 30 potential candidates, including both internal and external ones, and conducted interviews with 11 before forwarding its recommendations to the dean. The search was publicized widely, with notices in the New England Journal of Medicine, Science, and the Journal of the American Medical Association. Mark Laret, chief executive officer of UCSF Medical Center, commended the appointment of King. "I'm thrilled," he said. "I think he's very focused on doing the right thing and doing it well to meet the needs of our patients."

Department of Distinction

The Department of Medicine, which is composed of 41 divisions, provides comprehensive medical services at five institutions of great distinction and diversity: UCSF Medical Center, UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion, SFGH, the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the UCSF Fresno Center for Medical Education and Research. These institutions, which serve an unparalleled diversity of patient populations, span the entire spectrum of primary to quaternary care. The department has a long tradition of excellence in education, research and clinical care. In research, it is the top-ranked internal medicine department in the US in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NH), with more than $150 million in NIH grants. Seven of its faculty are members of the National Academy of Sciences, 20 are members of the Institute of Medicine, 44 are members of the Association of American Physicians, 76 are members of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and four are Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators. The department's patient care programs are highly respected by the community and by other health professionals, and the department is ranked as the second best department of medicine in the nation by US News & World Report. More than 60 of the department's physicians are counted among America's best doctors, including King. The department's residency program has a national reputation for excellence with a long history of producing leaders in academic medicine, public health and clinical practice. "My vision is for the UCSF Department of Medicine to be the best in the country," King said. "To realize this vision, we must provide the support and structure that will empower every individual member of the department to succeed, while contributing to the collective mission of the department, the School of Medicine and the medical centers." The department's mission is three-fold:

• to provide the highest-quality, patient-centered care possible;
• to educate students, house staff and postdoctoral fellows in accordance with the highest professional standards; and
• to conduct innovative research that will expand the frontiers of medical science to alleviate human suffering through the prevention and treatment of disease.

In a recent interview, King described how he intends to improve upon the department's long and rich history of outstanding accomplishments and contributions in these three areas. "Although we have many excellent accomplishments, the department faces unprecedented challenges given the current environmental forces in health care," King said. "A major goal is to improve the esprit-de-corps and morale of the faculty and staff. In particular, the rising cost of living in San Francisco and the inability to maintain salaries at market levels require changes in our recruitment and retention strategies. Second, we must identify ways to support our clinical practices. Third, given our heavy dependence on salary support from the NIH, the slowed growth of federal funding for research creates considerable financial exposure for our department, meaning that we will need to identify funds to support our research infrastructure. Finally, the growing pressures on faculty members to generate revenue threaten to compromise the vital educational mission. We need to be sure that we can reward - in both financial and non-monetary ways - our extraordinary teachers."

King's Background

A graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN, King earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He served a residency at Emory University Affiliated Hospitals, Atlanta, GA, and a pulmonary fellowship at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver. King held a professorship in medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and was a senior faculty member at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center. King is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, Association of American Physicians, American Clinical and Climatological Association, and Fleischner Society. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American College of Chest Physicians. King is an active member of a number of professional societies and is a past president of the American Thoracic Society. King has served on the Lung Biology and Pathology Study Section of the NIH; the board of the American Board of Internal Medicine; American Board of Medical Specialties; Pulmonary and Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee; Center for Drug Evaluation & Research of the Food and Drug Administration; NIH Advisory Board for Clinical Research (ABCR); and the Board of Extramural Advisors of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. King is a member of the editorial boards of American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine, THORAX, and UpToDate™ in Pulmonary and Critical Care. He has been an editorial consultant for more than a dozen journals. For nine years, he was a member of the board of trustees of Gustavus Adolphus College. He has authored more than 200 publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, critical reviews, editorials and monographs. King has co-authored nine books, including the acclaimed reference book Interstitial Lung Disease, now in its fourth edition. King recently co-edited Medical Management of Vulnerable & Underserved Patients: Principles, Practice, Population, the only reference currently available that focuses on the treatment of patients living with chronic diseases in poor and minority populations. King's research focus has been on understanding the pathogenesis, diagnosis and management of inflammatory and immunologic lung injury. He is recognized for his major contributions to prevention, diagnosis and treatment of lung disease through leadership in research, education and clinical care. Earlier this year, he received the Trudeau Medal, the American Lung Association and the American Thoracic Society's highest honor, for his work. Photo/Susan Merrell