Appointment of Steven Dubinett as Interim Dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

August 27, 2021

Dear Colleagues:

We are delighted to announce that Steven Dubinett has agreed to serve as the interim dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM) at UCLA, effective September 1. 

Dr. Dubinett is the founding director of the UCLA Clinical & Translational Science Institute (CTSI); associate vice chancellor for research at UCLA and senior associate dean for translational research at the DGSOM; and chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine and Clinical Immunology and Allergy. We anticipate that he will serve as interim dean of the DGSOM for up to two years, during which time we will assess the governance structures of the school and the UCLA Health System to ensure both entities are well positioned to thrive.

A member of the UCLA community for more than 30 years, Dr. Dubinett is a champion for the advancement of academic medicine whose work spans all of the missions of the DGSOM. At CTSI, he has been leading the development of research infrastructure supporting the translation of UCLA biomedical discoveries into medical products and health interventions for the benefit of our greater community. He also has helped develop programs to mentor junior scientists and increase grant funding, with proven results: 2,100 researchers who received CTSI support have produced nearly 4,000 publications and received extramural awards totaling $1.3 billion since 2011. Additionally, Dr. Dubinett was instrumental in developing UC Biomedical Research Acceleration, Integration, and Development (UC BRAID), which promotes collaborations across the UC academic biomedical campuses. While serving as interim dean of the DGSOM, Dr. Dubinett will continue to lead the CTSI alongside co-directors Arleen Brown and Arash Naeim. 

Dr. Dubinett’s own research focuses on the immunobiology of lung cancer. His work has been consistently funded by the NIH and other federal agencies for decades, and he has led large multidisciplinary research programs including UCLA’s first NCI SPORE grant, the VA Lung Precision Oncology Program, the NCI Early Detection Research Network, and the Stand-Up to Cancer Dream Team in lung cancer interception.  

As division chief of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep Medicine and Clinical Immunology and Allergy, Dr. Dubinett has overseen the recruitment of a significant number of faculty and the expansion of training programs. Since 2006, the division has grown five-fold to include more than 100 faculty. Division clinicians span an array of subspecialties as well as locations throughout the region.    

Throughout his career, Dr. Dubinett has demonstrated a deep commitment to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion through substantive changes to organizational processes and culture. Collaborating with Keith Norris, he established the CTSI EDI program, which evaluates the institute’s activities through an EDI lens and helps assess the experiences of faculty, trainees, and staff. Dr. Dubinett’s commitment to EDI extends to his role as division chief as well as his leadership as principal investigator of the pulmonary T32 training grant, where a majority of fellows are from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in medicine.

Dr. Dubinett’s work at UCLA has spanned basic science and clinical application, support for the development of outstanding scientists and clinicians, leadership of cross-institutional collaborations, and important efforts to advance health equity and EDI. We are grateful to have him at the helm of our medical school during this period of change.

Finally, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to outgoing DGSOM dean Kelsey Martin, who is stepping down to become director of the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative. We also would like to thank the nearly 400 DGSOM community members who completed surveys to help campus leadership understand the opportunities and challenges facing the school at this moment. Key themes that emerged from the surveys included calls to prioritize investments in recruiting top faculty and supporting cutting-edge research; to empower the dean with greater autonomy; and to further foster a culture of equity, diversity, and inclusion at the school. These will all be focus areas for us and for Dr. Dubinett in the months ahead. Additionally, during Dr. Dubinett’s interim deanship, we intend to embark on a collaborative process to review the leadership structure of the medical school and of UCLA Health in an effort to optimize financial and administrative decision making. The feedback of our community will play a significant part in that process.

Please join us in thanking Dr. Steven Dubinett for accepting this position and in wishing him the best in this new role.

Sincerely,

Emily A. Carter
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost

John Mazziotta
Vice Chancellor, Health Sciences 
CEO, UCLA Health