University of Virginia Health System

Executive Steering Committee

Dr. Sarah Parsons received a Ph.D. in Bacterial Genetics and Physiology from Duke University in 1968 and after a period of time to raise a family, carried out post-doctoral work in Tumor Immunology at the University of Virginia with Dr. David Benjamin. In 1982, she was appointed Assistant Professor of Microbiology at the University of Virginia and received tenure with an Associate Professorship in 1988. In 1994 she was appointed Full Professor. She has been an active, participating member of the interdisciplinary programs in Cancer, Cell and Molecular Biology, Biotechnology, Immunology, Molecular Medicine, MSTP, Neuroscience, and Pharmacology, as well as a founding member of the program projects, Oncogenes and Mitogens: Intracellular Mechanisms and Cell Signaling in Prostate Cancer Progression. For three years (1992-95), she was the Director of Admissions and First Year Student Advisor for the Cell and Molecular Biology Program, a position she left to assume Directorship of the Cancer Training Program. She has mentored or is mentoring 15 graduate students, 13 postdoctoral fellows, and four assistant professors since her appointment to the faculty in 1982. All of the assistant professor mentorees are conducting research in either lung, prostate or breast cancer. In addition to her own students, Dr. Parsons has been or is a thesis committee member of 43 Microbiology, 6 Cell Biology, 5 Neuroscience, and 5 Pharmacology students. She has taught in the graduate Immunology and Medical Microbiology Courses and continues teaching in the Advanced Cell Biology, and Special Topics in Neuroscience Courses. She is founder, instructor, and past director of the course Molecular Basis of Cancer. In addition, she has and continues to serve on many Departmental and Institutional Committees, including the UVA Faculty Forum, the University Research Policy Advisory Council (URPAC), and the President's Science and Technology Commission 2020. She is Associate Director for Laboratory Research of the Cancer Center and has served on the Cancer Center Seminar Committee for many years. Outside the institution, Dr. Parsons has been a permanent member of three study sections, two for the NIH (Biological Sciences 2 and CBY-2) and one for the Leukemia Society of America, an organization that presented her with the Stohlmann Scholar Award for excellence in cancer research. She is a member of several scientific journal editorial boards and serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for the Purdue University Cancer Center and the External Advisory Board for a Radiation Research Genetic Therapy/Molecular Target Program Project at the Medical College of Virginia. Dr. Parsons' research focuses on the role of the proto-oncogene product, c-Src, in normal cell function and in tumorigenesis. Her work on breast and prostate cancers as well as two other projects on roles of c-Src in normal cells is funded by four grants from the NCI (two RO1s and projects in two PO1s). Her research has been supported continuously since 1984 by grants from the NIH (CA and DK) and The Council for Tobacco Research.

Dr. Ann Beyer received her Ph.D. in 1977 from Vanderbilt University in Molecular Biology and studied with Dr. Oscar Miller at the University of Virginia as a postdoctoral fellow and research associate from 1977-1981. She joined the faculty of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Virginia in 1982 as an Assistant Professor, and rose to full Professor in 1994. She is a renowned molecular cytologist, who uses the Miller nucleic acid spreading technique and electron microscopy to study transcription and RNA processing. Her work has been supported continuously since 1981 with grants from the ACS, NSF and NIH. She has trained 4 graduate students and 1 postdoctoral fellow and has been a member of over 40 Ph.D. thesis committees, as well as of the Steering Committee for the Cell and Molecular Biology Program. Her main teaching responsibilities are in the core course, Gene Structure, Expression, and Regulation. She is active nationally in the American Society for Cell Biology and has held positions as a permanent member of the NIH Molecular Cytology Study Section, a Special Emphasis Study Section on Cell Development and Function, and an NSF Advisory Panel on Biochemistry of Gene Expression. She is a former recipient of an American Cancer Society Faculty Research Award. Dr. Beyer has been the Graduate Recruiter for the Department of Microbiology/Cancer Training Grant for the last 11 years and is advised in these matters by a committee composed of members of the Microbiology faculty.

Dr. Timothy Bender received a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Michigan in 1983 and studied with Dr. Michael Kuehl at the NCI as a postdoctoral fellow from 1983-1988. He became an Assistant Professor of Microbiology at the University of Virginia in 1988 and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 1994. His research interests include lymphocyte development and the role of the Myb proto-oncogene in this process. He has jointly mentored 2 graduate students, trained 4 graduate students and 3 postdoctoral fellows, and is a member, past or present, of 52 thesis committees at the University of Virginia. He has also served as an external reviewer on thesis committees at Columbia University and The University of Melbourne (Australia). Dr. Bender is a mentor on the Immunology, Cell and Molecular Biology, Pharmacology, MSTP and Hematology/Oncology interdisciplinary training programs. He is a past recipient of a Faculty Research Award from the American Cancer Society and a permanent member of the American Cancer Society Genetic Mechanisms in Cancer Study Section. He has served as an ad hoc reviewer for study sections at the NIH as well as a member of site visit teams to review the Laboratory of Cellular Oncology, NCI/NIH and program projects at other institutions. Dr. Bender is a member of the Animal Care and Use Committee and of the Transgenic Mouse Core Facility Oversight Committee for the University of Virginia. He serves as a mentor in the African-American student faculty/administrator mentoring program and the Summer Research Internship Program. Dr. Bender assumed the Directorship of Minority Recruiting for the Cancer Training Grant in 1994.

Dr. M. Mitchell Smith received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from The Johns Hopkins University in 1976 and studied with Dr. Kenneth Murray at Edinburgh University, Scotland from 1977-1980 as a post-doctoral fellow. He became an Assistant Professor of Microbiology in 1980 and rose to full Professor in 1992. He is an expert in yeast genetics, as used to study histone function and cell cycle regulation. He is a former recipient of an American Cancer Society Faculty Research Award, has trained 17 doctoral and 7 post-doctoral students, and is a member of innumerable thesis committees (being a very popular teacher). He was a permanent member of the NIH Molecular Biology Study Section from 1994-1998 and participates in multiple external site visit review panels for the NIH. The Academic Computing Center for the Health Sciences Center at the University of Virginia was his brainchild. He has participated actively in student affairs, being a member of the Cell and Molecular Biology Program as well as the Cancer Training Program and has full teaching responsibilities in the Gene and Genetics courses. Dr. Smith has been Graduate Student Advisor since 1993 and currently co-mentors 5 pre-doctoral students with Drs. Engel, Allis, and Christman.

Executive Steering Committee:
Decisions about faculty membership in the Cancer Training Program, trainee appointments to the training grant, recruiting strategies, graduate training committee membership, and program requirements are made by theExecutive Steering Committee as a whole. The full committee also monitors student progress. In addition to Drs. S. Parsons, Beyer, Bender, and Smith, the Executive Committee currently includes Dr. Horwitz of the Department of Cell Biology, Dr. Macara of Pharmacology, Dr. Owens of Physiology (Assistant Dean for Graduate Research and Education and P.I. of the Medical Scientist Training Program), Dr. Hamlin of Biochemistry and the Director of the CMB Program, Dr. Petri of Medicine/Microbiology and Director of the Infectious Disease Training Program, Dr. Weber, Director of the Molecular Medicine Program, and Dr. T. Parsons, Chairman of the Department of Microbiology. Membership on this committee is meant to reflect the interdisciplinary nature and the cancer-orientation of the training program. It is also designed to co-ordinate assignment of trainees among the various training grants, especially those that attract students with similar interests (e.g., Cancer, CMB, Immunology, MSTP, and Molecular Medicine). Membership on the committee rotates about every four years so that continuity is maintained and new faculty members are involved. This committee meets as a whole 3-4 times a year, and interactions between the Program Director and Associate Directors occur even more frequently, especially during recruiting. The faculty of the Department of Microbiology is also directly advised of and offers suggestions regarding student recruiting, programmatic activities, curriculum, etc., since this Department has the largest number of participating mentors (65%). Communication with the faculties of the other participating Departments is mediated directly from S. Parsons via email and through departmental/program representatives to the Steering Committee. Thus, interactions and communication between the Program Director and all participating faculty are inclusive, structured and integrated.