faculty news

Appointments, Honors & Awards

Anthony “Tony” Hollenberg, MD, has been named John Wade Professor and chair of the Department of Medicine (DOM) at the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, and physician-in-chief at Boston Medical Center (BMC).

Hollenberg previously served as chair of the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Department of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and physician-in-chief at New York-Presbyterian/ Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City. He also served as chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism and vice chair for mentoring at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

lism, including body weight. His laboratory also explores the underpinnings of thyroid gland development. He has published more than 98 original studies in journals and contributed 31 book chapters and reviews. Hollenberg’s extensive research expertise will enhance preclinical, translational, and clinical research across the department.

Venetia Zachariou, PhD, Appointed Chair, Pharmacology, Physiology & Biophysics

Venetia (Vanna) Zachariou, PhD, was named chair of pharmacology, physiology & biophysics, effective December 1, 2022. Zachariou is replacing David Farb, PhD, who announced his intention to step down last year, and William Lehman, PhD, who was appointed ad interim chair upon David Atkinson’s announcement, also last year. The name of the combined department will be chosen after discussions with the faculty, students, and other stakeholders.

conditions and pain/addiction comorbidities. Her team has identified several intracellular pathways that control the perception and maintenance of chronic pain states. They also have developed novel interventions in epigenetic pathways that allow transitioning to nonopioid analgesics while preventing the development of physical dependence.

Zachariou received her BSc in pharmacy from the University of Patras, Greece, and her PhD in pharmacology from the Medical College of Georgia. Following a postdoctoral fellowship in the department of psychiatry at Yale University and a junior faculty position at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, she established her laboratory at the University of Crete School of Medicine. In 2012, she joined the departments of neuroscience and pharmacological sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York as an associate professor (with tenure since 2016), and as full professor since 2018.

Hollenberg’s extensive research expertise will enhance preclinical, translational, and clinical research across the department.

A native of Toronto, Hollenberg received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and his medical degree from the University of Calgary. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center followed by a clinical and research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital.

A leading physician-scientist specializing in endocrinology, Hollenberg’s work focuses on thyroid disorders and investigating the physiological and molecular mechanisms by which thyroid hormones regulate metabo-

Zachariou previously served as professor of neuroscience and pharmacological sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She studies signal transduction and epigenetic mechanisms of neurological disorders and their treatment using genetic mouse models, genomic assays, and brain biochemistry. Current projects investigate transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms of chronic pain with emphasis on the identification and validation of novel treatments for the management of peripheral neuropathy and other chronic pain conditions. Another line of research in her laboratory investigates the role of G protein signal transduction complexes in drug addiction, opioid analgesia, and physical dependence. By understanding intracellular adaptations to peripheral nerve injury and/or prolonged opioid exposure, she aims to develop novel therapeutics for chronic pain

Current

projects investigate transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms of chronic pain with emphasis on the identification and validation of novel treatments for the management of peripheral neuropathy and other chronic pain conditions. Another line of research in her laboratory investigates the role of G protein signal transduction complexes in drug addiction, opioid analgesia, and physical dependence.

Zachariou is a member of the editorial boards of Biological Psychiatry, Molecular Pain, Science Signaling, and Neurobiology of Pain, section editor for European Journal of Neuroscience, and a member of the NIH Molecular and Cellular Neuropharmacology study section. She is a fellow in the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and chairelect for the ASPET Neuropharmacology Division.