New Leaders of Biomedical Sciences Program Look to the Future

By Janay Jeans

UTHSC College of Medicine professors Susan Miranda, PhD, and Max Fletcher, PhD, recently joined the College of Graduate Health Sciences as the new directors of the Biomedical Sciences Program.

Prior to becoming directors of the program, Dr. Fletcher, associate professor in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology in the College of Medicine, served as the director of the program’s neuroscience research track, which gives training from 43 faculty members at UTHSC and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Dr. Miranda, associate professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in the College of Medicine, has served as the director of the program’s cancer developmental biology research track for seven years.

“I enjoy getting to know those students and helping them with their path,” Dr. Miranda said. “When this opportunity arose, I wanted to do the whole program. It gives me a chance to meet more students with more diverse projects and meet the other tracks.”

Dr. Miranda has served at the university as an esteemed professor in the College of Medicine for nine years. She previously served on the faculty in the orthopaedic department at the University of California, Los Angeles. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in nutritional sciences from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Doctor of Philosophy in molecular biology from the University of California, Los Angeles.

“One of my goals is to bring in quality candidates and do great recruiting so we can improve the program even more,” Dr. Miranda said. “I am hoping to meet more people and bring in more future scientists.”