Karen Lounsbury, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology, has been appointed Director of Foundations in the Office of Medical Student Education at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, effective May 1, 2018.
Karen Lounsbury, Ph.D. (Photo: LCOM Medical Communications)
Karen Lounsbury, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology, has been appointed director of Foundations in the Office of Medical Student Education at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, effective May 1. Lounsbury succeeds Paula Tracy, Ph.D., who has stepped down after six years in the position.
In her new role, Lounsbury will lead and manage the Foundations Level of the Vermont Integrated Curriculum, supporting course directors, the use of active learning, ensuring best practices and facilitating student engagement in the curriculum. She will also continue as director of the Masters in Medical Science Graduate Program.
A Master Teacher in the College’s Teaching Academy, Lounsbury teaches in the Neural Sciences, Foundations of Clinical Science, and Human Development and Reproductive Health courses. She has served as an elected member of the College’s Medical Curriculum Committee since 2012 and has served on the College’s Strategic Planning Committee, the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, and the Recruitment Committee for the Cellular, Molecular and Biomedical Sciences graduate program. In addition, Lounsbury has taught dozens of undergraduate and graduate courses in pharmacology, cell and molecular biology, and pathology.
Lounsbury is a member of the UVM Cancer Center whose research focuses on how vascular and tumor cells respond to their environment and whether transcriptional changes are subject to therapeutic intervention. Her national leadership roles include service as co-chair of the National Institutes of Health Study Section for F10 Cardiopulmonary Fellowships, and as a member and former chair of the American Heart Association Study Section, Northeast Peer Review Section.
A well-respected teacher, scientist and mentor of more than 70 post-doctoral fellows and undergraduate, graduate, and medical students, Lounsbury joined the UVM faculty in 1998 after completing a postdoctoral fellowship in the UVM Department of Pathology and working as a postdoctoral associate with Chair of Pharmacology Mark Nelson, Ph.D. She earned her Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Pennsylvania.