Mayo Clinic recognizes new named professors
Mayo Clinic’s Named Professorship Committee has recognized six recipients of Mayo Clinic named professorships — the highest academic distinction for staff members at Mayo Clinic. Less than 3% of staff members receive this distinction.
These positions represent the pinnacle of medical achievement and excellence for Mayo Clinic physicians and scientists. A professorship signifies a staff member who fuels scientific discovery and invests in teaching and mentoring the next generation of leaders.
Endowed professorships, which are supported through philanthropy, allow Mayo Clinic to attract and retain the most sought-after, experienced scholars. Endowed funds ensure Mayo Clinic’s capacity to support the highest level of scientific leadership and speed the pace of research to solve unmet patient needs.
The Named Professorship Committee has announced these new honorees:
Charles Adler, M.D., Ph.D. (N ’91)
Division of Movement Disorders
Department of Neurology
Mayo Clinic in Arizona
Dr. Adler is the inaugural recipient of the Wayne and Kathryn Preisel Professorship in Neuroscience Research. The professorship was established through an estate commitment from Kathryn B. Preisel, a longtime patient and benefactor from Kankakee County, Illinois.
Dr. Adler is the recipient of the 2022 American Academy of Neurology Movement Disorders Research Award and the 2006 Mayo Clinic Distinguished Investigator Award. He is a member of, and has served in leadership roles for, many professional societies, including his role as an officer of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
He has received numerous grants from the National Institutes of Health, Michael J. Fox Foundation, Arizona Biomedical Research Commission and other organizations.
His primary clinical and research interests are Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders.
Stephen Ansell, M.D., Ph.D. (I ’96, HEMO ’99)
Division of Hematology
Department of Internal Medicine
Mayo Clinic in Rochester
Dr. Ansell is the inaugural recipient of the Dorotha W. and Grant L. Sundquist Professorship in Hematologic Malignancies Research. The professorship was established by the estate of Dorotha B. Sundquist, a benefactor from Independence, Iowa, who was a Mayo Clinic patient for 68 years.
Dr. Ansell is the chair of the Lymphoma Disease Group. His lab focuses on strategies to reactivate immune cells within tumors.
He has received awards from the American Society of Hematology and Leukemia & Lymphoma Foundation. He has been recognized at Mayo Clinic with the Outstanding Investigator Award.
Dr. Ansell is on the scientific advisory boards of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Lymphoma Research Foundation, and the International Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia Foundation.
Paul Brown, M.D. (I1 ’96, RADO ’00)
Department of Radiation Oncology
Mayo Clinic in Rochester
Dr. Brown is the inaugural recipient of the Wilmeth Professorship in Radiation Oncology honoring Robert L. Foote, M.D. The professorship was established by Steven and Victoria Wilmeth of Longview, Texas.
Dr. Brown is a recipient of the Mayo Clinic Excellence in Leadership Award, MD Anderson Cancer Center President’s Recognition for Faculty Excellence Award, and American Medical Association’s Women’s Physician Section Inspirational Physician Award. He also was named Teacher of the Year numerous times.
He is a member of the National Cancer Institute’s Brain Malignancies Steering Committee and holds leadership roles in the National Cancer Institute’s cooperative research groups, such as the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology.
Dr. Brown has led several clinical trials that have changed clinical practice worldwide.
Mohamad Bydon, M.D. (NS ’15)
Department of Neurologic Surgery
Mayo Clinic in Rochester
Dr. Bydon is one of two inaugural recipients of the Charles B. and Ann L. Johnson Professorship in Neurosurgery, which was established by Charles B. and Ann L. Johnson of Palm Beach, Florida. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are best known as majority owners of the San Francisco Giants. Dr. Bydon serves as executive medical director of Academic Affairs for Mayo Clinic International, medical director of the Mayo Clinic Enterprise Neurosurgical Registry and principal investigator in the Mayo Clinic Neuro-Informatics Laboratory. He is a sought-after speaker and frequent author, with over 400 peer-reviewed manuscripts in addition to numerous book chapters and abstracts. He has received many awards and honors, including the Sanford Larson Award for Best Research, the Stewart Dunsker Award, and the Kern Center Practice Innovation Award. His clinical expertise is complex spine surgery, spinal oncology and minimally invasive spine surgery.
John Cheville, M.D. (SGPA ’95)
Division of Anatomic Pathology
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology
Mayo Clinic in Rochester
Dr. Cheville is the inaugural recipient of the William B. Zeiler, M.D., Professorship in Pathology, which was established by the late William B. Zeiler, M.D., of Pittsburgh and Chicago.
Dr. Cheville is an internationally renowned urologic and surgical pathologist. His research focuses on urologic malignancies, and the pathologic and molecular features that predict the outcomes in patients with prostate cancer, renal cell carcinoma, urothelial carcinoma and testicular tumors.
Dr. Cheville has more than 450 peer-reviewed publications and holds a number of patents for prostate cancer biomarkers. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense and the National Cancer Institute.
Dr. Cheville was recognized with the Mayo Clinic Distinguished Clinician Award in 2019.
Allan Jaffe, M.D. (CV ’99)
Division of Ischemic Heart Disease and Critical Care
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology
Mayo Clinic in Rochester
Dr. Jaffe is the inaugural recipient of the Wayne and Kathryn Preisel Professorship for Cardiovascular Disease Research which was established through an estate commitment from Kathryn B. Preisel, a longtime patient and benefactor from Kankakee County, Illinois. Dr. Jaffe has spent his entire academic career investigating the use of biomarkers to characterize the pathobiology of acute cardiovascular disease. He is the recipient of the AACC Academy Award for Outstanding Contributions to Clinical Chemistry in a Selected area of Research. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology (and recipient of their Gifted Teacher Award), the American College of Physicians, the American Heart Association, and the European Society of Cardiology, and has served on multiple committees for professional organizations. He is frequently invited to give presentations on his research both nationally and internationally and is a prolific author of journal articles, book chapters and abstracts.
Nadia Laack, M.D. (RADO ’06)
Chair, Department of Radiation Oncology
Mayo Clinic in Rochester
Dr. Laack succeeds Robert L. Foote, M.D. (RADO ’88), as the recipient of the Hitachi Professorship in Radiation Oncology Research, which was established in 2017 by Hitachi. The Japanese company partnered with Mayo Clinic to bring proton beam therapy to Rochester and Arizona.
Dr. Laack’s research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute, Brains Together for a Cure and National Childhood Cancer Foundation. Her findings have been published in prominent peer-reviewed journals.
She is the recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine; the Mayo Brothers Distinguished Fellowship Award for Outstanding Clinical Performance, Humanitarianism and Scholarly Activity; and several others.
Dr. Lacck’s goal is to improve the quality of life and cancer outcomes for patients diagnosed with pediatric and adult central nervous system tumors and sarcomas.
Michael J. Link, M.D. (MED ’90, NS ’96)
Department of Neurologic Surgery
Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery
Mayo Clinic in Rochester
Dr. Link is also a recipient of the Charles B. and Ann L. Johnson Professorship in Neurosurgery, which was established by Charles B. and Ann L. Johnson of Palm Beach, Florida. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are best known as majority owners of the San Francisco Giants. Dr. Link is internationally recognized as an expert in the microsurgical and radiosurgical treatment of skull base disorders. Dr. Link is active in many professional organizations and is a past president of the North American Skull Base Society. He is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Neurologic Surgery, Part B – Skull Base and has been awarded three times as a Mayo Clinic Teacher of the Year. His research interests include analysis of long-term quality of life and other clinical outcomes in skull base tumors, especially vestibular schwannomas.
Zhenkun Lou, Ph.D. (PHAR ’01)
Swanson/Schmucker Endowed Professor
Chair, Division of Oncology Research
Department of Oncology
Division of Clinical Pharmacology
Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Mayo Clinic in Rochester
Dr. Lou is the inaugural recipient of the Swanson/Schmucker Endowed Professorship, which was established through an estate commitment from Virginia A. Swanson Schmucker, a longtime patient and benefactor from Wapello County, Iowa. Dr. Lou is chair of the Division of Oncology Research. He is principal investigator and program director for several grants, which are funded by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health. His research findings have been published in prominent peer-reviewed journals. In recognition of his work, Dr. Lou was named Outstanding Investigator by the Institution of Radiation Biology. He also serves as senior associate editor of Genes and Diseases and recently completed a term as president of the Association of Chinese Americans in Cancer Research. Dr. Lou’s research centers on the DNA damage response pathway, which is critical for maintaining genomic stability.
James F. Meschia, M.D. (N ’97)
Department of Neurology
Department of Neurologic Surgery
Mayo Clinic in Florida
Dr. Meschia is the inaugural recipient of the Frances Bartlett Kinne, Ph.D. Professorship at Mayo Clinic in Florida, which was established by an estate gift from Frances Kinne, Ph.D., a trailblazer in higher education and longtime Mayo Clinic patient, advocate, benefactor and honorary member of the Mayo Clinic staff. Dr. Meschia’s research focuses on ischemic stroke genetics and clinical trials to optimize prevention of stroke. His research is funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the state of Florida. He is a frequent presenter, author of over 300 peer-reviewed publications and serves on the editorial board of four prominent scientific publications. He’s received two awards recognizing his contributions to education, and previously served as associate dean of Mayo Clinic School of Continuous Professional Development in Florida. Dr. Meschia is a fellow of the American Heart Association, the American Academy of Neurology and the American Neurological Association.
Michael Silber, M.B., Ch.B. (N ’87)
Dean, Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences
Division of Sleep Neurology
Department of Neurology
Mayo Clinic in Rochester
Dr. Silber is the inaugural recipient of the Elliott and Marlys Badzin Neuro-Degenerative Sleep Disorder Professorship, which was established by Elliott and Marlys Badzin of Minneapolis.
Dr. Silber is dean of the Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences and was former co-director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Sleep Medicine. He has held leadership roles with the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, American Board of Sleep Medicine, and Sleep Medicine Fellowship Directors’ Council.
Among his awards are the 2000 Helmut Schmidt Award from the American Board of Sleep Medicine, the 2010 Nathaniel Kleitman Award for distinguished service to the profession, the 2017 Excellence in Education Award from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, and the 2013 Sleep Science Award from the American Academy of Neurology.
His research interests include restless legs syndrome, rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder and narcolepsy.