Two Medical School faculty members appointed to interim chair positions

Two Medical School faculty members have been appointed to interim chair positions. Mark E.P. Prince, M.D., will assume the role of interim chair, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, and Kristen J. Verhey, Ph.D., will assume the interim chair role for the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, effective July 1, 2016.

Prince received his M.D. degree in 1998 from Dalhousie School of Medicine in Nova Scotia and completed his residency in general surgery and otolaryngology at the same institution. He joined the U-M faculty as a lecturer in otolaryngology in 1996 and was appointed assistant professor in 1998. He rose through the ranks to his current position of professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery in 2013.

Over the years, Prince has been involved extensively in administrative activities. He served as director of the Otolaryngology-Head and Neck surgery Residency Program from 2000-15 and in that role established a nationally sought after training program in the field. He has been the chief of the Division of Head and Neck Oncology since 2007 and an associate chair for education in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery since 2014. In 2015, he was appointed assistant dean for graduate medical education in the Medical School.

Verhey received her Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular pharmacology from Harvard University in 1995. She joined the U-M faculty as assistant professor of cell and developmental biology in 2002 and was promoted through the ranks to her current position of professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology. In 2015, she was given a joint appointment as professor of biophysics in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

Verhey’s research activities focus on the molecular basis of intracellular microtubule-based transport. She currently is a co-principal investigator on two National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants. She has served on numerous cell and developmental biology committees including curriculum, graduate student admissions, and faculty searches. Currently, she serves as the chair of the department's Graduate Program Committee. She has reviewed grants for the NIH, National Science Foundation, and the European Research Council.

In 2014, Verhey was inducted into the Medical School’s League of Research Excellence, and in 2015 she received the Endowment for the Basic Sciences Recognition Award for Outstanding Research Contributions.