Special Announcement

Larry J. Shapiro, MD

Shapiro to be next executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine

FROM THE OFFICE OF MEDICAL PUBLIC AFFAIRS

    
       
   

Larry J. Shapiro, MD

 

“[Shapiro] is an accomplished teacher, a groundbreaking scientist and a strong administrative leader. I know he will build upon our strengths in biomedical research and clinical care and upon the progress made under the leadership of Bill Peck.”

CHANCELLOR MARK S. WRIGHTON

 

 

 

 

 

 

LARRY J. SHAPIRO, MD—an internationally renowned research geneticist and pediatrician associated with the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine—will become executive vice chancellor for medical affairs at Washington University in St. Louis and dean of the School of Medicine on July 1, 2003, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton.

Shapiro will succeed William A. Peck, MD, who will retire as dean and executive vice chancellor on
June 30, 2003. Peck—a worldwide osteoporosis expert and recognized leader in academic medicine—was the first person to serve as both
medical school dean and executive vice chancellor for medical affairs, a dual appointment he has held for 13 years. Peck will lead an effort to establish a center for health policy at the university and will continue as the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor in Medicine.

“I am delighted that a person of Larry Shapiro’s stature and experience will assume the role of executive vice chancellor and dean of one of the world’s leading schools of medicine,” Wrighton says. “He is an accomplished teacher, a groundbreaking scientist and a strong administrative leader. I know he will build upon our strengths in biomedical research and clinical care and upon the progress made under the leadership of Bill Peck.”

Shapiro currently is the W.H. and Marie Wattis Distinguished Professor and chair of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and has been the chief of pediatric services at UCSF Children’s Hospital since 1991.

“I am extremely grateful to be given this opportunity to work on behalf of an institution that has
contributed so much to the advancement of science and medical care,” says Shapiro. “I look forward to interacting with the dedicated and extraordinarily talented faculty, the optimistic and intellectually
challenging students and trainees, and the hardworking and gifted staff that comprise the Washington University School of Medicine. I am inspired by their commitment not to rest upon past accomplishment, but to accelerate efforts that will result in the betterment of health for all.”

Shapiro has been internationally recognized for his significant research in human genetics, molecular biology and biochemistry. His contributions to academic medicine include patient care, research, teaching and administration.

Shapiro is a member of the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Shapiro has served as the president of the American Society of Human Genetics, the American Board of Medical Genetics, the Society for Inherited Metabolic Diseases, and the Society for Pediatric Research. He is president-elect of the American Pediatric Society.

The search committee that recommended Shapiro was chaired by Richard H. Gelberman, MD, the Fred C. Reynolds Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and head of that department.

About Larry J. Shapiro

Shapiro earned both undergraduate and medical degrees from Washington University in St. Louis. He distinguished himself academically and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha national honor societies. While at the university he was the recipient of the Robert Carter Medical School Prize in 1968 and also was awarded the university's George F. Gill Prize in Pediatrics in 1971. In 1996, he received the university's prestigious Alumni Achievement Award.

After completing his residency at St. Louis Children's Hospital in 1973, he became a research associate at the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism and Digestive Diseases, Section on Human Biochemical Genetics. In 1975, he joined the faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine as an assistant professor of pediatrics and director of the Harbor-UCLA Genetic Metabolic Laboratory. Eight years later, Shapiro was named professor of pediatrics and biological chemistry, and in 1986, he became chief of the Division of Medical Genetics.

During his years at UCLA, Shapiro also was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.

While at UCSF, Shapiro directed and expanded one of the leading academic pediatric departments in the country and helped to establish the UCSF Children's Hospital. He also spearheaded the university's participation in the Glaser Pediatric Research Network, a driving force in improving research and care for children with HIV and AIDS.

A Chicago native, Shapiro is married to Carol-Ann Uetake. He has three children: Jennifer, 30; Jessica, 26; and Brian, 22. Jennifer (Arts & Sciences 1994) and Brian (Arts & Sciences 2002) are both graduates of Washington University in St. Louis.