WASHINGTON (January 9, 2018) – The George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences is pleased to announce that distinguished researcher and neural development pioneer, Sally A. Moody, PhD, professor of anatomy and regenerative biology, has been appointed to serve as chair of the Department of Anatomy and Regenerative Biology. Moody has been the interim chair of this department since July 2016.
"Dr. Moody stepped in as the interim chair of Anatomy and Regenerative Biology and her performance was outstanding. Under her leadership, she has fostered growth and encouraged creativity and discovery. We are very fortunate that Dr. Moody will remain chair and look forward to the future under her leadership of this important department," said Jeffrey S. Akman, MD, vice president for health affairs, Walter A. Bloedorn Professor of Administrative Medicine, and dean of the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
As chair, Moody will oversee all functions of the department, including oversight of the academic programs, guiding future departmental growth, facilitating collaborations, and supporting research efforts.
Moody joined the faculty in the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences in 1992 as an associate professor of anatomy and cell biology and of genetics. In 1994, she was promoted to a full professor in the Department of Anatomy and Regenerative Biology. In addition to serving as the interim chair of the Department of Anatomy and Regenerative Biology, Moody has held many leadership positions at GW, including director of the neuroscience graduate program, associate director of the Institute for Biomedical Sciences, and chair of the Institutional Biosafety Committee.
Additionally, she has held leadership positions at many influential organizations, outside of GW. She has served as the program official of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in developmental genetics and genomics, the chair of the FASEB Excellence in Science Awards Committee, and the Scientific Advisory Board of the International Graduate School in Molecular Medicine (Ulm, Germany). She also served as an honorary professor at Peking Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Science in Beijing, China. She has held positions on numerous editorial boards and is Editor-in-Chief of genesis, The Journal of Genetics and Development. Moody has been the principal investigator on funded research awards from prestigious organizations, including the NIH, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation, among others. Her research focuses on the developmental genetics of nervous system and craniofacial development, and she is regularly published in highly prestigious scientific journals, including Developmental Cell, Developmental Biology, Development, Nature Cell Biology and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. She has edited three books on Developmental Genetics and is co-Editor of a book series on Evolutionary Cell Biology.
She is the recipient of many honors, fellowships, and awards including the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences Distinguished Researcher Award, the Columbian School Excellence in Graduate Advising Award, and an NIH-National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Research Career Development Award.
She is an active member of several professional societies, including the American Association of Anatomists, the American Association of University Women, the Society for Development Biology, and the Society for Neuroscience. She served on the Board of Trustees of the Society for Developmental Biology for 12 years and currently is Treasurer of the International Xenopus Board. In August 2016, Moody was elected as Vice President of the Society for Craniofacial Genetics and Developmental Biology and is in her second year of a two-year term.
As an educator, Moody teaches medical students and graduate students in the classroom and her lab and has served on many graduate student dissertation committees. She is also dedicated to the growth of research and discovery and regularly serves as a member of review panels for special programs and initiatives at a host of scientific organizations, including the NIH, NSF, NASA, and several international agencies.
Moody officially assumed the position of chair of the Department of Anatomy and Regenerative Biology on January 1, 2018.
