Daniel Voth, Ph.D., Named Chair of Microbiology and Immunology in UAMS College of Medicine

By ChaseYavondaC

“Dr. Voth has done an excellent job serving as interim chair since the retirement of former chair Kevin Young, Ph.D., in July and will bring his strong leadership skills, scientific expertise, collegiality and institutional dedication to his post as chair,” said Christopher T. Westfall, M.D., UAMS executive vice chancellor and College of Medicine dean.

Voth was recruited to UAMS in 2009 and has made numerous contributions to his department, the college and the UAMS campus. His research leadership roles have included chairing the UAMS Institutional Biosafety Committee since 2014. As chair of the UAMS Academic Senate in 2016-2017, Voth worked to enhance faculty life throughout campus. He also served on the campus search committee that helped recruit Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, as UAMS chancellor and more recently on the committee that helped to select Shuk-Mei Ho, Ph.D., as UAMS vice chancellor for research and innovation. He was promoted to associate professor in 2014 and to professor in July 2019.

Voth’s research has focused on strategies that bacterial pathogens use to manipulate human cells and cause disease. He completed his doctoral research at the University of Oklahoma, where he investigated the impact of bacterial toxins on eukaryotic cell signaling. He completed postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana.

Voth’s research at UAMS has focused on the causative agent of the human Q fever, Coxiella burnettii. He and colleagues are also using novel human-derived lung infection systems to define the pulmonary innate immune response to Staphylococcus aureus. He has published extensively and has been continually funded by the NIH during his time at UAMS.

Voth has mentored numerous graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty members while also lecturing extensively in graduate and medical school courses. He directed the microbiology and immunology graduate program for four years and served on the UAMS Graduate Council for three years.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.

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