The Department of Biology has announced Diane C. Slusarski as the incoming departmental executive officer (DEO) and chair. Slusarski, the first female DEO in the history of the department, assumed the position on July 1.

“I look forward to applying my skills, vision, and enthusiasm to ensure the implementation of a STEM-driven curriculum, to further the level of research excellence, and to add to the prestige of the Department of Biology at the University of Iowa,” Slusarski says.

Slusarski is a professor in the Department of Biology and a faculty member of the Wynn Institute for Vision Research, the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics, and the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center. She also serves on the advisory board for the Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank in the Department of Biology.

Slusarski received a degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, double-majoring in biochemistry and honors biology. She earned a PhD in cell and molecular biology from Northwestern University, and was a National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Scholar at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Slusarski’s research interests include early animal development and organ formation. By understanding how the heart or eye forms and works, we can model human diseases such as visual impairment and cardiovascular disease and elucidate the underlying causes and possible treatments.

Bernd Fritzsch had served as DEO since 2008; he returns as a member of the faculty.