Michael Henry, PhD, deputy director of University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center and professor in the UI Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, will serve as interim director of the cancer center, effective April 1.
Left: Michael Henry, PhD. Right: George Weiner, MD
Henry will succeed George Weiner, MD, who announced plans to step down as director in late 2021. Weiner will serve as director emeritus and play a critical role in mentoring young investigators and serving as a national ambassador for Holden. He will also maintain his research, teaching, and clinical activities in his faculty role as a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and its hematology, oncology, and blood and marrow transplantation division.
The search for a new Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center director is expected to begin after the search is completed for the next UI vice president for medical affairs and dean of the Carver College of Medicine.
Henry, who is a professor in the UI Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, has served as deputy director for research at Holden for more than a decade. In this role, he provides oversight for all research activities for the cancer center and is involved in the preparation and application for major grants, such as the NCI’s P30 Cancer Center Support Grant.
“I am pleased that Dr. Henry will serve as interim director and carry on the tradition of excellence that Dr. Weiner established,” says Brooks Jackson, MD, MBA, UI vice president for medical affairs and the Tyrone D. Artz Dean in the Carver College of Medicine. “George has provided extraordinary leadership and stability for Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, and he has been a guiding force in advancing cancer research, education and training, and patient care across the state and throughout the nation.”