Brody School of Medicine names vice dean of operations
East Carolina University (ECU) has named a new vice dean of operations for the Brody School of Medicine.
Dr. Peter Schmidt will begin serving as Brody’s second in command on May 29, supporting Dean Dr. Mark Stacy in the operational aspects of the school’s activities – financial, academic, clinical, strategic and administrative – as well as in faculty affairs and institutional programs.
The position was held by Dr. Nicholas Benson from 2007 until his retirement in December 2017.
Schmidt comes to ECU from the Parkinson’s Foundation where – as the senior vice president and chief research and clinical officer – he oversaw research, education, and outreach initiatives. He led a redesign of the foundation’s Centers of Excellence program, managed scientific grant programs, and served as principal investigator for the Parkinson’s Outcomes Project. That project is the largest clinical study ever conducted in Parkinson’s disease and aims to establish optimal standards of care and actively researches diverse clinical areas in the disease.
Dr. Peter Schmidt (Contributed photo)
In addition to his work in Parkinson’s, Schmidt has recent or current advisory engagements in Huntington’s disease, Glut1 deficiency syndrome, cystic fibrosis, inpatient rehabilitation, wearable sensors and telemedicine.
“Dr. Schmidt brings an exceptional level of clinical, administrative, research and outreach experience to the role of vice dean of operations,” Stacy said. “His experience and keen problem-solving abilities will be invaluable as we work to expand the impact Brody has on our region’s health status, our state’s physician workforce, and the world’s knowledge base about certain diseases.”
Schmidt serves as an advisor to several government, industry and foundation initiatives, as well as a member of the Neurology Steering Committee of the National Quality Forum and U.S. Department of Defense’s Parkinson’s Research Program, both of which are national committees based in Washington, D.C.
He completed his master’s and doctoral degrees in biomedical engineering at Cornell University’s Sibley School of Mechanical Engineering in Ithaca, New York, in 1995 and 1999, respectively. He received his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1992.
“I am honored to have the opportunity to join the team at the Brody School of Medicine under the leadership of Dean Stacy,” Schmidt said. “Through the Parkinson’s Foundation Center of Excellence program, I focused on how the academic medical center can lead and coordinate the care for everyone in a community. I hope to work with the excellent Brody faculty to drive health care improvement for the people of eastern North Carolina, while training the next generation of physicians.”
-by Rob Spahr, University Communications