NEWS
OKLAHOMA CITY – Ian F. Dunn, M.D., executive dean of the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and chief physician executive for OU Health, the university’s health care partner, has been named to a one-year term with the Council of Deans Administrative Board with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).
The OU College of Medicine is a member of the AAMC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming health through medical education, clinical care, biomedical research and community collaborations. The Council of Deans convenes deans of AAMC member medical schools in the U.S. and Canada to address issues affecting academic medicine and develop strategies to achieve excellence in its mission areas. As a member of the Administrative Board, Dunn will help manage the affairs of the Council of Deans.
“I am deeply honored to join the AAMC Council of Deans Administrative Board and proud to represent the OU College of Medicine, OU Health and our state while working alongside fellow leaders across the country to champion teaching, research and clinical care at such an important time,” Dunn said.
Dunn joined the OU College of Medicine in 2018, serving as professor and chair of the Department of Neurosurgery. Under his guidance, the department saw significant growth and innovation, expanding clinical services to serve more Oklahomans while investing in research and growing the residency program.
He played a pivotal role in the historic merger that led to the creation of OU Health, Oklahoma’s first fully integrated academic health system, and he served as the first president of the physician group. As the chief physician executive, he continues to ensure the integration of the university’s academic and research missions with the clinical mission of the health system.
An accomplished neurosurgeon with OU Health, Dunn is especially known for his expertise in skull base surgery and neuro-oncology, with advanced training in minimally invasive approaches to complex tumors of the brain and skull base. He is active as a researcher, publishing widely on these topics and on the role of genomic alterations in brain tumors. He has also worked to advance the college’s research mission as a whole. He is passionate about medical education, prioritizing medical student mentorship and championing the growth of residency programs.
Prior to arriving at the OU College of Medicine, Dunn served eight years as an associate professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School and as director for the Center for Pituitary and Skull Base Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
He earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and completed his neurosurgery residency and served as chief resident at the Children’s Hospital/Brigham and Women’s Hospital, as well as a general surgery internship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He completed his clinical fellowship in skull base neurosurgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences/St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center in Little Rock, as well as a postdoctoral fellowship in cancer genomics at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Broad Institute in Boston.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university with campuses in Norman, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. In Oklahoma City, the OU Health Campus is one of the nation’s few academic health centers with seven health profession colleges located on the same campus. The OU Health Campus serves approximately 4,000 students in more than 70 undergraduate and graduate degree programs spanning Oklahoma City and Tulsa and is the leading research institution in Oklahoma. For more information about the OU Health Campus, visit www.ouhsc.edu.
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The Native Nations Center for Tribal Policy Research at the University of Oklahoma will launch its first Sovereign Policy Intensive in September, a new program designed for elected tribal officials that focuses on understanding broadly relevant federal systems grounded in departmental structures, legislation and appropriations, and legal frameworks.
