McGovern welcomes executive dean John Hancock, MA, MB, BChir, PhD, ScD
Dr. John Hancock, the new executive dean and H. Wayne Hightower Distinguished Professor in the Medical Sciences, responds to questions about the past and future for Scoop.
Q: You joined McGovern Medical School in 2008 as chair of the Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology. Did you always have ambitions to become dean?
I’ve thought about it philosophically at various times over the last decade, along the lines of what I would have done if presented with the same challenge, when key decisions were made. I only really thought about it seriously when it was suggested that I should apply.
Q: You are McGovern Medical School’s first executive dean. How is that different from dean?
I’m not sure it’s that different, it just more accurately reflects the extensive roles and responsibilities of our current Dean’s Office, which due to the scope and size of McGovern Medical School, require a team to fully execute. I will be working alongside Dr. LaTanya Love, our dean of education, and Dr. Richard Andrassy, senior vice president for clinical and faculty affairs and co-chair of the Clinical Leadership Council, to ensure the full support of all mission areas.
Q: What are your short-term and long-term goals for the Medical School?
One of my primary goals is to expand basic, clinical, and translational research across the institution, and to provide fellows and students with increased research opportunities. By listening to, and consulting with, chairs about their plans for research, together we can formulate strategies to deliver on those aspirations. This goal matches one of my charges as executive dean — to increase the research profile of McGovern Medical School and more broadly across UTHealth Houston. My vision is to empower and support faculty to be as productive and successful as possible and rewarding success.
Q: How do you plan to balance the executive directorship of the Brown Foundation Institute for Molecular Medicine and the Prevention of Human Diseases simultaneously with the deanship?
I’m fortunate at the IMM to have a cohort of highly accomplished center directors, who together with our recently recruited DMO, Maria Garcia-Villarreal, are able to manage most day-to-day faculty, research, and operational affairs. I will still spend 1-2 days each week physically present at IMM to continue to provide stable leadership. I also like to be available so that any center director or faculty can drop by casually. The rest of the time, I will be available in the Dean’s Office at the Medical School Building.
Q: What drove your interest in research? And how will you prioritize your research as executive dean?
It started as a medical student at Cambridge, where all of our lectures were taught by basic scientists with active research programs. Relevant research underpinning the physiology and biochemistry, irrespective of whether it related to human or other animal systems, was always highlighted. Later, when I was a junior doctor on the clinical hematology service at the Royal Free Hospital in London, there was a collaboration between Genentech and the Hemophilia Unit to clone factor VIII, introducing many of us to the power of molecular biology for the first time. A few years earlier, human oncogenes had been discovered, which were clearly critically important to understanding the etiology of cancer. Pulling these fields together, I wanted to learn more about the molecular basis of cancer. This decision led me to the laboratory of Chris Marshall FRS, then a starting junior PI at the Institute of Cancer Research, who introduced me to the RAS oncogene, which has been the subject of my research ever since. I plan to continue my research program for as long as I can secure grants to support it!
Q: We know you as head of basic science research and of the IMM. Tell us about your clinical work.
After my internships in medicine and surgery at St. Thomas’s Hospital, I completed the equivalent of an internal medicine residency at London teaching hospitals, including Brompton (cardiology), Hammersmith (hematology), St. Thomas’s (intensive care), and Queen Square (neurology). I passed my MRCP (UK equivalent to internal medicine boards), then trained in clinical hematology at the Royal Free Hospital for several years before embarking on my PhD. After my PhD, I returned to the Royal Free, where I set up my new lab and attended on the hematology service for 3 years before leaving for the United States. I practiced again for a couple of years in Australia while preparing for the FRACP exam (Australian equivalent to internal medicine boards) to get my Australian license. My research and academic activities, however, started taking up too much time, so I stopped attending at that point.
Q: How would you describe your leadership style?
I’m a great believer in team-based management. I like to appoint and empower leaders, devolve specific responsibilities, set clear expectations and goals, and hold those leaders accountable by assessing performance against those aims. I like to have feedback, good and bad, from all levels and adjust my strategy and expectations as needed. I try to be considerate and listen carefully before making judgments, or decisions. I see myself as an important advocate for faculty and staff and more generally as a problem-solver. I would hope that others perceive me as thoughtful and fair.
Q: What is the best piece of professional advice you have received?
Some words that I remember vividly since the age of 5, came from the imposing Welsh choirmaster of my primary school. I had been in the choir during my first year of primary school, yet when I returned for my second year, I noticed my name was not on the choir list. I told the choirmaster there must have been a mistake. He told me, “Hancock, there has been no mistake. Singing is not for you!” So, any thoughts of a singing career were swiftly ended.
Q: A native of England, you have citizenship in Britain, Australia, and the United States. Why is that important?
The citizenships reflect my ongoing attachment to the different countries, which although they share a common language (kind of!), all have very different cultures and societal structures. In turn, I can appreciate that there are many solutions and approaches to just about everything since all these countries do things very differently, for example education and health care
Q: How do you balance your busy work schedule with other activities — and what do you do for fun?
Life-work balance is critically important, for everyone; and the key to that is being organized. My wife describes me as the most highly organized person she’s ever known, which I’ll take as a compliment. Outside of work, I love to cook and dine out; I enjoy traveling, hiking, reading, road cycling, and the gym. I have a passion for UK detective TV shows and watching premier league football (aka soccer), even though my team perpetually disappoints!