Cox appointed director of Center for Translational Injury Research
Charles S. Cox Jr., MD, has been appointed director of the Center for Translational Injury Research at McGovern Medical School.
Cox, the George and Cynthia Mitchell Distinguished Chair in Neurosciences and the Glassell Family Distinguished Chair, will focus on expanding trauma research within the center and the Department of Surgery, emphasizing collaborative academic and scholarly activity among the clinical and research-intensive faculty. This will include continued development of technologies that are rapidly deployable and translatable to treat injured patients, as well as participation in The University of Texas System’s newly created Trauma Research and Combat Casualty Care Collaborative.
Cox, professor of pediatric surgery, pediatrics, surgery, and biomedical engineering at McGovern Medical School and a faculty member of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, also will lead efforts to create a trauma innovation program that fosters the development of new therapeutics, including devices, drugs, biologics, techniques, and systems.
“Dr. Cox is a longtime leader in trauma research and clinical care, and his drive to improve outcomes for patients is inspiring,” said Richard Andrassy, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Surgery; the Jack H. Mayfield, MD, Distinguished University Chair in Surgery, and the Denton A. Cooley, MD, Chair in Surgery, as well as senior vice president for clinical affairs and strategy at UTHealth Houston. “As the director, he will continue to build upon a foundation of excellence for which the Center for Translational Injury Research is known and will further its mission of translating trauma research from the bench to the bedside.”
Cox succeeds Charles Wade, PhD, professor and the James H. “Red” Duke Jr., MD, Distinguished Professor in Surgery, who recently announced his plans to step down from his leadership role with the center.
In addition to the Center for Translational Injury Research, Cox directs the Pediatric Surgical Translational Laboratories and Pediatric Program in Regenerative Medicine. He directs the Pediatric Trauma Program at McGovern Medical School and Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital. He leads the Judith R. Hoffberger Cellular Therapeutics Laboratory and Evelyn Griffin Stem Cell Therapeutics Laboratory, and is an investigator with the Senator Lloyd and B.A. Bentsen Center for Stroke Research at UTHealth Houston. He also serves as co-director of the Red Duke Trauma Institute at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center.