Mayo Clinic Trustees Approve Governance Changes, Honor Named Professor

Friday, August 14, 2009

ROCHESTER, Minn. — The Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees today approved a plan for transition to a single president/CEO on the Rochester campus and honored a new Mayo Clinic Named Professor.

Effective Sept. 8, John Noseworthy, M.D., president-CEO elect, will assume oversight of Mayo Clinic's Rochester operations. Glenn Forbes, M.D., will take on other key leadership responsibilities, including working to help Mayo Clinic collaborate with the Rochester community and state government and developing a global radiology network. On Nov. 20, Denis Cortese, M.D., will retire and Dr. Noseworthy will become president/CEO of Mayo Clinic.

The trustees also awarded the Vita Valley Professorship in Cellular Senescence to Jan van Deursen, Ph.D. The Noaber Foundation of the Netherlands, which was founded by Paul Baan, established and endowed this professorship. "Noaber" is a Dutch word meaning "neighbor." Vita Valley is a nonprofit foundation that was spun off from the Noaber Foundation to accelerate innovation in health care in an enterprising fashion and through optimal use of various technologies. The professorship represents a strategic partnership with Mayo Clinic and a scientific collaboration between Dr. van Deursen and the University of Groningen, Netherlands.

Dr. van Deursen received the Ph.D. degree in cell biology from the University of Nijmegen, Netherlands. He holds a joint appointment as a consultant in the Division of Community Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, with full faculty privileges in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Mayo Clinic, and is director of the Transgenic and Gene Knockout Core Facility at Mayo Clinic. He also is the Cellular Senescence Research Program Leader for the Mayo Clinic Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging.

Cellular senescence is a process through which cells that are damaged or dysfunctional stop dividing and release factors that destroy adjacent cells. This process, which normally acts as a defense against cancer and other conditions involving extensive cell accumulation, contributes to organ dysfunction in old age.

Dr. van Deursen's research laboratory focuses on elucidating mechanisms that regulate development of cancer and aging-related disorders by combining in vitro biochemistry approaches with genetic experiments in mice. Dr. van Deursen holds two U.S. patents.

Named professorships represent the highest academic distinction for a Mayo Clinic faculty member. Faculty are appointed to a named professorship through nomination and endorsement of their peers and then confirmed by Mayo Clinic senior leadership. Appointed individuals are recognized for distinguished achievement in their specialty areas and service to the institution.

These professorships are named in honor of the benefactors. The gift funds, which may be unrestricted or focused on a specific medical area, are held in endowment. All income from the endowed professorships supports Mayo Clinic programs in medical education and research.

The Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees, a group of public representatives and Mayo physicians and administrators, is responsible for patient care, medical education and research activities at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.; Rochester, Minn.; and Scottsdale and Phoenix, Ariz.

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