Appointment of the Dean of the School of Medicine

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Barbara H. Jung, M.D. as the next Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of UC San Diego School of Medicine, effective January 1, 2025.

Having served as an assistant professor of medicine at UC San Diego from 2004-2009, Dr. Jung returns to us from her latest position at the University of Washington, where she has extensive experience in academic and clinical leadership from the department to the health system level. She is currently Professor and Robert G. Petersdorf Endowed Chair in Medicine, overseeing the academic, clinical and research missions of one of the largest medical departments in the country that comprises more than 1,200 faculty, 1,000 staff, 500 residents and fellows, 900 affiliated clinical faculty, 35 training programs, 35 research centers and an annual budget of more than $500 million. In addition, in 2023, Dr. Jung was inducted as the 118th president of the American Gastroenterology Association (AGA), the preeminent gastroenterology society with 14,000 members worldwide and more than 100 staff. Previously, she was Professor of Medicine and Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at University of Illinois, Chicago, where she held the Thomas J. Layden Endowed Professorship in Digestive Liver Diseases.

While at the University of Washington, Dr. Jung has demonstrated a strong commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB): she dedicated considerable resources to the departmental DEI office, including creating a DEI program manager position and increasing funding for the Associate Chair for DEI position; she initiated Equity Academic Scholar awards for underrepresented minority faculty and those who conduct health equity research; she developed department DEI promotion criteria; she initiated the Gender Equity Council and Gender Equity Awards; and oversees the AGA’s national equity project, among many other DEI-focused efforts. Under her leadership, a series of new and successful belonging and well-being initiatives have been launched, including department reconnection events, faculty commensality groups, staff recognition and professional development awards.

Dr. Jung holds an M.D. from Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany, and completed a residency in internal medicine and fellowship in gastroenterology at UC San Diego. She is a practicing gastroenterologist and an international expert in the field of transforming growth factor–beta superfamily signaling in colon cancer and pancreatitis. She has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for nearly 20 years, and was recently awarded a Department of Defense grant in 2024. Her scholarly work has been published in Carcinogenesis, Gastroenterology, Molecular Cancer, Scientific Reports, Pancreas, Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology, and several other journals. She was the first to identify activin type 2 receptor gene disruption in microsatellite unstable and stable cancers as well as this molecule’s role as a biomarker for acute pancreatitis. She has trained dozens of students, residents and fellows and mentored junior faculty to academic success.

As Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of the UC San Diego School of Medicine, Dr. Jung will oversee one of the premier medical schools in the U.S. and serve on the Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences’ Executive and Leadership Cabinets. She will provide collaborative leadership to advance the school’s tripartite mission and enhance its reputation as a leader in improving health outcomes, increasing access to quality care, and pushing the boundaries of discovery in biomedical research. As a key member of the university’s leadership team, Dr. Jung will also partner across UC San Diego, and with leaders of our affiliated entities, to implement strategic priorities that are aligned with the university’s system-wide strategic plan.

Dr. Jung’s appointment is the culmination of a national search for a successor to the outstanding leadership of Interim Dean Steven Garfin, M.D. We extend our appreciation to the search committee for its excellent work, with special thanks to Dr. Victor Nizet and Dr. Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman for serving as co-chairs. We also appreciate the wide-ranging input from the many members of the Health Sciences and campus community who participated in the search process and took time to provide invaluable feedback on our outstanding finalist candidates.

Please join us in warmly welcoming Dr. Jung back to UC San Diego.

Appointment of the Dean of the School of Medicine

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