Following a year-long search process, Danny G. Winder, PhD, has been appointed chair of the Department of Neurobiology at UMass Chan Medical School. He has also been named the new Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research Chair I.
Dr. Winder comes to UMass Chan from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, where he served as the Bixler-Johnson-Mayes Chair in Basic Sciences, and professor of molecular physiology & biophysics, pharmacology and psychiatry.
Winder wanted to join the UMass Chan community for three reasons: to take advantage of the robust cross-discipline collaborative research opportunities; to be part of the school’s diverse and inclusive environment; and to foster the success of individuals at every level of experience, from students to faculty and staff.
Winder will succeed Vivian Budnik, PhD, the current chair of neurobiology and inaugural holder of the Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research Chair I. Dr. Budnik has served as department chair since 2015.
Winder is a renowned expert in the field of addiction neuroscience and founding director of the Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research. His research addresses the major public health issues of drug abuse and dependence. His lab studies preclinical models of interactions between stress and addiction and he is credited with discovering how synaptic plasticity in the extended amygdala influences stress responses in brain regions that are involved in drug- and alcohol-seeking behaviors.
Winder graduated magna cum laude from North Georgia College with a Bachelor of Science degree and earned his PhD at Emory University. He held a postdoctoral position at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons before joining Vanderbilt in 1999.
Winder served as the co-director of the neuroscience graduate program T32 and as associate director of the Medical Scientist Training Program at Vanderbilt. He has previously served as director of graduate studies for the Department of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics.
He will start at UMass Chan in January 2024, working remotely in his new role until the new education and research building opens next year.
