Steven Houser, PhD, FAHA, Named Senior Associate Dean for Research at Temple University School of Medicine

Steven R. Houser, PhD, FAHA, has been named Senior Associate Dean for Research at Temple University School of Medicine (TUSM). Dr. Houser has served in this position on an acting basis since Joseph Cheung, MD, PhD, was named Chair of Medicine last fall. Dr. Houser will remain Professor and Chair of Physiology, as well as Director of Temple’s Cardiovascular Research Center.
 
In his new role, Dr. Houser will provide vision, leadership, strategic development, and oversight of all aspects of TUSM’s research mission; continue Temple’s emphasis on translational research integrated with patient-centered clinical services of the health enterprise; ensure that TUSM’s research infrastructure is aligned with its strategic plan and institutional resources; develop strong collaborations among investigators; and represent TUSM and its research enterprise both internally and externally.
 
Dr. Houser is an internationally respected cardiovascular researcher who has been a Temple faculty member for more than 30 years. His research group has helped define many fundamental features of the normal cardiac myocyte as well as identified defective molecular and cellular processes that produce abnormal cardiac myocyte function in cardiovascular disease. In 2012, this group was awarded a five-year, $11.6 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health to develop new approaches to prevent, slow, or reverse damage to the heart after a heart attack.
 
Dr. Houser earned his PhD in Physiology and completed a research fellowship at TUSM. He joined the Temple faculty as an Assistant Professor of Physiology in 1979 and was named Director of the Cardiovascular Research Center in 2003 and Chair of Physiology in 2006. He has a long association with the American Heart Association, serving as a board member, Chair of the Research Committee, and President of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Affiliate. He has also served on a number of national AHA committees.