UAMS Names Raney Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
| LITTLE ROCK – Kevin Raney, Ph.D., a scientist who has studied enzymes that help build and maintain the body’s DNA, has been named chairman of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine.
Raney, a native Arkansan, joined the UAMS faculty in 1995, becoming a full professor in 2007. From 2002-2007, he led the UAMS Proteomics Core Facility, which hosted research into the changes of proteins in the body’s cells. His appointment is effective June 1. He succeeds the late Alan Elbein, Ph.D., who died in November 2009 after serving as chairman for nearly two decades.
He has authored 47 peer-reviewed manuscripts and eight review articles and is principal investigator on three National Institutes of Health research grants. His research interests include nucleic acid metabolism, viral genome replication, single molecule enzymology, proteomics and the use of nanoparticles for biological applications.
Raney earned his doctorate in organic chemistry in 1992 at Vanderbilt University. Prior to that, he received a bachelor’s degree with distinction in chemistry from Hendrix College in Conway.
He is a member of the American Chemical Society, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Related Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a 540,000-square-foot hospital; six institutes; and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has 2,775 students and 748 medical residents. Its institutes are the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including nearly 1,150 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com.