Geneticist and Associate Dean Ken Burtis has been tapped to serve as interim dean for biological sciences, providing continuity as the division transitions to full college status and new leadership.

Burtis will serve as dean of the College of Biological Sciences beginning Aug. 1, filling the vacancy created by Dean Phyllis Wise's departure for the University of Washington. Burtis will serve until a national search can be concluded for the permanent position.

"Ken understands college issues well and has good ideas about how to address them in the short term before a permanent dean is selected," said Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef. "I'm grateful that he has stepped up to take on this new assignment."

Vanderhoef noted that discussions are in progress within the college about the best time to begin the search for a permanent dean. "Ken will consult within Biological Sciences and advise the provost and me on when the search should start."

Burtis assumes the interim dean's post at a major juncture in the history of biological sciences at UC Davis. The UC Regents on Thursday approved the division's move to a full college — making UC Davis one of a handful of campuses in the nation where the faculty focused on basic research in biology are organized into a separate college (see story in this issue online).

"There are several challenges and opportunities on the immediate horizon." Burtis said. "Basic research in the biological sciences is an increasingly interdisciplinary endeavor. The establishment of the new College of Biological Sciences provides an opportune moment for us to both reaffirm and further develop our interactions with colleagues in the other colleges, in both research and educational endeavors."

Burtis, who has served as associate director of the Genome Center and a faculty member in the Center for Neuroscience, said he plans to focus on strengthening collaborative research efforts by facilitating direct interactions between faculty in different disciplines.

"The construction of the new Neuroscience Building across the street from the Life Sciences Addition will greatly improve our opportunities for interaction with colleagues in this discipline," Burtis said.

"An important challenge facing the faculty of the college is to optimize our interactions with the various centers, while at the same time continuing to develop and fulfill the academic and research programs of each individual section."

Biological Sciences is also in the process of a major redesign of its core curriculum, a complex process that will affect students from several UC Davis colleges, and involves contributions from faculty in each of those colleges.

"Although it has involved a lot of work, we are excited about the development of new courses that will better reflect the integrative nature of modern biological research," Burtis said.

Burtis arrived at UC Davis as an undergraduate in 1972, earning his bachelor's degree in biochemistry and working as a research associate in the lab of Professor Roy Doi. Burtis earned a doctorate in biochemistry from Stanford University Medical School and conducted postdoctoral research in molecular genetics in the Department of Biological Sciences at Stanford before his return to UC Davis as an assistant professor of genetics in 1988.

Burtis has served as chair of the Genetics Graduate Group, vice chair of the Section of Molecular and Cellular Biology and associate director of the UC Davis Genome Center. Since January of this year, he has been associate dean for undergraduate academic programs in the Division of Biological Sciences.

Burtis' research involves the Drosophila fly, a model organism central to the study of genetics. He has studied both the role of steroid hormones in development and the molecular basis for sex determination. For the past decade, he has focused on DNA repair, using genetic and molecular tools to understand how cells repair damage caused by chemicals, such as the chemotherapy drug cisplatin. He was a participant in the Drosophila genome project and serves as the chair of the advisory board for the Drosophila genome database.