Department embarks on ‘an important period of growth and change’

William Smith Photo: Martin Vloet

William L. Smith (Ph.D. 1971) is the new chair of the Medical School’s Department of Biological Chemistry and
the Minor J. Coon Professor of Biological Chemistry. Smith was formerly chair of biochemistry and molecular biology at Michigan State University. His U-M appointment was effective on May 1, 2003.

“Bill is a distinguished scientist with nearly 30 years of expertise in prostaglandin biochemistry,” says Dean Allen S. Lichter, M.D. “He has an active research program, which has been continuously funded by NIH since 1976. His leadership experience will be invaluable as our Department of Biological Chemistry begins an important period of growth and change.”

“Biological Chemistry is a department in transition,” Smith says. “Retirements and departures over the last five years give us a valuable opportunity to reshape the department. Recruitment will be the department’s biggest challenge, but also our biggest opportunity.”

The department has already started recruiting new faculty in structural enzymology, transcriptional regulation, signal transduction, and protein processing and folding. “These are all key areas where the department has been strong historically and where we can build,” Smith says. Another top priority will be moving research laboratories so all department faculty will be together in one contiguous space in the Medical Science Research Building complex.

Smith says he plans to continue his teaching and NIH-funded research at U-M. He studies the biochemistry of hormones called prostaglandins. Prostaglandins regulate many important body processes — including blood vessel relaxation or constriction, uterine contractions, and increased body temperature to fight infections. They cause swelling, redness and inflammation, which often develop after an injury. But uncontrolled production leads to chronic inflammation, the joint damage of rheumatoid arthritis, and possibly cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Author or co-author of 98 articles in scientific journals and 59 book chapters, Smith is currently an associate editor for the Journal of Biological Chemistry. He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Biological Chemists, the American Physiological Society and the American Society of Nephrology.

—SFP