Gretchen Neigh joins the Wright Center as new co-director of the Ph.D. program
The Wright Center has named Gretchen Neigh, Ph.D., the new co-director of its Ph.D. program.
Neigh is an associate professor in the VCU School of Medicine’s Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology and comes to the Wright Center with a wealth of teaching and mentoring experience, as well as research spanning across multiple systems and levels of analysis.
She joins Devanand Sarkar, MBBS, Ph.D., as co-director. Neigh replaces Joyce Lloyd, who co-guided the Ph.D. program since its inception in 2012. In March, Lloyd was named the new associate dean at the VCU Graduate School, where she will focus on STEM-based graduate programs.
“We’re excited to have Dr. Neigh join our team,” said Jennifer Rew, M.Ed., education program manager at the Wright Center. “We hope our students will find her to be a valuable resource during their Ph.D. training.”
The doctoral program in clinical and translational sciences at the Wright Center offers a general curriculum with a specialized interdisciplinary concentration in cancer and molecular medicine. Rew administers the program with Pamela Dillon, Pharm.D., the Wright Center’s research liaison.
Neigh will bring a broader focus to the program through her background in neuroscience. Her research interests focus broadly on “the mechanisms by which genetics and experience interact to modify the function of the brain and its interactions with the other organ systems of the body.” Neigh’s lab works on the implications of chronic adolescent stress, the endocrine and immune balance disruptions of HIV and the metabolic drivers of stress-induced neural compromise.
