Professor Robert Tsushima will take on the role of Associate Dean, Research and Partnerships in the Faculty of Science & Engineering for a three-year term, effective Aug. 1.

Tsushima, professor in York’s Department of Biology, holds a Career Investigator Award from the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario. His research program investigates the molecular and cellular basis of heart and pancreatic islet function, with implications for addressing heart disease and diabetes. He has been supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Heart & Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Diabetes Association.

Robert Tsushima

Prior to joining York University in 2007, Professor Tsushima was a faculty member for eight years at the University of Toronto. He received his PhD in pharmacology from the University of Western Ontario, followed by postdoctoral training at Northwestern University in Chicago and Toronto General Hospital.

He has served on national and provincial grant review panels, including those of the CIHR, Heart & Stroke Foundation, Canadian Diabetes Association, Alberta Heritage Medical Research Foundation and Banting Foundation, and reviewed for numerous international granting agencies. He is currently on the editorial board of the American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism.

“We’re delighted to have an academic of Professor Tsushima’s distinction joining us in this role,” said Don Hastie, interim dean, Faculty of Science & Engineering. “He has already contributed much to the Faculty and to York as a whole. We look forward to working with him as we continue to shape and build our research program.”

Tsushima replaces Professor Imogen Coe, who will relocate to Ryerson University as the founding Dean of Science, effective Aug. 1.

Republished courtesy of YFile– York University’s daily e-bulletin.