PHILADELPHIA— Emma A. Meagher, MD, vice dean and chief clinical research officer in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has been named president of the Association for Clinical and Translational Science (ACTS). She is also an associate professor of Medicine and Pharmacology, and serves as Penn’s senior associate vice provost for human research.

The mission of the ACTS is to advance research and education in clinical and translational science in order to improve human health. Clinical and translational science includes an array of research activities, ranging from basic discoveries to community-based epidemiologic and health services. Meagher also chairs the ACTS education committee.

At Penn, Meagher oversees the institution’s clinical research infrastructure and portfolio, and helps set the strategy for Penn Medicine’s clinical research enterprise. In her role as director of clinical and translational research training, she is also responsible for several master’s degree and certificate programs, as well as a variety of workshops and symposia for undergraduate, medical, dental, and nursing students; pre-doctoral and postdoctoral trainees; and faculty members and clinical research support staff in Penn’s schools of Medicine, Nursing, Dental Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, and Engineering and Applied Science.

Meagher’s research expertise lies in vascular biology, the development of novel therapeutics for dyslipidemia (abnormal amounts of fat and/or cholesterol in the blood), and the evaluation of educational methods for clinical and translational scientists. Her clinical practice focused on cardiovascular risk modification, with an emphasis on management of dyslipidemia, hypertension, and women's cardiovascular health.

She is certified as a master trainer through the National Institutes of Health-funded National Research Mentoring Network, and helped develop research mentor training at Penn in 2012. The training grew out of a collaborative effort between Penn and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; over 100 faculty members from both institutions have participated to date.

Meagher is also a clinical and translational research advisory board member at Columbia University, Stanford University, Yale University, the Mayo Clinic, Rockefeller University, University of Washington, University of Wisconsin, and the NIH Clinical Center.

She has published articles in numerous journals, including JAMA, Nature Medicine, the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology, American Journal of Cardiology, and Hypertension.

Meagher graduated summa cum laude with her medical doctorate degree from the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland and completed postgraduate training in internal medicine, cardiology, and pharmacology at several institutions in Ireland. Her awards include the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award, American Association of Medical College’s Robert Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award, Alpha Omega Alpha National Honor Medical Society, and numerous teaching awards from Penn. She is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland. Meagher has held a number of editorial positions including, currently, deputy editor of the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, published by Cambridge University Press.

ACTS, based in Washington, DC, comprises 5,000 clinicians and researchers from 50 universities and medical centers nationwide. Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine is a founding member.

More People on the Move