We are delighted to announce the appointment of Andrew Ewald, Ph.D., as director of the Department of Cell Biology.
The Department of Cell Biology has an impressive history at Johns Hopkins, having made innumerable contributions to our understanding of fundamental biology. We are excited for Dr. Ewald to work with his colleagues to extend the tremendous legacy of the department.
Dr. Ewald was an undergraduate at Haverford College, and received his doctorate in biochemistry and molecular physics from the California Institute of Technology. In 2008, following postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco, he joined the faculty of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as an assistant professor in the Department of Cell Biology.
Dr. Ewald’s recent work focuses on how basic cellular processes contribute to cancer progression. He is specifically known for his work on how cell adhesion and collective cell migration regulate mammary development and breast cancer metastasis. He has chaired major conferences on cell and cancer biology, given invited lectures across the U.S. and abroad, served as editor of the Journal of Cell Science, and worked closely with metastatic breast cancer patient advocacy organizations.
Within the school of medicine, Dr. Ewald has been an active mentor to a wide range of graduate students and fellows. He chairs the Committee on Outside Interests and serves on the admissions committees of the Medical Scientist Training Program and the Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology Ph.D. Program. He is co-director of the Cancer Invasion and Metastasis Research Program in the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, as well as the Hopkins-Allegheny Health Network Cancer Research Fund. Dr. Ewald is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Johns Hopkins University Provost’s Catalyst and Discovery awards, the American Association of Anatomists Morphological Sciences Award, the American Cancer Society’s Research Scholar Award, and the METAvivor Founders’ Award.
We would like to thank Peter Devreotes for his 20 years of outstanding service as director of the department, a testament to his commitment to the department and the school of medicine. The department is one of the highest-ranked departments of cell biology in the country. Peter, thank you for your leadership.
We are confident that Dr. Ewald will work with the department and across the school of medicine and university to identify and capitalize on opportunities that will push the bounds of fundamental investigation while also bridging to impact on our understanding of health and disease.