Clinical Translational Sciences Graduate Program Leadership Update

I am pleased to announce that Julie Ledford, PhD, has accepted a position as co-director of the University of Arizona Health Sciences Clinical Translational Sciences Graduate Program (CTS). Dr. Ledford will co-lead with Ronald Hammer, PhD, who helped develop and implement CTS and oversees the program in Phoenix. 

Dr. Ledford’s strong research background and expertise mentoring students who wish to become research scientists make her uniquely qualified to oversee the Clinical Translational Sciences Graduate Program in Tucson. As an associate professor of cellular and molecular medicine in the College of Medicine – Tucson, she has mentored and trained medical students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and fellows for more than a decade.

She is an outstanding bench-to-bedside researcher whose goal is to develop new therapeutics for diseases including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cystic fibrosis. 

The Clinical Translational Sciences Graduate Program was the first UArizona Health Sciences-administered degree program to operate across the five Health Sciences colleges on the Tucson and Phoenix campuses. It has seen steady growth since the first students were enrolled in 2015, and I am confident it will reach new levels of success under the leadership of Drs. Ledford and Hammer.

Michael D. Dake, MD
Senior Vice President for University of Arizona Health Sciences