UT Regents name Jochen Reiser as sole finalist for president of UT Medical Branch In Galveston

April 27, 2023

The University of Texas System Board of Regents has unanimously voted to name Jochen Reiser, MD, PhD, as sole finalist to become the next president of The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Reiser currently serves as chairman of the department of internal medicine at Rush University Medical Center and the Ralph C. Brown, MD, Professor of Medicine at Rush University in Chicago.

Reiser is a world-renowned research leader in the field of kidney disease, with a heavy focus on molecular biology and genetics. He directs an NIH-funded research laboratory focused on discovering causes of kidney disease and developing novel therapies to combat renal diseases. Reiser has published 200 research papers on the topic.

Prior to arriving at Rush in 2012, Reiser served the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine as professor of medicine, anatomy and cell biology, vice chairman for research in the department of medicine, and chief of the division of nephrology and hypertension. He also served as the interim chairman of medicine at Miami.

Reiser graduated from the Ruprecht Karls University of Heidelberg, Germany and completed his residency in internal medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. He completed his fellowship in nephrology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School. He then served an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and was the founding director of the program in glomerular disease at Mass General.

Reiser’s candidacy was recommended to the board of regents by a presidential search advisory committee, chaired by Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs John Zerwas, MD. The search committee included representation from the UTMB faculty, students, alumni and community leaders, as well as UT presidents and regents.

“The Regents today met with several outstanding candidates and unanimously agreed that Dr. Reiser is our top choice to provide leadership to UTMB as it expands its role in serving the people of Texas and beyond,’ said UT Board Chairman Kevin P. Eltife. “We are grateful for the thoughtful work of the search advisory committee and UT System leadership whose guidance and recommendations led us to this day.”

UT Medical Branch opened in 1891 as the nation’s first public medical school and hospital under unified leadership. What began as one hospital and medical school building in Galveston is now a major academic health science center of global influence. UTMB is a member of the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical center in the world.

“UTMB is recognized in all three pillars that are essential to a world-class academic health institution – education, research and clinical care,” said UT System Chancellor James B. Milliken. “We were delighted with the interest in the UTMB presidency conveyed by potential candidates from across the country.  With Dr. Reiser’s record of leadership in all these areas, I’m pleased with the regents’ unanimous support of his candidacy.”

As chief executive officer of UTMB, Reiser will lead the educational, research and clinical missions of a comprehensive academic health center of nearly 4,000 students and 1,000 faculty that includes schools of medicine, nursing, health professions, public and population health, and graduate biomedical sciences; four institutes for advanced study; a major medical library; a world renowned research enterprise; a network of hospitals and clinics that provide a full range of primary and specialized medical care; and numerous research facilities and centers.

Per state law, the UT Regents now must wait 21 days before officially naming Reiser president. Once approved, he will succeed Charles P. Mouton, MD, MS, MBA, who has been serving as UTMB’s interim president since August 2022.