Dr. Neal Thomas, professor of pediatrics and public health sciences, director of critical care research, and chair of the Institutional Conflict of Interest Review Committee at Penn State Hershey, has been named associate dean for clinical research.
In this role, he will provide leadership in developing, nurturing and sustaining collaborative relationships with private industry, federal sponsors, and non-profit (foundation) sponsors of clinical research, foster a culture of active support for clinical trials as a critical component of the Penn State Hershey research mission and oversee the development of mentoring programs designed to encourage greater participation of faculty members in the Penn State Hershey clinical trials enterprise.
Thomas has been the recipient of NIH and FDA funding for his clinical research, and has led both multicenter industry-sponsored and investigator-initiated trials. He has served on numerous NIH study sections, scientific advisory boards and data safety monitoring boards and is a member of the Editorial Board for Pediatric Critical Care Medicine. He recently led the international Pediatric Acute Lung Injury Consensus Conference.
Thomas was instrumental in the transformation of the Campus Conflict of Interest Review Committee, and has served as the conflict of interest coordinator since 2007, and chair since 2014. Thomas will maintain an advisory role within the conflict of interest review committee.
Thomas received his bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Scranton, his doctor of medicine degree from Temple University, his master’s in health evaluation sciences from Penn State University, and completed pediatrics residency training at the Medical University of South Carolina and pediatrics critical care fellowship training at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh.
Thomas will begin in his new role in late March.