Sharon Nachman, M.D., Associate Dean, Office of Scientific Affairs, and Director, Office of Clinical Trials
STONY BROOK, NY – Sharon Nachman, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics and Director of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, was appointed Associate Dean, Office of Scientific Affairs (OSA), at Stony Brook University Medical Center, announced Richard N. Fine, M.D., Dean, Stony Brook University School of Medicine. In this position she will work closely with the School of Medicine faculty to maximize departmental expertise and participation in clinical trials. Dr. Nachman, also named Director, Office of Clinical Trials, will work to expand clinical trial offerings to patients at Stony Brook through partnerships with industry.
“Dr. Nachman brings a wealth of experience in clinical research as well as industry collaboration,” says Dr. Fine. “She is an international leader in pediatric AIDS treatment and research, has earned the respect of her peers and trust from her patients.”
Dr. Nachman has been the principal investigator of many clinical trials at Stony Brook, including at least 10 international trials, in areas such as vaccine research, Lyme Disease, and AIDS. She also heads the Medical Center’s Maternal Child HIV/AIDS Program.
“We aim to bring in many more clinical trials that will offer new drugs and treatments for Long Islanders, for both existing and emerging diseases,” says Dr. Nachman. The Medical Center has up to 150 industry-supported clinical trials open for patients. Drugs used in these trials are part of promising new treatment regimens for many types of diseases, ranging from heart disease to diabetes and HIV/AIDS. The Office of Clinical Trials facilitates these trails. Stony Brook University Hospital also offers National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded clinical trials through the General Clinical Research Center.
“A major step toward growing clinical trials is for us to identify patient populations in our region, document their medical issues, and see what new therapies are under investigation that would benefit our populations,” says Dr. Nachman. “The medical center will also communicate with and educate pharmaceutical companies on specific treatment programs and expertise that exist at Stony Brook.”
This outreach and collaboration is designed to identify research opportunities from pharmaceutical sponsors and match them with Stony Brook University faculty investigators to create clinical trials of promising new treatments.
As the OSA’s Associate Dean, Dr. Nachman plans to foster more inter-departmental collaboration in clinical trials, thus maximizing expertise for each trial. For example, for trials that require a number of specialists from varied disciplines, researchers would be encouraged to work closely with others outside their department, such as pediatricians and psychiatrists working together on a pediatric clinical trial.
She will also look to better connect the work of hospital clinicians with Stony Brook’s basic science researchers. She says facilitating such translational research through the OSA will increase opportunities for initiating new clinical trials through industry support.
The primary goal of the OSA is to assist faculty in their development of research programs in all areas of biomedical research. The OSA targets opportunities for extramural funding for faculty in basic, translational, and clinical research, as well as in biotechnology and new technology/drug development.
Board certified in Pediatric Infectious Diseases and as an HIV Specialist, Dr. Nachman is a Fellow in the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Society of Microbiology. She has published extensively in medical journals on pediatric and infectious diseases topics. Among her awards are Brookhaven Town Woman of the Year in Medicine (1992), Changing the Face of Medicine: Local Legends Award (2003), and Alumni of the Year: Stony Brook University School of Medicine (2004).
Dr. Nachman lives in Plainview with her husband, Steve, and their three children Dena (18), Josh (16), and Jonathan (13).
