University appoints new leaders for health affairs & research

After an extensive nationwide search, University of Houston President Renu Khator has appointed two accomplished individuals to key leadership positions at UH. Jonathan A. McCullers, M.D., will become the new vice president of health affairs and dean of the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine on Sept. 1, and effective July 1 Claudia Neuhauser, Ph.D., will be appointed vice chancellor/vice president for research at the University of Houston System and University of Houston, respectively. Both appointments are contingent upon the UH System Board of Regents' approval during its next meeting.

“We are excited and fortunate to have someone of Dr. McCullers’ caliber joining our university,” said UH President Renu Khator. “He is a well-respected physician-scientist, seasoned leader in academic medicine and, most significantly, a man of the community. I’m confident that he will realize our Fertitta Family College of Medicine’s mission while accelerating its growth in research and patient care.”

McCullers joins UH from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center where he served as the senior executive associate dean of clinical affairs and chief operating officer at the College of Medicine since 2019. In this role, he provided oversight of all clinical affairs across Tennessee for the UTHSC College of Medicine, acting as the main liaison to more than a dozen major affiliated health systems across the state. Additionally, he helped lead undergraduate and graduate medical education clinical training at affiliated health systems through coordinated responses to COVID-19.

As chair of pediatrics, he grew Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital from a regional community hospital into a comprehensive academic medical center recognized as a ‘Best Children's Hospital’ by U.S. News & World Report in five specialties.

“The timing for this appointment could not be more perfect,” McCullers said, as UH is celebrating its first graduates from the Fertitta Family College of Medicine. “I believe the University of Houston is poised for growth,” said McCullers. “It's a new medical school and it's a growing health science center... The ability to come in at a time where we're really going to get bigger and better, add research and grow the clinical enterprise is very exciting.”

McCullers is a physician-scientist whose career spans over 30 years with an NIH-funded research laboratory studying influenza viruses and secondary bacterial pneumonia infections. He has published over 180 peer-reviewed articles and received numerous awards including the city of Memphis Martin Luther King Jr. Luminary Award for his leadership throughout the pandemic.

The Fertitta Family College of Medicine focuses on training students to become primary care physicians who deliver compassionate care to underserved communities in Houston and Texas—a vision that attracted McCullers to this role.

Claudia Neuhauser joined UH in 2018 as associate vice chancellor/associate vice president for research and technology transfer for UH and the UH System. She assumed additional roles including director of UH’s Hewlett Packard Enterprise Data Science Institute in 2019 and interim vice chancellor/vice president for research in 2022.

“We’re in a new and bold era of research at UH, and I’m elated to have Dr. Claudia Neuhauser at the helm,” said President Khator. “She has exceptional strategic-leadership skills... We’ve doubled our research expenditures in the past decade, and we look forward to her further expanding this essential enterprise.”

Neuhauser previously served as associate vice president for research at University Minnesota Twin Cities where she directed multiple institutes advancing research computing infrastructure.

Her academic journey includes esteemed faculty positions at several universities with significant achievements such as being named Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor among others.

Neuhauser expressed her enthusiasm about her future role: “It’s an exciting opportunity at the University... Joining UH has been profoundly rewarding... I am excited to continue working with such a dynamic community.”

Neuhauser’s research intersects mathematics and biology focusing on ecological models analysis and statistical methods development in biomedical applications.

In addition to her academic roles, she co-authored "The Road to Ethical Science: A Guide to Restoring Trust in Science," which addresses framing scientific decisions ethically.