About the Office of the Senior Vice Dean for Research
The Office of the Senior Vice Dean for Research serves to support clinical and basic research activities, works with departments and interdisciplinary programs to develop and implement research, facilitates translational research and promotes mentoring to advance the training of physicians/scientists.
The senior vice dean for research steers and supports faculty research efforts, influencing opportunities for discovery by our medical and biomedical graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, medical residents and medical fellows. Noreen Robertson, DMD, associate vice dean for research, and Richard Huneke, DVM, MPH, executive director of University Laboratory Animal Resources, serve complementary missions within the Office of the Vice Dean to foster pre-clinical and clinical research within the institution. We are committed to bridging the superb clinical expertise and world-class research and educational capabilities of the medical school to enhance our progressive, high-quality medical education, scientific research and patient care.
The purpose of these web pages is to serve as a focal point for research at Drexel University College of Medicine. We are dedicated to providing research support to investigators. The links to the left will provide you with information and resources. Note that Drexel University's Office of Research provides certain administrative services for the Drexel University College of Medicine research program.
Read a Q&A with Kenny Simansky, PhD, senior vice dean for research and professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Physiology.
Research News & Announcements
Orthopaedic Surgery Interest Group Travel Scholarship
Simran Shamith, MD class of 2026, recently received the Orthopaedic Surgery Interest Group's travel scholarship funded by the Norman Johanson, MD Orthopedic Fund to attend the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Conference in March 2025. Their work, "Enhanced Recovery After Surgery for Arthroplasty versus Arthroscopy - a Cross Procedure Comparison of Postoperative Opioid Prescriptions In Iowa’s Billion Pill Pledge Program" and "Reducing Post-Operative Opioids Across Different Surgical Specialties – Enhanced Recovery Pathways" was presented during podium presentations. The conference was an opportunity for students and residents, who will be future colleagues, to meet and network.
On March 4, Drexel University College of Medicine hosted the PA TriNetX Symposium at the Study Hotel in University City. The event brought together 65 attendees from Pennsylvania organizations that use the TriNetX research platform, to network, share ideas and foster future collaboration. Read more.
From innovations in data collection and analysis to modern-day medical uses for leeches, presenters had plenty to share during Drexel University College of Medicine’s annual showcase of research, Discovery Day 2024. Through their poster and platform presentations, graduate and medical students, residents, fellows and postdoctoral trainees presented topics ranging from clinical case studies to research technology. Read more.
Drexel University continues to strengthen its research infrastructure thanks to two newly awarded NIH S10 grants, which have brought state-of-the-art technology to campus: a BD FACSymphony A5 SE Flow Cytometer and a Leica Stellaris Confocal Imaging System. These grants, part of the NIH's Instrumentation Grant Programs, enable institutions to acquire shared instruments, fostering cost-efficiency, collaboration, and advancing NIH-funded research across universities, hospitals, and research organizations. Read more.
In 2022, Drexel University College of Medicine introduced TriNetX, a powerful platform that connects researchers to a worldwide repository of clinical data. TriNetX offers access to insights from more than 250 million patients spanning hundreds of health care organizations in 19 countries. Read more.
Journal Articles, 2023–2024
The Drexel Research Discovery Database maintained by the Drexel Libraries showcases a wide range of research and scholarly outputs created by faculty, staff and students in the College of Arts and Sciences. The database archives articles, books, conference presentations, dissertations, theses and much more. View recent journal articles.