John A. Barnard, MD, President of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, has been appointed both Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Chief of Pediatrics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
In these new roles, Barnard will oversee the clinical, teaching and academic activities of more than 500 pediatric trainees, faculty physicians and scientists who hold joint appointments at Nationwide Children’s and Ohio State's College of Medicine. He will lead The Pediatric Academic Association which is the Department of Pediatrics’ faculty physician practice plan based at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, serving as Chief Executive Officer. Barnard will also oversee all medical student teaching activities taking place through the College of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics.
“Dr. Barnard’s long-standing reputation for academic leadership is well-known and his contributions in research, clinical care and teaching are widely respected.” said E. Christopher Ellison, MD, interim dean of the College of Medicine and vice president for Health Sciences. “His unique combination of experience and talents will strengthen our educational excellence and the alliance between The Ohio State University and Nationwide Children’s Hospital.”
Dr. Barnard will continue to serve as President of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, a position he has held since 2005. He holds the Ann I. Wolfe Chair in Pediatric Research and is also Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition. He is a practicing gastroenterologist and a past-president of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition.
“Under Dr. Barnard’s leadership our Research Institute has thrived,” said Steve Allen, MD, Nationwide Children’s CEO. “This expanded role taps into his full potential as a world-class physician, researcher and academician. He is universally respected by his peers, passionate about expediting the integration of research and clinical care to benefit children everywhere and also growing our next generation of talent. We could have no better candidate to take this combination of vital roles.”
Dr. Barnard has held personal National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for twenty years and has been principal investigator for two NIH T32 training grants for pediatricians. He has authored more than 80 scholarly works.
Under Dr. Barnard’s leadership, The Research Institute has recruited more than 90 faculty scientists to Nationwide Children’s Hospital and has grown to become the 7th ranked NIH-funded freestanding pediatric research institute in the United States. Additionally during his tenure, the Research Institute developed its first Technology Commercialization Office, a group that has licensed Nationwide Children’s inventions to 5 start-up companies in the past 3 years. He has overseen the construction of more than 250,000 sq. ft. of new research space, including the construction of a viral vector facility capable of producing adeno-associated viral vectors used for human gene therapy trials. Nationwide Children’s is now distinguished as one of very few pediatric hospitals able to offer gene therapy clinical trials for infants and children. He also helped create the Battelle Center for Mathematical Medicine, establishing Nationwide Children’s among a handful of pediatric institutions in the world equipped with high-end computing and advanced statistical genetics capabilities. The Research Institute’s Biopathology Center was selected as the biospecimen core resource for the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Genome Atlas project and is the largest pediatric biobanking facility in the world.
Barnard received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Mississippi and completed his internship, residency and a fellowship in Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at Monroe Carell Children’s Hospital in Nashville. He began his academic career as an assistant professor of Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He was named director of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at Vanderbilt in 1995. Barnard came to The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s in 2000 as Vice-President for Scientific Affairs.
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NOTE TO EDITOR:
Barnard is a resident of New Albany, OH.