Thomas Boat, MD, Appointed Dean of UC College of Medicine

CINCINNATI—Thomas Boat, MD, has been appointed dean of the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine and vice president for health affairs. The appointment is effective July 1, and is pending approval by the UC Board of Trustees.

Boat becomes the 50th dean in the medical college’s nearly 200-year history. The college was founded in 1819 and is the second-oldest public medical school in the country.

"After a thorough national search for the right candidate to fill this important position, it is clear that the best person for the job is right here at home,” said UC President Gregory H. Williams. "Dr. Boat’s name repeatedly was mentioned as we received feedback during the search process. His qualifications are uniquely suited to move our pioneering College of Medicine forward and ensure a vibrant future for the college and our health enterprise.

"Dr. Boat is a trusted and respected colleague in the College of Medicine. He possesses extensive knowledge of the college, UC Physicians and UC Health, as well as the Cincinnati community and the regional health sector. He also has earned the admiration of the health community locally and nationally, has a proven ability to build consensus and is committed to providing the highest-quality medical education, biomedical research and clinical care,” Williams continued.

Boat has served as executive associate dean for the College of Medicine since April 2008 and as chief executive officer of the University of Cincinnati Physicians since July 2008. He also is professor of pediatrics.

"It is a remarkable honor to be asked to assume this role,” Boat said. "The College of Medicine is an extraordinarily important institution to this region with the physicians and scientists who are educated here impacting many lives. We’re in the midst of a critical era for the college due to health care reform, economic pressures and a growing need for additional physicians, among many issues. We also are about to implement an enhanced new curriculum for our incoming students this fall.”

Andrew Filak Jr., MD, has served as interim dean of the college and vice president for health affairs since August 2010.

The College of Medicine has 639 medical students and 510 graduate students with 265 postdoctoral fellows and 988 residents and fellows serving UC Health University Hospital and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. With approximately 2,000 employees, including 1,540 faculty, the college has a total budget of more than $512 million.

Boat was instrumental in unifying 15 separate physician faculty practices into one UC Physicians corporation. From 1993 to 2007, he served as director of the Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation and chairman of the UC College of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics. He also has served as physician-in-chief of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

Boat received his medical degree in 1966 from the University of Iowa and completed a pediatrics residency at the University of Minnesota Hospitals in Minneapolis. He also completed a fellowship in pediatric pulmonology at the University Hospitals of Cleveland.

Early in his career, Boat worked to define the pathophysiology of airway dysfunction and more effective therapies for chronic lung diseases of childhood, such as cystic fibrosis. He has worked at local and national levels to improve research efforts, subspecialty training and clinical care in pediatrics. He has a special interest in issues posed by children’s mental health for pediatric care and training.

Boat joined the UC College of Medicine faculty as chairman of pediatrics in 1993 when he left his position as chairman of the department of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Prior to that he was co-director of the Cystic Fibrosis Center at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland.

He is a member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and served as co-chair of the IOM Forum on the Science of Health Care Quality Improvement and Implementation, as well the IOM Committee on the Prevention of Mental Disorders and Substance Abuse Among Children, Youth, and Young Adults. He most recently chaired the IOM Committee on Accelerating Research and Product Development for Rare Diseases.

Boat is immediate past chair of the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) Board of Directors. He has served as chair of the American Board of Pediatrics, and president of the Society for Pediatric Research, as well as the American Pediatric Society.

Boat has received numerous awards including the St. Geme Award from the Federation of Pediatric Organizations, the Daniel Drake Medal from the UC College of Medicine—the college’s highest academic honor—and the Global Ronald McDonald House Charities Award of Excellence.