It is a pleasure and a privilege to announce that Susan DiGiovanni, M.D., Interim Senior Associate Dean of Medical Education and Student Affairs, will now assume the permanent role of Senior Associate Dean of Medical Education and Student Affairs. Dr. DiGiovanni has served in an interim capacity since 2015 and, among other accomplishments, she led the SOM to a highly successful, 8 year LCME reaccreditation in 2016. Dr DiGiovanni’s appointment is effective immediately.

An alumna of the VCU School of Medicine, Dr. DiGiovanni earned her medical degree in 1984 and went on to do her internal medicine and clinical nephrology training on the MCV Campus. She then joined a private practice in Harrisburg, PA, where she won teaching awards from the internal medicine training program.

Searching for larger challenges, she applied for and received an Intramural Research Training Award from the National Institutes of Health. She remained at the NIH for the next four years, publishing her work on the AQP-2 water channel in multiple journals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Science and the American Journal of Physiology. She returned to VCU in 1995 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine. She continued to do research on the regulation of sodium and water by the kidney while developing a particular interest in teaching medical students, residents and fellows. It is in this role that she has felt the most satisfaction, gradually shifting her role from physician-scientist to physician-educator. In 1999, she became the director of the second-year Renal Course, where she has been recognized as an outstanding educator. Five years later, DiGiovanni became the program director of the Nephrology Fellowship program.

Dr. DiGiovanni has served as a mentor in the HEART program since its inception. She has served as the chair of the Admissions Committee for the School of Medicine. In 2010, she joined the Dean’s office as Assistant Dean for the Preclinical curriculum. She was actively involved in the design and implementation of the new curriculum. Dr DiGiovanni is a tireless advocate for medical education who is committed to continued innovations in our medical training.

I’m grateful to Dr. Clive Baumgarten and the other colleagues on the search committee as well as the many other colleagues on the interview panel who strongly endorsed Dr. DiGiovanni for this position.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. DiGiovanni on this well-deserved promotion.


Peter F. Buckley, M.D.
Dean, VCU School of Medicine
Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, VCU Health System