The University of Alabama at Birmingham has named UAB Department of Neurology Chair David Standaert, M.D., Ph.D., as its next vice president for Research following a national search.
In his new role, Standaert will serve as a senior UAB leader on the President’s Cabinet and be responsible for leading the university’s research strategy, operations and growth while supporting investigators, research centers and core facilities across the institution.
“From an early age, I have been fascinated and motivated by the transformational difference research and innovation has on people’s lives,” Standaert said. “I have found leading the great team in the Department of Neurology and advancing discovery through research incredibly rewarding. This opportunity to lead the Office of Research at UAB, supporting all of our researchers and the massive research infrastructure that enables them, is a chance to dramatically expand the positive impact I can have for our community and beyond.”
“Under President Watts’ leadership — and through the tireless efforts of research faculty and staff, supported by dedicated colleagues in the Office of Research — UAB’s research enterprise has accomplished unprecedented success in our mission to save and improve lives. There is much more to do, and many more achievements lie ahead. I can’t imagine a more fulfilling role, and I am honored to have this incredible opportunity.”
Drawing on decades of experience building nationally recognized research programs, recruiting top faculty, securing major federal and philanthropic investments, and leading complex academic organizations, Standaert will guide UAB’s efforts to expand its research impact and further strengthen its position among the nation’s leading research universities.
Standaert has served as chair of UAB’s Department of Neurology since 2011 and holds the John N. Whitaker Endowed Chair in Neurology. Since joining UAB in 2006, Standaert has helped build one of the nation’s leading academic neurology departments while advancing internationally recognized research programs focused on Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.
Under Standaert’s leadership, the Department of Neurology has grown from approximately 30 faculty members to 98 faculty members and now ranks among the nation’s leading departments in NIH funding. Research expenditures have increased nearly tenfold since 2005, and the department currently supports 18 NIH-funded investigators and approximately $19 million in active NIH funding.
Standaert founded and helped build UAB’s Killion Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, which has grown into an internationally recognized research enterprise comprising 18 funded laboratories. The center has supported major federal awards, including a Morris K. Udall Center of Excellence in Parkinson Disease Research, a Brain Initiative award and a federally funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. He also helped secure more than $60 million in philanthropic support for neuroscience research at UAB, including a transformational $10 million naming gift that established a permanent endowment for the center.
“Dr. Standaert combines internationally recognized scientific achievement with a demonstrated record of building people, programs and infrastructure, and I am excited to see the great strides the Office of Research and UAB discovery will make under his proven ability to lead operational excellence and produce results,” said UAB President Ray Watts. “I want to thank the search committee — which vetted an extremely deep and talented candidate pool — as well as the many stakeholders from across the enterprise who engaged with our finalists. Feedback about Dr. Standaert from the UAB community was overwhelmingly positive.”
Search committee co-chair Anupam Agarwal, M.D., UAB Senior Vice President for Medicine and Dean of the Heersink School of Medicine, says Standaert’s record of research and administrative leadership success stood out.
“Feedback we received throughout the search process reflected confidence in Dr. Standaert’s ability to scale the excellence and results he has accomplished for the Heersink School of Medicine and Department of Neurology to the broader institution,” Agarwal said.
UAB Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Janet Woodruff-Borden co-chaired the search committee.
“There was great interest in this role by a wide range of experienced research administrators from across the country, reinforcing our research prominence and the broad appeal of UAB and this opportunity,” Woodruff-Borden said. “With the roadmap for excellence and maximum impact established by our years-long Research Strategic Initiative planning and continued implementation process, the Office of Research is in a unique position of strength to achieve unprecedented success in the coming years under Dr. Standaert’s leadership.”
Standaert earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, magna cum laude, from Harvard University before completing his M.D. and Ph.D. in medicine and pharmacology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He completed neurology residency training at the University of Pennsylvania and a fellowship in movement disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where he later served on the faculty before joining UAB.
Beyond UAB, Standaert has held numerous leadership positions in academic medicine and neuroscience and has received numerous honors recognizing his contributions to neuroscience, research and patient care, including repeated recognition among “Best Doctors in America.” Most recently, he was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to the federal Advisory Council on Parkinson’s Research, Care and Services established through the National Plan to End Parkinson’s Act.
Standaert will assume the vice president for Research role on Oct. 1, 2026.