COLUMBUS — Mercer University School of Medicine (MUSM) Dean Jean R. Sumner, M.D., FACP, announced that Chang Y. Chung, Ph.D., has been appointed chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences, effective July 1.
Dr. Chung succeeds Dr. Christy Bridges, who has been appointed dean of graduate studies after serving as interim department chair since 2022.
“I am delighted that Dr. Chung has accepted this leadership position,” said Dr. Sumner. “He is committed to outstanding research as well as supporting young researchers in their work. I am deeply grateful to Dr. Bridges who has served this department admirably. She will be an outstanding dean of graduate programs.”
Dr. Chung has also served as professor of neuroscience and vice chair of the biomedical sciences department since he joined the MUSM faculty on the Columbus campus in 2022.
Dr. Chung earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in zoology from Seoul National University in South Korea. He earned his Ph.D. in cell biology at Duke University and completed postdoctoral training in molecular genetics at University of California in San Diego.
“I am honored and humbled by this opportunity. I feel immense pride in, and am privileged to lead, such a world-class department,” said Dr. Chung. “On behalf of the department, I gratefully acknowledge the superb support from Mercer leadership and the outstanding collegiality within the department that assures an innovating, cultivating, nurturing and inviting environment for all its members.”
Dr. Chung’s laboratory focuses on unraveling the complex networks of signaling pathways controlling microglia activation/chemotaxis to find better therapeutic options for neurodegenerative diseases and depression. His research has been widely published and supported by grants from numerous organizations, including the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association and the Leukemia Society.
