Message from the Dean of Medicine: Appointment of Dr. Billy Philips
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Billy U. Philips, Jr. to a two-year appointment as Chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health effective, September 1, 2007. Dr. Philips will be succeeding Dr. Harvey Bunce, who will retire from full-time UTMB employment August 31st. I want to thank Dr. Bunce for his years of service and dedication to the School of Medicine and to the Department of PMCH. His unwavering loyalty and service to this institution were outstanding, and will be missed.
Dr. Philips is a Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, and has served as Director of the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics for the past decade and Director of the PMCH Graduate Program for the past six years.
Notably, Dr. Philips led the development of the Master of Public Health Program, guiding it to full accreditation by the Council on Education for Public Health. He is a member of the UTMB Cancer Center and is the PI on the National Cancer Institute’s funded CATCHUM Project, a consortium of the Texas Medical Schools devoted to advancing cancer prevention and control education.
He founded and is the Director for a statewide program for cancer patients and their caregivers called the Cancer Nutrition Network for Texans that is funded in partnership with the Texas Cancer Council. Dr. Philips’ career research and scholarly interests have been in cancer prevention and control, and his work has been recognized by the Texas Legislature with the Gibson Lewis Award for Public Education and by the Texas Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalition with their Leadership Award, as the founding Chairman.
He is an accomplished and widely published author in the peer-reviewed literature of books, educational modules, and online web education resources. Dr. Philips has served other administrative posts in his 30+ year career at UTMB, including over a decade as Associate Dean of the School of Allied Health Sciences.
As Chairman, Dr. Philips will lead the continuation of the developing public and population health sciences at UTMB. The Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health is a unique resource in Texas and one of the premier units of its kind among the U.S. medical schools. It is integrally involved with several UTMB Centers focused on Aging, Cancer and Environmental Health and has significant ties with NASA in providing health care for space flight support and in training flight surgeons for NASA and the U.S. military.
He will lead the continued growth and development of the research, clinical and educational initiatives of the department. Dr. Philips is recognized nationally for his expertise in cancer control education and is admired by those with whom he has worked at UTMB and beyond for his work ethic and dedication.
Dr. Philips, a native of San Antonio, Texas, earned Doctor of Philosophy
and Master of Public Health Degrees from the University of Oklahoma. Dr.
Philips is married to the former Donna Lea Smith and is father to four
children. The Philips family resides in Santa Fe, Texas. Please join me
in congratulating Dr. Philips on his new post.