Leading Nervous System Researcher to Chair UVA Department of Cell Biology

The University of Virginia School of Medicine has named Bettina Winckler, PhD, a scientific leader in cellular neuroscience research, to lead its Department of Cell Biology. Winckler began her new role this week.

“Dr. Winckler is not only a national leader in better understanding the nervous system, but also a leader at the School of Medicine and the Department of Cell Biology,” said Colin P. Derdeyn, MD, interim dean of the UVA School of Medicine. “I am excited she has agreed to step into this new leadership role.”

Winckler has been a member of the UVA School of Medicine faculty since 2004 – originally as a faculty member in the Department of Neuroscience – before joining the Department of Cell Biology in 2016 and becoming the David A. Harrison Distinguished Teaching Professor of Cell Biology in 2023. 

Continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 2003, Winckler has co-authored more than 70 peer-reviewed scientific publications. Her research focuses on neurons – a key component of the body’s nervous system that transmit messages throughout the body – and how they grow long extensions that enable those messages to move from head to toe. Better understanding how the body grows and maintains healthy neurons can provide insight into aging as well as neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.

As an educator, Winckler has mentored more than 35 students during her tenure and taught a range of classes at the School of Medicine, including cell biology, neuroscience, and effective science writing for grants and fellowships. She has also served as vice chair of the Department of Cell Biology since 2022. Before coming to UVA, Winckler was a faculty member at Mount Sinai School of Medicine from 2000 to 2004.

“As an educator, mentor and leader, Dr. Winckler has helped countless students begin careers in biomedical research while also helping guide the Department of Cell Biology,” Derdeyn said. “She is well-positioned to build on the department’s excellent track record in both research and education.”

Winckler earned her bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College and her PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She completed fellowships at Columbia University and Yale Medical School.

“UVA and the School of Medicine have become my home over the last 20 years,” she said. “I am excited to continue working alongside my talented colleagues in the Department of Cell Biology for many years to come.”

She succeeds Douglas DeSimone, PhD, who had served as chair since 2015. He will remain in the department as a member of the faculty.

“Dr. DeSimone has served with distinction as department chair for more than a decade,” Derdeyn said. “Everyone at the School of Medicine deeply appreciates his years of service and leadership.”