Sandra A. Brown, professor of psychology and psychiatry, is the new vice chancellor for research at UC San Diego.

Sandra Ann Brown, professor of psychology and psychiatry, has been named vice chancellor for research at the University of California, San Diego, effective Wednesday (Dec. 8), following approval by the University of California’s Board of Regents.

Brown replaces Arthur B. Ellis, who accepted the position of provost at the City University of Hong Kong in September.

During her more than 20 years at UC San Diego, Brown has managed academic appointments in two departments: psychology on the general campus, and psychiatry in the School of Medicine. She has also simultaneously directed the development of clinical, education and research activities as the chief of psychology at the Veterans Affair Health Services System in San Diego.

“Dr. Brown’s impressive educational, administrative, clinical and research skills make her a superlative choice to lead UC San Diego’s research enterprise,” said Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. “We’re confident that her energy, her vision, and her leadership qualities will quickly make a difference in this core university mission.”

Suresh Subramani, acting senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, said, “Sandra Brown is well-suited to promote, facilitate, and support the university’s complex and growing research mission and the significant work of our faculty. She brings broad experience in academic leadership and a demonstrated commitment to equity and diversity to her new role.”

In the Department of Psychiatry, Brown has developed a research program to investigate substance abuse across individuals’ life spans, and developed one of the few empirically supported behavioral treatments for combined major depression and substance-use disorders. With funding from two National Institutes of Health MERIT Awards, she helped lead pioneering national efforts to study the neuro-cognitive deficits associated with early alcohol abuse.

In the Department of Psychology, she extended her adolescent research to develop new paradigms for understanding youths’ self-regulating behavior, and novel school-based interventions for alcohol problems among high-school students. Her program is the only voluntary school-based intervention demonstrated to reduce intensity of alcohol use and alcohol-related problems for high school students.

Brown’s treatment-outcome studies have involved eight different facilities in San Diego County, and her school-based studies have involved seven different schools within the San Diego Unified School District and San Dieguito Unified School District.

In her role as chief of psychology for VA Health Services, Brown oversaw the service of nearly 50 Ph.D.-level researchers with academic appointments, and served as a member and chair of both the VA Research and Development committee and the VA Research Space committee. In addition to her NIH research portfolio, Brown also conducted co-morbidity addiction-focused studies through the VA Medical Research Service.

She earned her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Wayne State University in 1981, and is licensed as a psychologist by the California Board of Psychology.

“I look forward to the opportunities and challenges inherent in the Office of Research Affairs at UC San Diego,” said Brown. “The importance of interdisciplinary research has never been more apparent. As a campus, we will have to work very hard to maintain the level of success we’ve experienced in the last several years, but we’ve got the best possible faculty, postdoctoral scholars, staff and students to do so.”

The Office of Research Affairs at UC San Diego fosters research across disciplines to promote rigorous inquiry and academic excellence. It is charged with creating opportunities, enhancing the research experience, developing tools and training to improve research administration, and supporting and promoting university innovations to benefit the region, the state, the nation and the world.  

The office collaborates with or oversees the campus Organized Research Units, Animal Care, Animal Welfare, Contracts and Grants, Research Ethics, Government Research Relations, University-Industry Relations, Conflict of Interest, Stem Cell Research, Technology Transfer Office, Postdoctoral Scholars, and Visiting Scholars programs.

Total UC San Diego research funding for the fiscal year which ended on June 30 was more than $1,043,000,000. That number included $160 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding the university was awarded over the same period.