The University of California, Riverside has announced that Craig V. Byus, professor of biomedical sciences and biochemistry, will serve as interim dean and program director of the UCR/UCLA Thomas Haider Program in Biomedical Sciences, and interim associate dean for the UCR/UCLA Program in Biomedical Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, until a permanent dean is identified through a national search. During the period of his interim appointment, Byus will also hold the Salma Haider Endowed Chair in Biomedical Sciences at UC Riverside. His appointment became effective July 1, 2003.

"I am pleased that Dr. Byus accepted my invitation to take up this important position," said Bill Jury, Interim Executive Chancellor and Provost of UC Riverside. "The UCR/UCLA Program in Biomedical Sciences is in very good hands under his directorship."

This summer, the UCR/UCLA Thomas Haider Program in Biomedical Sciences was redesigned to train physicians for distinguished medical careers in service to the people of California, with an emphasis on the needs of the underserved inland, rural, and urban populations. The Haider program is a partnership between UC Riverside and the David Geffen UCLA School of Medicine. Founded in 1974, it offers Riverside County's only medical program and provides students with training that crosses traditional boundaries between scientific disciplines, allowing them to confront today's challenging biomedical research questions.

Byus earned his A.B. degree in biological sciences from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland in 1968, and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of New Hampshire in Durham, New Hampshire in 1973. He began his career as a research associate at the University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona, and later joined UCR as an assistant professor of biomedical sciences and biochemistry in 1977.

Byus's research is concerned with the molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of cell growth and proliferation, particularly as this process relates to cancer. He also serves as a member of the Scientific Advisory Panel for the California Air Resources Board and has served on numerous scientific review panels for the National Institutes of Health, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Environmental Protection Agency concerning the risk assessment of electromagnetic fields and chemicals in the environment in relation to cancer etiology.

In Fall 2002, Byus was appointed associate dean of the Division of Biomedical Sciences and the UCR/UCLA Thomas Haider Program in Biomedical Sciences at UC Riverside.

The University of California, Riverside offers undergraduate and graduate education to nearly 16,000 students and has a projected enrollment of 21,000 students by 2010. It is the fastest growing and most ethnically diverse campus of the preeminent ten-campus University of California system, the largest public research university system in the world. The picturesque 1,200-acre campus is located at the foot of the Box Springs Mountains near downtown Riverside in Southern California.