Philips to head Preventive Medicine and Community Health
By Raul Reyes
AUG. 13, 2007--Dr. Billy U. Philips Jr. has been named chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, effective Sept. 1. Philips will succeed Dr. Harvey Bunce, who retires at the end of August.
“I want to thank Dr. Bunce for his years of service and dedication to the School of Medicine and to the Department of PMCH,” said Dr. Garland D. Anderson, dean of the School of Medicine. “His unwavering loyalty and service to this institution were outstanding, and will be missed.”
Philips, a professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, 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. He led the development of the Master of Public Health Program, guiding it to full accreditation by the Council on Education for Public Health.
A member of the UTMB Cancer Center, Philips is the principal investigator on the National Cancer Institute’s funded CATCHUM Project, a consortium of the Texas Medical Schools devoted to advancing cancer prevention and control education.
Anderson praised Philips’ devotion to UTMB, his students and colleagues.
“He 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,” Anderson said. “Dr. Philips has been a solid contributor to this medical school and to the graduate school alike and a champion for relating both more responsively to the people we serve across Texas in large and small communities alike. I think he is the kind of person that can help us determine the best ways to raise the profile of Preventive Medicine and Community Health in the vision of a future UTMB.”