Mark Chance, PhD

Mark Chance, PhD, the School of Medicine Vice Dean for Research, will be stepping down effective November 1. He has held that role since 2011 and has decided it is time for him to pass the torch and devote more time here to his research, entrepreneurship and innovation interests.

Mark’s tenure as vice dean has been nothing short of remarkable, in fact transformational, for the school. One important example of his impact is his faculty-driven process for supporting and approving institutional core facilities, including institutional and S10 driven equipment upgrades, and user driven decision making and priority setting. All of our shared resources are better as a result. He has helped us operate within the parameters set out by the NIH, which facilitates NIH applications. He has been a strong advocate for the expansion and success of departmental master’s programs which have more than tripled in enrollment in the past five years. He was also an invaluable resource to university leadership in completing several successful re-affiliation negotiations with University Hospitals and the MetroHealth System.

Mark used his Office of Research Administration to expand CWRU’s pilot funding and collaborations across the city. He established funding sources to promote commercial development of discoveries emanating from our faculty and trainees, and helped connect scientist-entrepreneurs with external resources for company spinout. 

During the pandemic, he organized the COVID-19 research task force and helped maneuver an incredible number of research applications and is responsible for many successful awards to our research faculty. He also coordinated ongoing research operations safely and with the CWRU central administration.

Under his direction, the number of spinout companies tripled and their ability to attract external funding resulted in over $300M in professional investment. With the support of former Dean Davis, he helped establish the Council to Advance Human Health (CAHH) Accelerator and Fund, which supports early-stage biotechnology innovation and startups. Mark views this area as on a strong upward trajectory and he will continue as Associate Dean for Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the school. 

Leading the new Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, he will continue to promote translation of technologies toward the market and help advance the careers of the next generation of scientific thought leaders. His insightful leadership will continue to encourage innovation and collaboration across the spectrum of biomedical research enterprise.

Please join me in thanking Mark for his decade of leadership at the School of Medicine, his leadership to our research faculty and his support to me personally over the past year. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.

I look forward to, and will appreciate support from all of you in our joint mission of, achieving our strategic goals. 

Thank you,




Stan Gerson
Interim Dean, School of Medicine
Director, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center
Director, National Center for Regenerative Medicine