UAB announces David Standaert as new vice president for research

The University of Alabama at Birmingham has named UAB Department of Neurology Chair David Standaert, M.D., Ph.D., as its next vice president for research following a national search.

Standaert will serve on UAB President Ray Watts' cabinet and lead the university's research strategy, operations and growth while supporting investigators, research centers and core facilities across the institution.

“From an early age, I have been fascinated and motivated by the transformational difference research and innovation has on people’s lives,” Standaert said. “I have found leading the great team in the Department of Neurology and advancing discovery through research incredibly rewarding. This opportunity to lead the Office of Research at UAB, supporting all of our researchers and the massive research infrastructure that enables them, is a chance to dramatically expand the positive impact I can have for our community and beyond.”

“Under President Watts’ leadership—and through the tireless efforts of research faculty and staff, supported by dedicated colleagues in the Office of Research—UAB’s research enterprise has accomplished unprecedented success in our mission to save and improve lives,” Standaert continued. “There is much more to do, and many more achievements lie ahead. I can’t imagine a more fulfilling role, and I am honored to have this incredible opportunity.”

UAB said Standaert will draw on decades of experience building research programs, recruiting faculty, securing federal and philanthropic funding and leading academic organizations as he works to expand the university's research impact.

Standaert has served as chair of UAB's Department of Neurology since 2011 and holds the John N. Whitaker Endowed Chair in Neurology. He joined UAB in 2006 and has helped expand the department while advancing research programs focused on Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.

Under Standaert's leadership, the Department of Neurology has grown from about 30 faculty members to 98. Research expenditures have increased nearly tenfold since 2005, and the department currently supports 18 National Institutes of Health-funded investigators and about $19 million in active NIH funding.

Standaert also founded and helped build UAB's Killion Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, which now includes 18 funded laboratories. The center has received major federal awards, including a Morris K. Udall Center of Excellence in Parkinson Disease Research, a Brain Initiative award and a federally funded Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.

UAB said Standaert also helped secure more than $60 million in philanthropic support for neuroscience research, including a $10 million naming gift that established a permanent endowment for the center.

“Dr. Standaert combines internationally recognized scientific achievement with a demonstrated record of building people, programs and infrastructure, and I am excited to see the great strides the Office of Research and UAB discovery will make under his proven ability to lead operational excellence and produce results,” Watts said. “I want to thank the search committee—which vetted an extremely deep and talented candidate pool—as well as the many stakeholders from across the enterprise who engaged with our finalists. Feedback about Dr. Standaert from the UAB community was overwhelmingly positive.”

Search committee co-chair Anupam Agarwal, M.D., UAB senior vice president for medicine and dean of the Heersink School of Medicine, said Standaert's record of research and administrative leadership stood out during the search.

“Feedback we received throughout the search process reflected confidence in Dr. Standaert’s ability to scale the excellence and results he has accomplished for the Heersink School of Medicine and Department of Neurology to the broader institution,” Agarwal said.

UAB Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Janet Woodruff-Borden co-chaired the search committee.

“There was great interest in this role by a wide range of experienced research administrators from across the country, reinforcing our research prominence and the broad appeal of UAB and this opportunity,” Woodruff-Borden said. “With the roadmap for excellence and maximum impact established by our years-long Research Strategic Initiative planning and continued implementation process, the Office of Research is in a unique position of strength to achieve unprecedented success in the coming years under Dr. Standaert’s leadership.”

Standaert earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry, magna cum laude, from Harvard University before earning his medical degree and doctorate in medicine and pharmacology from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

He completed his neurology residency at the University of Pennsylvania and a fellowship in movement disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where he later served on the faculty before joining UAB.

Standaert has also held leadership positions in academic medicine and neuroscience and received honors for his work in neuroscience, research and patient care. Most recently, the U.S. secretary of health and human services appointed him to the federal Advisory Council on Parkinson's Research, Care and Services, established through the National Plan to End Parkinson's Act.

Standaert will assume the vice president for research role on October 1, 2026.