Leah Pyter, Phd, appointed director of the Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research
Following a national search, Leah Pyter, PhD, associate professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health and Neuroscience at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, has been appointed director of
The Ohio State University Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research (IBMR). Her appointment is effective immediately, pending approval by the university’s Board of Trustees.
Dr. Pyter also serves as co-chair of the College of Medicine Research Space Committee and has served as co-director of the Ohio State College of Medicine’s Neuroscience Graduate Program. She is an internationally recognized expert in psychoneuroimmunology and cancer and systems neuroscience. She has presented at conferences around the globe on a variety of topics, including the gut bacteriome and inflammation in cancer treatment-induced behavioral side effects. She is also an active guest lecturer and has authored over 60 peer-reviewed research publications in both basic and clinical research fields.
Carol R Bradford, MD, MS, FACS, dean of the Ohio State College of Medicine, says Dr. Pyter’s experience leading innovative research will inform her leadership and her management of many innovative research initiatives.
“In this new role, she will cultivate a collaborative environment for interdisciplinary projects,” Dr. Bradford says. “And steer the strategic vision and mission of the IBMR, which was established in 1996, to expand multidisciplinary research in psychoneuroimmunology – the study of how the brain interacts with the body’s immune system.”
In addition, Dr. Pyter will guide efforts to elevate the institute’s national and international reputation, leveraging its multi-faceted ecosystem to foster growth through active engagement in the broader scientific community.
An accomplished researcher, Dr. Pyter leads the Pyter Lab for Behavioral Neuroimmunology of Cancer and has served as a principal investigator, co-investigator and collaborator on numerous funded projects. Currently, she serves as principal investigator on two R01s from the National Cancer Institute.
Dr. Pyter is a member of the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology and the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society and serves on the board of the PsychoNeuroImmunology Research Society. She is also a member of the Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, Neuroimmunology, Rhythms and Sleep Study Section of the National Institutes of Health.
As an Ohio State alumna, having earned her PhD in behavioral neuroscience from Ohio State in 2006, she completed a research fellowship in psychoneuroimmunology at the University of Chicago and served as a visiting research professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago before returning to her alma mater.
Dean Bradford says as they prepare for Dr. Pyter to step into this role, she also wants to thank John Sheridan, PhD, MS, professor in the Division of Biosciences and the College of Dentistry at Ohio State, for his outstanding service as interim director of the IBMR.
“We appreciate his leadership and look forward to his continued contributions as an IBMR researcher and faculty member,” Dr. Bradford says.
