Dr. Robert Sackstein, who grew up in Miami, will leave Harvard Medical School to join Florida International University, where he’ll be the dean of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and senior VP for health affairs.
Dr. John Rock, the founding dean of the college, established in 2006, will take a leave of absence to become the founding dean of the college of medicine at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Dr. Rock plans to return to FIU later and become the John and Mary Lou Dasburg Chair in Medicine.
Dr. Sackstein will become dean on Jan. 2, 2019. At Harvard, he is a professor in the departments of dermatology and medicine, and co-director of the Glycoscience Center, which focuses on the role of sugars in biological systems. He conducted clinical research at Brigham & Women’s Hospital.
Born in Cuba, Dr. Sackstein immigrated to Miami at age 4 and graduated from Southwest High School. He graduated summa cum laude as a biology major at Harvard University, and then earned an M.D. and a Ph.D. from Harvard. He did his medical residency at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. He was previously on the faculty of both the University of Miami and the University of South Florida.