UW Medical School dean to return to research

The University of Wisconsin Medical School’s dean of more than a decade plans to leave administrative office at the end of 2005 to go back to research.

Philip M. Farrell is a pediatric pulmonologist whose studies focus on cystic fibrosis, an inherited condition that leads to thick mucus clogging the lungs. He has continued this research while a dean, making advances such as a screening program for Wisconsin newborns. The university will search nationally for a successor.

Farrell plans to spend time at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta to help other states adopt the practices, which the CDC recommended in a recent report.

“It’s appealing to finish up in a time of triumph, with the school on a great upward trajectory,” Farrell said in a statement. He said he is pleased with the school’s educational and research progress and is looking forward to returning his focus to his own research.