Protas to serve as interim dean of UTMB allied health sciences; Position effective Dec. 1

For immediate release: Oct. 12, 2006

GALVESTON, Texas — Effective Dec. 1, Elizabeth Protas will be appointed interim dean of the School of Allied Health Sciences at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. In late August, Dean Charles H. Christiansen announced that he would be leaving UTMB after 17 years to take a leadership position at the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center. Christiansen’s last day in his leadership role at UTMB will be Dec. 1.

Protas, chairwoman of the Department of Physical Therapy in the School of Allied Health Sciences, came to UTMB in 2002.

Protas earned her Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Her research interests include geriatrics, rehabilitation of adults with stroke, Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injury. She has received numerous honors and awards during her career, most recently the Herbert H. deVries Award for Distinguished Research in the Field of Aging.
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