MACON – Mercer University School of Medicine (MUSM) Dean Jean R. Sumner, MD, FACP, recently announced that Christy Chancy Bridges, Ph.D., has been appointed interim chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences with effect from 1 August.
dr. Bridges follows Dr. Robert McKallip, who will leave Mercer at the end of July after serving as department chairman since 2019.
“I am deeply grateful to Dr. McKallip for his outstanding work as department president and wish him all the best,” said Dr. sumner. “Dr. Bridges will soon be qualified to step into this important role. I look forward to seeing the department grow under her leadership.”
dr. Bridges, also a professor of histology and director of the Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences (MSBMS) program, joined the MUSM faculty in 2006.
“I am very pleased with the selection of Dr. Bridges,” said Dr. Bridges. McKallip. “She is ideally suited to take on this position. She has demonstrated strong leadership in the MSBMS program, a dedication to mentoring students in her lab, and a passion for research validated by her prolific publication in top-level peer-reviewed journals.”
dr. Bridges received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Berry College and her Ph.D. in cellular biology from the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. She completed postgraduate studies at the Medical College of Georgia in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and at MUSM in the Department of Biomedical Sciences.
The lab of Dr. Bridges studies environmental toxins, with a particular emphasis on the effects of mercury exposure. Her research has been widely published and supported by grants from numerous organizations, including the National Institutes of Health, Navicent Health Foundation and MedCen Research Foundation.
“Our faculty of biomedical sciences is among the best in the state and I am honored to serve with them to fulfill the mission of MUSM,” said Dr. bridge. “Even though we have three campuses, we are one school. My desire is to keep the department moving forward so that the faculty on each campus can be successful in their teaching, research and service responsibilities.”
About Mercer University School of Medicine (Macon, Savannah and Columbus)
Mercer University’s School of Medicine was established in 1982 to train physicians and health professionals to meet the primary care and health care needs of rural and medically deprived areas of Georgia. Today, more than 60 percent of graduates currently practice in the state of Georgia, and of those, more than 80 percent practice in rural or medically deprived areas of Georgia. Mercer medical students benefit from a problem-based medical education program that provides early experiences of patient care. Such an academic environment promotes the early development of clinical problem solving and awakens in each student an awareness of the place of basic medical sciences in medical practice. The school opened additional four-year MD campuses in Savannah in 2008 and Columbus in 2021. After their sophomore year, students participate in key clinical internships at the school’s primary teaching hospitals: Atrium Health Navicent The Medical Center and Piedmont Macon Medical Centers in Macon; Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah; and Piedmont Columbus Regional Hospital and St. Francis Hospital in Columbus. The school also offers master’s degrees in preclinical sciences and biomedical sciences and a Ph.D. in rural health sciences in Macon and a masters in family therapy in Macon and Atlanta.