Wallace L. McKeehan, J.S. Dunn Professor and director of the Center for Cancer and Stem Cell Biology at the Texas A&M Health Science Center Institute of Biosciences and Technology, has been named distinguished professor.  This is the highest academic rank a faculty member can attain within the Texas A&M University System.   His new honor recognizes Dr. McKeehan as being among the top active researchers in his area of research internationally and for having made major seminal contributions to it and was granted by the chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, Michael D. McKinney, M.D.  In 2003 Dr. McKeehan was named a Texas A&M Regents Professor.

Dr. McKeehan’s life work examines how the failure of cells to communicate properly underlies most tissue dysfunctions and disease, including cancer, stroke, atherosclerosis, liver, and neural disease.  He specializes in the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling system, a ubiquitous regulatory arrangement that controls cell to cell communication during embryogenesis and cellular homeostasis within adult tissues.

For more information see his laboratory's homepage.