Taben Hale, PhD, Named Vice Chair of Basic Medical Sciences and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies

Founding faculty member, Taben Hale, PhD, has been named vice chair of the Department of Basic Medical Sciences (BMS) and associate dean of Graduate Studies at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix.

“Dr. Hale is an esteemed researcher in the field of hypertensive heart disease, but she is also an incredible mentor and teacher,” said Nipavan Chiamvimonvat, MD, chair of the BMS. “Her accomplishments in advancing science and medicine together with her commitment to education, mentoring, and advocacy for trainees and faculty make her a great fit for these roles.”

Dr. Hale received a bachelor of science degree in 1998 from Queen’s University in Canada. In 2003, she earned a PhD in Pharmacology & Toxicology from Queen’s University, where she identified pathological processes underlying hypertension in the laboratory of Michael Adams, PhD. She then completed postdoctoral fellowship training in the laboratory of Denis deBlois, PhD, at the University of Montreal.

Since joining the U of A College of Medicine – Phoenix in 2008, her laboratory has made notable advances in cardiac fibrosis, physiology and pharmacology. With support from an NIH R01 grant, her team studies how drugs used to treat hypertension alter cardiac fibrosis and produce long-lasting protection against heart failure.

In collaboration with Stuart Tobet, PhD, MS, at Colorado State University and Jill Goldstein, PhD, MPH, at MGH/Harvard — supported by an NIH U54 SCORE grant — she advances the understanding of the impact of prenatal stress on the regulation of blood pressure, heart rate and behavioral function.

During her time at the college, Dr. Hale has mentored postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, medical students, undergraduate students, and high school students in research, inspiring and guiding these trainees to gain faculty positions, win national awards, and pursue careers in science and medicine.

She received the College of Medicine – Phoenix Graduate Student Mentoring Award in 2023. She has been active in teaching pharmacology and physiology in both the undergraduate medical and graduate curriculum in the Clinical Translational Sciences PhD program. Dr. Hale serves as a role model and promotes the advancement and career success for women at all levels in academic medicine and science, serving as director of the Women in Medicine and Science group.

“Dr. Hale’s vision and experience are extremely timely as we endeavor to expand the research, training and mentoring in graduate and medical education in the college and Department of BMS,” said Dean Fred E. Wondisford, MD, MS, MBA.