The Deans of our schools at the UT San Antonio Health Science Center collectively provide the vision and support required for LINC’s success. Progress towards advancing interprofessional practice and education (IPE) is reviewed regularly by this senior leadership team, with direction and guidance provided to ensure that momentum is built and sustained for key initiatives, programs, and projects.
Francisco G Cigarroa, MD
Interim Dean, Long School of Medicine & Senior Executive Vice President for Health Affairs and Health Systems
Sonya Renae Hardin Ph.D., M.B.A./M.H.A., APRN, FAAN
Dean, School of Nursing
Ken Hargreaves, D.D.S., Ph.D.
Dean, School of Dentistry
Biosketch coming soon
Sonya Renae Hardin Ph.D., M.B.A./M.H.A., APRN, FAAN has been the Dean for the School of Nursing at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio as of June 2022. Prior to UT Health, she served as Dean of the School of Nursing at University of Louisville Health Sciences Campus where she was also a partner of the Clinical Leadership Team of the University of Louisville Medical Center and member of the Hospital Board. She has a robust background in academics, practice, and hospital administration. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and has served as in leadership positions for the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. She received her Bachelors of Nursing and Masters of Medical Surgical Nursing from the University of North Carolina – Charlotte, an M.B.A./M.H.A. from Pfeiffer University, and a Ph.D. from the from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver.
Dr. Ken Hargreaves, DDS., Ph D., received his D.D.S. from Georgetown University School of Dentistry and his Ph.D. in physiology from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD. He also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical and basic pain research at the National Institute of Health and his residency in endodontics from the University of Minnesota.
He joined the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, as Professor and Chair of the Department of Endodontics in 1997 and is jointly appointed as a professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and Physiology and Surgery (Medical School).
His area of research focuses on the pharmacology of pain and inflammation and currently he serves as a private investigator or co-private investigator on $30 million in NIH research grants. He has received an NIH MERIT Award and the 2013 UT Health San Antonio Presidential Distinguished Senior Research Scholar Award.
He has published 160 papers, two textbooks, and has five patents issued/pending. Among these papers are the description and validation of the “Hargreaves method,” which is broadly recognized as a standard method for evaluating new analgesic drugs and is in the top 5 percent of all papers cited in the field of pain research.
Bridgett Piernik-Yoder, Ph.D., OTR, FAOTA Interim Dean & Associate Dean, School of Health Professions
Timothy Raabe, Ph.D. Interim Dean & Associate Dean, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Vasan S. Ramachandran, MD, DM, FACC, FAHA Dean, Kate Marmion School of Public Health
Bridgett Piernik-Yoder, Ph.D., OTR, FAOTA, is an occupational therapist with clinical expertise in adult rehabilitation. She serves as the Interim Dean for the School of Health Professions and chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy at UT Health San Antonio, Texas, USA. Dr. Piernik-Yoder has extensive experience in developing interprofessional education and simulated learning experiences for occupational therapy and health science students. A component of Dr. Piernik-Yoder’s research has always involved systematically investigating occupational therapy education outcomes through the scholarship of teaching and learning. Her professional service includes being part of the leadership team for the American Occupational Therapy Association’s Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Institute and Mentoring program. Dr. Piernik-Yoder has frequently presented at national and international conferences on topics related to interprofessional education, and her published numerous journal articles and book chapters on education theory and outcomes.
Timothy Raabe, Ph.D., is the Interim Dean for the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and a Professor of Nursing at UT Health San Antonio. Dr. Raabe received his BS and MS in Biology from Southwest Texas State University, and he earned his Ph.D. in Zoology (Physiology) from the University of Texas at Austin. Following his postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. George DeVries at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago, Dr. Raabe accepted a faculty position at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio where he taught undergraduate biology majors for over 20 years.
Vasan S. Ramachandran, MD, DM, FACC, FAHA is the founding Dean of the Kate Marmion School of Public Health and a Professor of Medicine and Population Health at the UT Health San Antonio. Prior to UT Health he served as the Chief in the Section of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology in the Department of Medicine and Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Boston University Schools of Medicine (BUSM) and Public Health (BUSPH). He has served as the Principal Investigator of the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) between 2014 to 2022. Dr. Ramachandran is currently the Principal Investigator of the Risk Underlying Rural Areas Longitudinal (RURAL) Study (one of the youngest cohort studies in the US). He directs the FHS echocardiography-vascular imaging laboratory. He is a trained mentor and served as the PI of a Post-doc T32 program in ‘Interdisciplinary Training in Cardiovascular Epidemiology’ (from 2016-2022), and the PI of BU’s R38 program (Stimulating Access to Research in residency) from 2020-2022, which is focused on training medical residents in research. He served as an Associate Editor for Circulation from 2002-2016, and was the founding Editor-in-Chief for its daughter journal, Circulation Cardiovascular Genetics, from 2008-2018.
Jacqueline Lee Mok, PhD, has served since September 2014 as Vice President for Academic, Faculty and Student Affairs. In this role, she is the Chief Academic Affairs Officer for UT Health San Antonio, working in close collaboration and partnership with the university’s senior leadership to promote academic, faculty and student success. Prior to her arrival at UT Health San Antonio, Dr. Mok was Vice President/Chief of Staff and Secretary of the Board of Trustees at Johns Hopkins University, where she also was a presidential research fellow in 2013. She has also held administrative positions with the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the U.S. Foreign Service, and The University of Washington. At The University of Arizona, where Dr. Mok served for fifteen years, she worked not only as an assistant and associate dean, she became Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff. Dr. Mok earned her baccalaureate degree at Middlebury College; master’s degree at The University of North Texas; and Ph.D. degree from New York University. She has as well participated in the Bryn Mawr/HERS Summer Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration and the Harvard University Management Development Program. In 2012, Dr. Mok received the national Chang-Lin Tien Education Leadership Award from the Asian Pacific Fund, in recognition of her outstanding contributions in higher education leadership.
