Barbara J. McNeil, MD, PhD, has been appointed acting dean of the faculty of medicine at Boston-based Harvard Medical School, effective Aug. 1.
She will replace current HarvardMedicalSchool dean Jeffrey S. Flier, MD, who will step down July 31.
Currently, Dr. McNeil is a professor of healthcare policy and a professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School. She has been a member of the medical school's faculty since 1983 and a chair of the department of healthcare policy since she founded it in 1988.
Dr. McNeil served as acting dean of Harvard Medical School once before in 2007. She has been actively involved in helping form the school's conflict of interest policies, and in 2013, she served on the task force that came up with an email privacy policy for Harvard University.
In a message announcing her appointment, Harvard president Drew Faust and provost Alan Garber called Dr. McNeil "one of HarvardMedicalSchool's most able and experienced leaders, scholars, educators and institutional citizens. We are fortunate to have someone of her wisdom, perspective, experience and strong institutional values to guide HMS through this interim period."