Regents approve Urology acting chairs, Cell and Developmental Biology interim chair

The Board of Regents on Oct. 15 approved the appointments of two acting chairs and one interim chair in the Medical School.

Department of Urology

Effective Sept. 18, Brent K. Hollenbeck, M.D. M.S. (left), is acting chair of the Department of Urology through Feb. 28, 2027. Effective March 1, 2027, Todd M. Morgan, M.D. (center), will assume the role of acting chair. The acting chairs will serve until Ganesh S. Palapattu, M.D., completes his interim appointment as executive vice president for medical affairs and CEO of Michigan Medicine. At that time, Palapattu will resume his duties as chair of the Department of Urology.

Hollenbeck, a professor of urology, has extensive administrative experience. He served as interim chair of the Department of Urology in 2016 and was vice chair from 2019-23. From 2023-24, he was the department chair of urology at Massachusetts General Hospital. Morgan is the Jack Lapides, M.D., Research Professor and a professor of urology. He has served as chief of urologic oncology since 2019 and co-director of the Weiser Center for Prostate Center at Michigan Medicine since 2022.

Department of Cell and Developmental Biology

Billy Tsai, Ph.D. (right), is interim chair of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, effective Sept. 9. He replaces Pierre Coulombe, Ph.D., who stepped down and has returned to the faculty to continue leading his laboratory research program.

Tsai is the Corydon Ford Legacy Professor and a professor of cell and developmental biology. He has been involved extensively in research, educational, administrative activities. He is currently principal investigator on several National Institutes of Health R01 grants. He also is an accomplished teacher and mentor, earning the 2026 Endowed Basic Sciences Teaching Award.