One of the America's foremost experts in infectious diseases, Dr. Merle A. Sande, is the new chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine.
The appointment is subject to approval by the U.'s Board of Trustees but is considered a certainty.Sande is a professor and vicechairman of internal medicine at the University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine.
He is also the chief of medical services at San Francisco General Hospital.
Sande will join the university in late spring or early summer. The Internal Medicine Department, the university's largest teaching department, has 226 faculty members and 72 residents.
"Dr. Sande truly is a distinguished physician," said Dr. John M. Matsen, vice president for health sciences at the U.
"His academic prowess, teaching excellence and administrative experience during the past 16 years assure leadership of the highest caliber for the Internal Medicine Department, the medical school and University Hospital."
Sande will succeed Dr. William D. Odell, who is retiring after 16 years as professor and chairman of the department.