Medical school at Virginia Tech expands Department of Basic Science Education

• Katherine Brown, assistant professor
• Jennifer Cleveland, assistant professor
• Kristin Eden, assistant professor
• Kristofer Rau, assistant professor
• Allison Tegge, assistant professor

“We now have a full-complement of essential faculty for the delivery of the school’s first- and second-year curricula,” said Renee LeClair, department chair. “With an emphasis on faculty scholarship, and with the addition of these faculty members who together bring impressive research experience, we are establishing best practices for both our students and for medical education at large.”

Katherine Brown

Brown holds a doctorate in infectious diseases and immunology from the University of California at Berkeley and a Bachelor of Science from the University of California at San Diego. Before joining VTCSOM, she was an assistant professor at the School of Osteopathic Medicine at AT Still University in Mesa, Arizona. She brings extensive research experience at Roche Molecular Systems Inc. and has been published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Virology. Brown will oversee the organization of microbiology and immunology content in first- and second-year courses.

Jennifer Cleveland

Cleveland oversees the delivery of pharmacology to first- and second-year students and has been integral in the development of the pharmacology curriculum. She has Doctor of Pharmacy, a Master in Business Administration, and a Bachelor of Science from Shenandoah University. Cleveland is a licensed pharmacist whose professional experience includes owning and operating an independent pharmacy and serving as an instructor in pharmacology at the Jefferson College of Health Sciences. She is also a volunteer pharmacist at the Bradley Free Clinic.

Kristin Eden

Eden’s primary focus will be on pathological processes in the second-year curriculum. In addition she will be addressing several curricular needs including assisting in delivery of histology and anatomy. Eden holds doctorates in veterinary medicine and immunology from the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine as well as a degree in anatomic pathology from Texas A&M and a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech. She has numerous scholarly activities to her name, including publications, presentations, and research.

Kristofer Rau

Rau will be teaching neuroscience-related topics and will oversee the organization of medical neuroscience education. He earned a doctorate in neuroscience from the University of Florida and a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from Auburn University. Most recently, Rau was a senior research scientist at the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center at the University of Louisville where he also taught courses in molecular neuroscience, fundamentals of neuroscience, and translational neurosciences. He has an extensive research portfolio and numerous journal publications, abstracts, and presentations.

Allison Tegge

Tegge’s role in the department is to provide statistical support for student research projects. In addition, she teaches biostatistics for the first-year medical students. Tegge earned her doctorate in informatics from the University of Missouri Columbia and her master’s and bachelor’s from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Before joining Virginia Tech, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health. Tegge has dozens of scholarly activities to her name including journal publications, book chapters, posters, and presentations. Her primary appointment is in the Department of Statistics at Virginia Tech.