Russell McCulloh, MD
Dr. Russell McCulloh is the Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical Research at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and Vice President for Research for Nebraska Medicine, leading many of the clinical research initiatives for the academic health system. Dr. McCulloh also serves as the medical director for Clinical and Translational Research Operations at Children's Nebraska.
As the associate vice chancellor for clinical research, Dr. McCulloh will provide the vision for clinical research, identify research initiatives and incentives to foster research excellence, expand translational research teams, and increase the number and success of large grant applications. He will also facilitate joint research program planning, including identifying areas for strategically recruiting nationally recognized, extramurally funded investigators. He will serve as the liaison between the UNMC Vice Chancellor for Research Office and the research community concerning clinical research support and shared resources, strategic planning initiatives, policies, and new initiatives, as well as make recommendations about existing and proposed clinical research support.
After receiving his medical degree at the University of Missouri School of Medicine in 2005, Dr. McCulloh practiced medicine and held various academic leadership positions in the Kansas City area, including stops at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, and Children's Mercy Hospital. Dr. McCulloh joined UNMC & Children's Nebraska in 2018, in part to direct the NIH-funded Nebraska Pediatric Clinical Trials Unit, which focuses on conducting high-quality clinical trials engaging children and families and increasing the capacity to conduct clinical research across Nebraska.
Since then, Dr. McCulloh has continued his work serving as an advocate to help identify and tackle barriers to facilitate local, regional, and national clinical research and foster an environment that promotes strong teams, with a focus on doing critical outreach and improving the involvement of underserved, rural, and minority populations. Dr. McCulloh was recognized as a UNMC Distinguished Scientist in 2021, and was named the assistant dean for clinical research for UNMC's College of Medicine in 2022 prior to taking on his current role in 2023.