After an extensive national search, Jessica Snowden, MD, MS, FAAP, MHPTT, a nationally recognized pediatric infectious disease specialist and researcher, has been named the new vice chancellor for Research at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, effective September 1. She will also serve as a professor in the College of Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics.

Currently the vice dean for Research and chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Snowden is known as a dedicated mentor and a leader in integrating clinical, research, and academic efforts to advance the understanding of health and disease. Additionally, Snowden brings expertise in transparent and collaborative leadership that unites both science and advocacy for institutions, their faculty and trainees, and the health needs of those they serve.

Snowden brings to her new position prior substantive experiences and current leadership in multisite and multistate interdisciplinary research, including a groundbreaking opioid study, as well as a major long-COVID study into the effects of the virus on children and families, particularly in underserved areas. These studies, including cutting-edge pediatric clinical trials, have engaged institutions across the country and thousands of children. Moreover, Snowden has a longstanding relationship with other pediatric infectious disease specialists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

In addition to her broad base of clinical research, Snowden has led federally funded basic research on inflammation and neuroscience. These experiences across multiple aspects of basic, clinical, translational, and population-based research are an excellent fit with the current research portfolio and future collaborative opportunities at UT Health Science Center, as they impact health and health care across Tennessee. 

She received her medical degree from Texas A&M College of Medicine, and master’s degrees in health professions teaching and technology and in clinical and translational research from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. 

She also currently serves as the Horace C. Cabe Distinguished Chair in Infectious Disease at UAMS. 

Snowden is passionate about mentoring junior colleagues, and received the Emerging Research Excellence in Mentoring Award in 2023 and the American Academy of Pediatrics Special Achievement Award in 2022, and was one of eight selected mentors in the United States for the AAMC MOSAIC Mentor program. She was named an Arkansas Power Women in 2021.

 Snowden is an elected member of the American Pediatric Society, a fellow of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society and chair of its Research Affairs Committee, and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.