The Hertha Ramsey Cress Chair in Medicine was created through a bequest made by Mrs. Cress, BA’49, MA’51, to commemorate the time she and her late husband, Dr. Robert H. Cress, Ba’50, MD’53, HO’53, spent at Vanderbilt. Dr. Cress received his Bachelor of Arts and medical degrees from Vanderbilt and was a house officer in 1953. Mrs. Cress received a bachelor's degrees in biology and chemistry from Vanderbilt in 1949 and a master's degree in bacteriology in 1951. She went on to earn a doctoral degree in microbiology from Duke University. Mrs. Cress died in 2009 in Clearwater, Fla.
The chair is a bequest of Cress to support the work of an outstanding professor at VUMC honoring the quest for new knowledge through scholarship and research.
2010 Inaugural Recipient of the Hertha Ramsey Cress Chair in Medicine
John C. Gore, Ph.D., has been named the first recipient of the Hertha Ramsey Cress Chair in Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Dr. Gore directs the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science and leads the institute by connecting discoveries in the basic sciences and engineering to applications in biology and medicine. Gore is a University Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering and holds additional professorships in physics and molecular physiology and biophysics. His research focuses on the development and application of imaging, especially magnetic resonance techniques, in clinical and basic science.
“I feel very privileged to hold this chair,” he said. “It provides additional resources to explore novel research directions and will support activities that would otherwise not be possible. Truly new ventures are not in a position to attract traditional funding, but this chair provides the discretionary funding necessary.”
Gore, who joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2002, is an internationally renowned expert in imaging technology with research focused on the development and application of advanced imaging techniques in clinical and basic sciences.
He received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of London and has held faculty appointments at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London and Yale University.
Gore is a fellow of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and received the group's gold medal award in 2004.
“An endowed chair supports talented faculty to engage in early, cutting-edge research that is not eligible for traditional funding,” said Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., vice chancellor for Health Affairs and dean of the School of Medicine.
“We are so grateful that the Cress family has shown a commitment to research that has the potential to impact millions of patients. John Gore is the ideal recipient of this chair. He is a brilliant scientist and leader who is transforming imaging science.”
New chair bolsters Gore's imaging research (May 2010)
John C. Gore, Ph.D.
Hertha Ramsey Cress University Professor
Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, and Physics and Astronomy
Vice Chair for Research, Dept. of Radiology and Radiological Sciences