"As interim dean, Dr. Strada has demonstrated strong leadership skills, managing the College's clinical and basic science departments, supporting their growth, their commitment to rigorous academic standards, and the delivery of state-of-the-art patient care," added Franks, who serves as the chief executive officer of USA's health sciences division, which includes the colleges of Allied Health Professions, Medicine, and Nursing.

"I am honored and pleased to accept the position and look forward to working with Dr. Franks, Stan Hammack, the students, faculty and staff in addressing the missions of the college of medicine in education, research and community service," said Strada. "I am equally excited about the growth of the university in general, and the future opportunities we have in the college of medicine in particular as I was twenty-five years ago," he added.

Strada joined USA in 1983 as professor and chair of pharmacology. In 1994, he was named senior associate medical dean for the USA College of Medicine. During his tenure at USA, Strada has served as acting director of the graduate program in basic medical sciences, assistant dean for admissions, acting chair of psychiatry, and was faculty athletics representative from 1990-97.

In addition, Strada was instrumental in creation of the Office of Technology Development, Office of Research Compliance and Assurance, and the USA Technology and Research Park. He currently serves as president of the South Alabama Medical Science Foundation.

Strada has national recognition for research on cellular signaling mechanisms and has published more than 200 articles and abstracts. He has been active in the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics and the Council of Academic Societies of the Association of American Medical Colleges. He has served as president of the Association for Medical School Pharmacology Chairs and the Southeastern Pharmacology Society.

Strada received his bachelor's degree in pharmacy and master's in pharmacology from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and his doctorate in pharmacology from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tenn. He conducted his post-doctoral training in neuropharmacology at the National Institutes of Mental Health in Washington, D.C. Prior to USA, he spent 11 years on the faculty as the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, where he rose to acting chair of pharmacology.

Since enrolling its first class in 1973, the USA College of Medicine has awarded more than 1,800 doctor of medicine degrees. More than one-third of the practicing physicians in the Mobile area were educated in the USA Health System. The USA College of Medicine consists of more than 200 full-time faculty affiliated with the school's 13 clinical departments and six basic science departments. In fiscal year 2007, researchers in the college received $19,922,054 grant funding to improve the understanding and treatment of medical conditions.