Anca Dobrian, Ph.D., FAHA
Professor of Biomedical and Translational Sciences, Senior Associate Vice-President for Faculty Affairs and Professional Development and Director of the Fine Family Academy of Educators at Brock VHS
Dr. Anca Dana Dobrian serves as Senior Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs and Professional Development at Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University and Professor of Biomedical and Translational Sciences at EVMS. She holds a Chemical Engineering degree from the Polytechnic Institute in Bucharest and a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology from the Romanian Academy of Sciences. Dr. Dobrian holds a faculty position with EVMS since 2000.
Dr. Dobrian has directed multiple graduate programs, including serving as Director of Biomedical Sciences PhD and Master's Graduate Programs from 2019 to 2022. She has developed and directed over fifteen graduate and medical student courses, including courses in translational biology, cell energetics, metabolism, and oral communication. Her innovative curricular work includes leading the restructuring of the biomedical sciences graduate curriculum in 2015, the development of peer-led instruction in evidence-based medicine for medical education and the integration of health systems science through virtual family cases. She received the President's Faculty Award for Mentoring in 2021, induction as Master Educator in the EVMS Fine Family Academy of Medical Educators in 2019, and the "Crystal Apple Award" for best teacher and mentor in biomedical sciences in 2017. Dr. Dobrian is the current Director of Fine Family Academy of Educators.
Her research portfolio spans vascular biology, metabolic disease, and extracellular vesicles in obesity-related complications. She has secured over $12 million in research funding as principal investigator from NIH, American Heart Association, Department of Defense, and industry sponsors. Dr. Dobrian has authored over 80 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and is a fellow of the American Heart Association. She has mentored over 100 doctoral students, research master's students and medical students, and numerous postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty.
As Chair of the Advisory Group for Institutional AI Adoption at EVMS since 2023, Dr. Dobrian leads strategic initiatives integrating artificial intelligence into academic medicine. She has completed specialized training in AI applications through MIT Sloan School of Management's Generative AI in Business course and Stanford Graduate School of Business's certificate program in Harnessing AI for Breakthrough Innovation and Strategic Impact. With a career spanning basic science research, medical and graduate education, and academic leadership, Dr. Dobrian brings a unique perspective to examining how artificial intelligence can enhance rather than replace the fundamentally human endeavor of discovery and learning.
