Vice Dean Research and Innovation
Robert Bartha, PhD, has been appointed as Vice Dean, Research & Innovation, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry effective September 6, 2022, to September 5, 2027.
As the Vice Dean, Research and Innovation, Dr. Bartha will oversee research strategy and vision at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry. He will continue to build impactful linkages across the University and its health care partners to support the overall mission of the school and Western. As Vice Dean, Dr. Bartha will maintain responsibility for resource allocation at the Robarts Research Institute and continue to lead the the Robarts Executive Committee.
Dr. Bartha received his PhD in Medical Biophysics at Western University in 1998. He joined the faculty at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and became a scientist at Robarts Research Institute in 2002. During the past 20 years, he has served in a number of leadership roles including Acting Chair, Medical Biophysics from 2010 to 2011 and from 2015 to 2016. He has served as a member of the Robarts Director Advisory Committee and Executive Committee since 2009 and was appointed Director of the Imaging Research Group at Robarts in 2018. Most recently he was appointed as the Acting Director of Strategy and Scientific Integration at Robarts Research Institute in 2020.
Dr. Bartha’s research is focused on the development of high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy methods for the early diagnosis of disease and monitoring of treatment response, specifically related to neurodegeneration, aging and cancer. Dr. Bartha's work is highly interdisciplinary and involves extensive collaborations with basic and clinician scientists. He is a co-author on more than 170 publications and has given numerous invited presentations.
He holds funding from several agencies including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. He has contributed to the success of large provincial and national research initiatives including the Ontario Neurodegenerative Disease Research Initiative where he was the Imaging Platform co-lead, and the Canadian Consortium for Neurodegeneration and Aging, where he leads a team of basic scientists.
In addition to his extensive academic and research leadership, Dr. Bartha has been actively engaged in grant review at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research where he has served as a Scientific Officer for numerous competitions and volunteered as a member of the Board of Directors with the Alzheimer Society of London and Middlesex from 2006 to 2012 where he held roles as Secretary, Vice Chair, and Chair.
Dr. Bartha was the recipient of the Premier’s Research Excellence Award in 2003, the Ivey BMO Financial Group Scientist in Brain Disorders Imaging Award (2005-2012), and received the Dean’s Award of Excellence (Team Award) for his participation in the Western Biomedical Imaging Research Centre (BIRC).
Contact: rbartha@robarts.ca
