Anantha Shekhar announced his plans to step down from health sciences leadership roles

After six years of service to the University of Pittsburgh, Anantha Shekhar is stepping down from his roles as senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine, effective June 30, 2027, or upon his successor's arrival.

In a letter to the Pitt community, Shekhar described his "tremendous pride" in the growth and accomplishments of the University's six schools of the health sciences. Those achievements include securing a top-10 standing among recipients of National Institutes of Health funding; leading Pitt's record invention disclosures, patents and startup formation in 2025; building a biotech ecosystem in partnership with ElevateBio and BioForge, driven by the largest single-project gift in the Richard King Mellon Foundation's history.

Shekhar's tenure also saw wide-ranging improvements for students, faculty and researchers, from a reimaged curriculum to renovations on Scaife and Salk halls. He oversaw the launch of several new centers, institutes and programs addressing some of society's most significant biomedical challenges, including vision restoration, space biomedical and regenerative medicine.

"I am extremely proud of today's health sciences leadership, the colleagues who have guided this work since long before I arrived, as well as the new vice chancellors, deans, chairs and department and institute leaders who have joined more recently," Shekhar wrote in his letter. "Together, they have helped build what we now call the strength of six: our six schools increasingly working together as one."

After a sabbatical, Shekhar will return to the faculty with a focus on translation and commercialization, helping promising science become the therapies, devices and companies that will improve the lives of people worldwide.

Read the full announcement.