Immunology researcher named associate dean at UF veterinary college

Ammon B. Peck, Ph.D., an immunology researcher and professor at the University of Florida, has been named associate dean of research and graduate studies at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine, effective Sept. 1.

Peck currently is a professor in the College of Medicine’s department of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine, with a joint appointment in the College of Dentistry’s department of oral biology. He helped build the graduate student program in immunology and molecular pathology within the College of Medicine during the 1980s and early 1990s.

Since then, Peck has continued to be engaged in classroom lectures, seminars and journal clubs in addition to directing independent research projects and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students in addition to postdoctoral fellows pursuing research careers.

He will succeed Charles Courtney, D.V.M., Ph.D., following Courtney’s retirement from the position after 30 years of service on the college faculty.

“We are very fortunate to have attracted such an accomplished researcher and mentor to lead our Office of Research and Graduate Studies,” said Glen Hoffsis, D.V.M., the college’s dean.

While at UF, Peck has served as president of the College of Medicine faculty and as a member and vice chair of the Academic Health Center’s Institutional Review Board. He also established and co-directed the Type II Center for Research on Women’s Health, an intercollegiate center encompassing all six AHC colleges.

An active entrepreneur and consultant, Peck cofounded Ixion Biotechnology Inc. to commercialize research discoveries in diabetes and hyperoxaluria, a hereditary disorder that causes a type of stone to form in the kidneys and urine, beginning in childhood. The company received the Tibbetts Award from the Small Business Association in Washington, D.C., in 2000 and is currently conducting clinical trials of a product developed as a treatment for hyperoxaluria.

Peck’s research focuses on three main areas: the molecular mechanisms underlying the causes of autoimmune diseases, the pathogenesis of human and animal diseases involving hyperoxaluria, and stem cell biology.

Among the many honors Peck has received in his academic career are the 2012 International Association of Dental Research’s Distinguished Scientist Award for Salivary Research, the College of Medicine’s Exemplary Teacher Award in 2008, the Council of Biotechnology Award from Japan’s Tsurumi University in 2002, UF’s Step Professorship in 2001, and the UF Research Foundation’s distinguished professor designation in 1999.

Peck received his doctorate in medical microbiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1972. From 1974 to 1982, he worked at Uppsala University in Sweden, which overlapped with his appointment at UF in 1979.