
Richard J. Barohn, MD
Executive Director, NextGen Precision Health
Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs at MU Health Care
RBarohn@health.missouri.edu
After a national search, Dr. Barohn was named Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs at MU in early 2020. As the executive director of NextGen, Dr. Barohn works closely with the campus’ faculty research leads and other university leaders to coordinate research activity, including collaborative research and engagement plans.
Dr. Barohn remains involved in his own research studies for rare neuromuscular disorders, such as forms of muscular dystrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He will be moving one of his multicenter federally funded therapeutic trials to MU.
Faculty Research Leads

Thomas Spencer, PhD
Scientific Director, NextGen Precision Health
Basic and Emerging Research Lead
Curators Distinguished Professor of Animal Sciences, College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources

Jeffrey Bryan, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVIM-Oncology
Cancer Research Lead
Professor of Oncology, MU College of Veterinary Medicine
Associate Director of Comparative Oncology, Ellis Fischel Cancer Center
BryanJN@missouri.edu

Luis Martinez-Lemus, DVM, PhD
Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders Research Lead
Director, Center for Precision Medicine
Professor of Medical Pharmacology & Physiology, MU School of Medicine
MartinezLemusL@missouri.edu

David Schulz, PhD
Neuroscience Research Lead
Director, Division of Biological Sciences, MU College of Arts and Science
Professor of Biological Sciences
SchulzD@missouri.edu

Julie Kapp, PhD
Population Health Research Lead
Associate Professor of Health Management and Informatics, MU School of Medicine
KappJ@health.missouri.edu

John Spertus, MD, MPH
Health Care Delivery Research Lead
UMKC Professor and Daniel J. Lauer Missouri Endowed Chair of Metabolism and Vascular Disease Research