Vice President for Research and Dean of
The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
Telephone: (847) 578-8538
Email: michael.sarras@rosalindfranklin.edu

Michael P. Sarras, Jr., Ph.D. Dr. Sarras joined the University in 2003 with many years of experience both as an educator and as an established NIH-funded researcher. He received a Ph.D. in Anatomy and Cell Biology from Louisiana State University Medical Center and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Cell Biology at Yale University School of Medicine. Prior to his arrival at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, Dr. Sarras served as Professor and Acting Chair in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Kansas Medical Center, and was also Director of Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies in Biomedical Sciences for the KUMC Graduate School.

Dr. Sarras has dedicated himself to research in the fields of cellular and developmental biology. His main area of interest involves questions related to the development and morphogenesis of connective tissue and epithelial systems with an emphasis on the role of cell/extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions, using hydra and zebrafish as developmental models to approach these problems.

In addition to teaching and research, Dr. Sarras was a First Lieutenant on active duty in the U.S. Army in the early 1970s, and later spent the remaining of his army career (USAR) in the U.S. Army’s Research & Development Command where he worked in the field of biological and chemical defense programs.  After 30 years of service in the USAR, he retired in 1998 at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel

Synopsis of Research Interests | Administration | SGPS | Research