On Jan. 1, 2025, Dr. Barbara Jung officially assumed her role as dean of the UC San Diego School of Medicine. Jung is a physician and researcher who has extensive experience in the field of gastroenterology.
As she begins her tenure as dean of the UCSD School of Medicine, she highlights her commitment to understanding the institution’s strengths while identifying opportunities for growth.
Jung’s top priority is listening to and learning from the School of Medicine community, including students, residents, fellows, postdocs, staff, and faculty. She seeks to better appreciate how the school has built its strong foundation in education, research, and clinical care.
Her goal is to empower the UCSD community to help the university’s School of Medicine reach new heights, emphasizing the importance of empathy and an inclusive environment for fostering collaboration and innovation among UCSD students, faculty, and staff.
“I try to lead with empathy and compassion and enjoy dissenting thoughts,” Jung said in an interview with The UCSD Guardian. “I want to help focus us on a common purpose and then create the environment and facilitate connections to get us there. People and their paths are fascinating to me. We are so complex and full of surprises!”
Jung earned her medical degree from Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany. After her postdoctoral fellowship at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in San Diego, she completed her internal medicine residency and gastroenterology fellowship at UCSD.
After serving as the chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Illinois, Chicago, Jung joined the University of Washington, where she served as a professor and the Robert G. Petersdorf Endowed Chair in Medicine for five years.
Jung returns to UCSD to build on her early contributions as a trainee and junior faculty member.
“The role of leader and mentor was evident in the skillset of Dr. Jung as a training fellow and junior faculty physician scientist at UC San Diego School of Medicine in the early 2000’s,” said Dr. John Carethers, vice chancellor for health sciences at UCSD.
Jung described her new position as both a homecoming and a step into the future. She completed her residency and fellowship training at UCSD, which she said played a key role in shaping her identity as an academic. Jung noted that the University has evolved over the years in inspiring ways.
“The campus is bustling, and many buildings are new,” she said. “Looking in from the outside, there is just so much momentum, driven by the excellence of the faculty, trainees, students, and staff.”
Jung shared her excitement about the opportunities ahead and the collaborative spirit at UCSD. She outlined her plan to pursue innovation and collaboration — in the School of Medicine, across the whole campus, and beyond — to address society’s most pressing challenges in medicine and health care.
