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Jacobs Appointed SLU’s Vice President for Medical Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine

Saint Louis University has appointed Christine Jacobs, M.D., as SLU’s next permanent vice president for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. Jacobs had served as acting, then interim dean and vice president since Feb. 1, 2021.

Dr. Chrstine Jacobs, dean of the School of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs
Dr. Christine Jacobs

As dean and vice president, Jacobs leads the clinical, academic and research areas of the School of Medicine. She chairs the SLUCare Governing Board and sits on the board of the St. Louis Integrated Health Network. She also co-chairs the Research Growth Steering Committee of the School of Medicine and the Applied Health Research Council. 

“Dr. Jacobs is a talented, mission-centered leader who, as interim dean and vice president, has demonstrated her ability to effectively lead the medical enterprise,” said University President Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D. “I am confident that Dr. Jacobs is a leader who will inspire our faculty, staff, students, partners, alumni and other stakeholders to take SLU’s School of Medicine to higher levels of excellence in research, teaching and patient care.” 

Jacobs’ accomplishments as acting and then interim dean include improving the financial health of SLUCare, increasing medical student applications, enhancing support systems for underrepresented students, implementing a strategy for research growth, and initiating a redesign process for clinical trials in the School of Medicine, among others. 

“I enthusiastically embrace the opportunity to build on my current role to advance SLU School of Medicine in our Jesuit mission of education, patient care, research and community service,” Jacobs said. 

More about Jacobs 

Jacobs has 30 years of experience in clinical practice, academic medicine, and medical student and resident training. As a researcher, she has been the principal investigator of over $3.5 million in federal, state and foundation grants. 

Jacobs joined Saint Louis University in 2008. She served as chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine in the School of Medicine from 2017-2021. 

In 2011, Jacobs founded the SLU Family Medicine Residency in St. Louis, which prepares residents for a wide range of practice, with special emphasis on urban underserved community health. The program has become nationally known for its curriculum, and in 2017, received the Focus St. Louis Award for Improving Racial Equality and Social Justice in the St. Louis region. 

Jacobs earned her M.D. from Vanderbilt University and completed her family medicine residency at Brown University. While in medical school, Jacobs worked in Appalachia and in a bush clinic in Senegal. She later practiced family medicine in a rural federally qualified health center. She also spent 19 years as a faculty member at Rush University and the University of Illinois in Chicago. 

Jacobs’ scholarship is in medical education, clinical medicine, and the integration of behavioral and physical health. She is board certified in family medicine and geriatrics, and among other honors, was named as a St. Louis Best Doctor in Geriatrics multiple years. 

Jacobs’ appointment follows a year-long national search led by a representative search committee of faculty, staff, student, and trustees. She succeeds Robert Wilmott, M.D., who served as vice president of medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine from 2018-2021.