Cooper Medical School of Rowan University appoints Dr. Mark Byrne as senior associate dean and executive director of medical innovations programs

Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU) has announced the appointment of Mark Byrne, PhD, as senior associate dean and executive director of medical innovations programs. In this newly created leadership role, Dr. Byrne will guide the school’s efforts to expand its academic programs, research initiatives and partnerships in the growing field of medical innovation.

Reporting directly to the Dean, Dr. Byrne will serve as chief innovation officer for CMSRU. He will be responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive strategic vision for medical innovation, while fostering a culture of creativity and discovery across the medical school. His work will focus on advancing new programs and curricula designed to prepare “physician innovators”— graduates who are equipped to develop transformative healthcare solutions that improve patient outcomes.

Dr. Byrne’s role also includes:

• Leading the creation of programs, events, tools, and collaborations that promote innovation and entrepreneurship at CMSRU.
• Expanding opportunities for medical students to gain hands-on experience in design, research, and innovation throughout their curriculum.
• Partnering with faculty across CMSRU and Rowan University to advance creative scholarship and interdisciplinary innovation.
• Building relationships with corporations, government, and nonprofit organizations to grow CMSRU’s national reputation in medical innovation.

“Our vision is to lead the country with advanced solutions to major healthcare problems and new programs, creating physician innovators of the future,” said Dr. Byrne. “CMRSU has an outstanding, forward-thinking curriculum as well as cutting-edge research, and these efforts will continue to build the emerging culture of innovation already present at CMSRU.”

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Byrne to our leadership team at CMSRU. His vision and expertise in medical innovation will help us prepare future physicians to not only deliver excellent patient care, but also to drive the creation of new solutions that address today’s most pressing healthcare challenges,” said Annette C. Reboli, MD, dean and professor of medicine. “This new role reflects our commitment to fostering creativity, discovery, and entrepreneurship across our medical school.”

Dr. Byrne brings to CMSRU a distinguished record of leadership and scholarship in engineering, biomedical science, and innovation. He studied chemical engineering and biomedical engineering as an undergrad at Carnegie Mellon University and earned his master’s and PhD in chemical engineering from Purdue University. Dr. Byrne served as the founding head of Rowan University’s Department of Biomedical Engineering from 2014 to 2022, where he helped build the department into a nationally recognized program. From 2022 to 2025, he served as the founding dean of the Rowan-Virtua School of Translational Biomedical Engineering & Sciences. An accomplished researcher and professor, Dr. Byrne has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, with an H-index of 40, an i10-index of 66, and more than 5,900 citations.

He is a leader in the field of biomaterials engineering, ocular drug delivery, controlled therapeutic delivery, bionanomaterials, polymer engineering, and biomedical devices, and his work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, industry, and others. Dr. Byrne is an advising member of various national research program panels and study sections with the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, and various foundations in areas of biomaterials, biomedical systems and devices, therapeutics, aging and development, and vision technologies.