An advisory committee has been appointed to launch the search for the university’s next Mary Sue Coleman Director of the Life Sciences Institute. The university is now accepting nominations and applications for the position.

President Mark S. Schlissel has appointed an eight-member search advisory committee, which will be chaired by Dr. David Ginsburg, James V. Neel Distinguished University Professor of Internal Medicine and Human Genetics, Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor of Medicine, professor of internal medicine, human genetics, and pediatrics and communicable diseases, Medical School; and research professor, Life Sciences Institute.

The search is being undertaken to replace long-serving LSI Director Alan Saltiel, who is stepping down Aug. 31 after 13 years of service.

Dr. Stephen J. Weiss, a medical researcher who has focused his efforts on understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the ways in which cancer cells invade tissues and metastasize, will become interim director of the LSI beginning Sept. 1.

In addition to Ginsburg, members of the search advisory committee include:

• Huda Akil, co-director and research professor, Molecular & Behavioral Neuroscience Institute; and Distinguished University Professor and Quarton Professor of Neurosciences, Department of Psychiatry.

• Michael Boehnke, Richard G. Cornell Distinguished University Professor of Biostatistics, director of the Center for Statistical Genetics, and director of the Genome Science Training Program.

• Jiandie Lin, Bradley M. Patten Collegiate Professor in the Life Sciences; research associate professor, LSI; and associate professor of cell and developmental biology, Medical School.

• Georgios (Yiorgo) Skiniotis, Jack E. Dixon Professor at LSI; associate professor of biological chemistry, Medical School; and Pew Scholar of Biomedical Sciences.

• Janet L. Smith, Margaret J. Hunter Collegiate Professor in the Life Sciences; professor of biological chemistry, Medical School; and research professor, LSI.

• David R. Walt of Tufts University; University Professor, Robinson Professor of Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor, adjunct professor of biomedical engineering, and Director of Tufts Institute for Innovation.

• Yukiko Yamashita, James P. McMurrich Collegiate Professor of the Life Sciences; research associate professor, Center for Stem Cell Biology; associate professor, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, and Cellular and Molecular Biology Program; and investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Lisa Connolly, senior manager for executive searches in the Office of the President, will serve as the president’s liaison to the search.