Pitt Names Visweswaran, Monga Department Chairs
The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has appointed two faculty members to lead the Departments of Biomedical Informatics and Pharmacology and Chemical Biology.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in People
The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine appointed Shyam Visweswaran as chair of Biomedical Informatics and Satdarshan Paul Singh Monga as chair of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology. Visweswaran had served as interim chair of the department since November 2025.
Why it matters
Visweswaran becomes only the second chair in the Biomedical Informatics department's history, following founding chair Michael J. Becich. The appointments fill leadership roles in two departments of the Pittsburgh medical school.
Monga has published 230 manuscripts and reviews in peer-reviewed journals since joining Pitt's faculty in 2001. Visweswaran was the first faculty member recruited to Biomedical Informatics in 2007, and the announcement does not state the size of either department.
The players
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
The medical school of the University of Pittsburgh, a public research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with a long-standing academic medical center affiliated with UPMC.
Shyam Visweswaran
A researcher and educator in biomedical informatics at the University of Pittsburgh who was the department's first faculty recruit and previously served as its interim chair.
Satdarshan Paul Singh Monga
A Pitt faculty member since 2001 who founded the Pittsburgh Liver Research Center and has published widely on liver biology and pathology.
The details
Visweswaran holds a medical degree from JIPMER in India and a PhD in Intelligent Systems from the University of Pittsburgh, and was appointed UPMC Professor of Biomedical Informatics in 2025. Monga, a Pitt faculty member since 2001, founded the Pittsburgh Liver Research Center and has served as chief and vice chair of the Division of Experimental Pathology in the Department of Pathology.
Timeline
2001: Monga joins the University of Pittsburgh faculty.
2007: Visweswaran is recruited as the first faculty member of Biomedical Informatics.
November 2025: Visweswaran begins serving as interim chair.
2025: Visweswaran is appointed UPMC Professor of Biomedical Informatics.
November 6, 2026: Visweswaran and Monga are named department chairs.
Legacy Line
Visweswaran succeeds Michael J. Becich, the founding chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics, making him only the second leader in the department's history. The appointment extends a line of leadership that began when the department was first established at the University of Pittsburgh.
For Pittsburgh residents and medical students, the appointments mean new leadership in two departments that train researchers and clinicians at the university. The changes are primarily relevant to those affiliated with the medical school rather than to the general public.
The takeaway
Leadership changes in academic departments often shape research direction and training for years, so the chairs named here will influence both Biomedical Informatics and Pharmacology and Chemical Biology at Pitt. Readers following academic medicine in Pittsburgh can track how these departments develop under their new leaders.
Further reading
For more on academic leadership appointments, see our People coverage.
