Dr. Tiffany Hensley-McBain promoted to Associate Professor, Associate Dean of Research and Interim Director at the Weissman Hood Institute at Touro University (aka MRI)
It is a time of great change and great progress at the Weissman Hood Institute at Touro (WHIT) aka MRI in Great Falls, MT, following the appointment of Dr. Renee Reijo Pera as President and CEO of the McLaughlin Research Institute four years ago. Two of the most important positive changes were celebrated in September of 2024 with the announcement of a new affiliation with the Touro University System and the renaming of the McLaughlin Research Institute to honor our pioneering Montana scientists: Dr. Irving Weissman and Dr. Leroy Hood. We are now known as the Weissman Hood Institute at Touro University (WHIT).
As we turn the corner to the second half of 2025, we are celebrating additional milestones in the WHIT. Dr. Tiffany Hensley-McBain has been promoted to Associate Professor and has been appointed as the Associate Dean of Research at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine – Montana (TouroCOM-MT). Dr. Reijo Pera has assumed the position of CEO and Professor in the WHIT and will remain the principal investigator of an NIH Center of Excellence, the Center for Integrated Biomedical and Rural Health Research. As the Interim Director of WHIT, Dr. Tiffany Hensley-McBain will work closely with Ms. MegAnne Casey who serves as the Vice President in finance, administration, and contracts and grants management.
The longevity and quality of science in the Institute is an amazing accomplishment for an Institute in a relatively rural environment. The Institute is the nearest biomedical research institute to more than 2/3 of those in the state of Montana. The future is extremely bright with the partnership with the Touro University System and the recognition of the Montana scientific pioneers, Dr. Irving Weissman and Dr. Leroy Hood, launching the next chapter in Institute history. The Weissman Hood Institute at Touro University is here to continue to serve the people of Montana, those in the broader Rocky Mountain front and beyond.