Michigan State University today announced the promotion of Tony Avellino to assistant vice president for health sciences and chief clinical and medical officer.
In this new position, Avellino will serve as the chief clinical executive who will champion quality, safety, wellness and clinical effectiveness to advance a culture of excellence. He also will be responsible for the clinical and quality oversight for MSU’s athletic medicine structure, ensuring safety and wellness for student-athletes.
“Having a physician executive with a deep clinical and emotional understanding of the health care experience who can provide medical direction and strategic oversight focuses all of us to deliver patient-centered safe care, clinical excellence and innovation,” said Norman J. Beauchamp Jr., MSU executive vice president for health sciences.
Avellino began his pediatric neurosurgery career at Johns Hopkins University Hospital where he was the surgical partner of Ben Carson. He joined MSU in 2018 as the assistant provost for student health, wellness and safety, chief medical officer and interim director of athletic medicine. Prior to MSU, Avellino served as chief executive officer for OSF HealthCare Illinois Neurological Institute from 2014 to 2018. Under his leadership, the institute’s rankings, net revenue, contribution margin, outpatient visits and hospital encounters significantly increased.
In 2009, Avellino became the first director of the University of Washington Medicine Neurosciences Institute and was appointed chief of neurological surgery at the University of Washington Medical Center in 2011. Avellino is a former NCAA student-athlete at Cornell University, and he earned his medical degree at Columbia University. His neurosurgery residency was completed at the University of Washington, including a year as a specialist registrar at Atkinson Morley Hospital in Wimbledon, England, and a pediatric neurosurgery fellowship at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
Today’s announcement builds upon the structure MSU President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D., implemented in 2019 to align the university’s three human health colleges and clinical practice under the Office of the Executive Vice President for Health Sciences. The assistant vice president for health sciences reports to the executive vice president for health sciences. The deans of the College of Human Medicine, College of Nursing, College of Osteopathic Medicine as well as the CEO of MSU Health Care also report to the executive vice president.
