Mueller named assistant vice chancellor for international affairs

Daniel K. Mueller, Ph.D., has been appointed assistant vice chancellor for international affairs at the School of Medicine.

In addition to his appointment at the medical school, Mueller will remain director of International Healthcare Services for BJC Health System. In his new combined position, Mueller will work to increase global awareness of the reputations and available services of BJC hospitals and of School of Medicine physicians.

The appointment was announced by William A. Peck, M.D., executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the medical school.

"Dan Mueller will help us enhance the visibility of the School of Medicine in important international settings and further cement the relationship between the school and BJC," Peck said. "We look forward to working with Dan and our faculty physicians to provide the world's citizens with cutting-edge health care services."

Mueller hopes to attract more international patients to the Washington University Medical Center and to gain contracts managing health care facilities in other countries, especially in Latin America and Pacific Rim nations.

"Our current volume of international patients is not up to the level of expertise that resides at the BJC hospitals at Washington University Medical Center," Mueller said. "We would like to greatly increase the number of international patients who come to us for treatment, and we hope to share our expertise and deliver care on a local basis whenever possible."

BJC and the University are in discussions to provide care in the Philippines, Greece, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Mueller believes those contracts will act as a vehicle for physician referral, physician exchange programs and continuing medical education.

A former Peace Corps volunteer, Mueller rose to the rank of Peace Corps Country Director for Western Samoa and the Cook Islands. He also is the former chief executive officer and project director for the 280-bed Al Amal Hospital in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Prior to that, he was a project director at the University of Missouri School of Medicine's Health Services Management Program.