The resulting smell of Ross McKinney’s first science experiment isn’t the only reason he remembers it. For a biology class at West Junior High School, he injected chicken eggs with human thyroid hormone. The hope was to make them grow faster and bigger, but that effort, he said, was “totally unsuccessful.”

“It was going to be really cool, but what I didn’t realize was human thyroid hormone as prepared is not sterile, so what I ended up with, mostly, was a bunch of very smelly eggs,” McKinney said. “…But that got me interested in doing experiments, and that went all the way back to junior high school.”

His interest in the sciences persisted at Lawrence High School, where he took advanced biology classes. After graduating from LHS in 1971, McKinney went on to study quantum mechanics of biochemistry in college before heading to medical school and beginning a lifelong career in the field of medical sciences.

Ross McKinney

Roughly 50 years since that first experiment, McKinney will soon be helping to make the rules for medical research across the country. After a nationwide search, the Association of American Medical Colleges has named McKinney as its new chief scientific officer. As part of his new position, McKinney will lead various AAMC programs that support medical research, training and research regulation.

“His leadership in bioethics and clinical research at the national level makes him exceptionally well suited to direct AAMC programs and priorities in research, training, and science policy on behalf of the AAMC and our members,” said Darrell Kirch, AAMC president and CEO, in a news release.

Currently, McKinney is the director of the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities and History of Medicine and a professor of pediatric infectious diseases at Duke University Medical Center. McKinney has conducted research on the history, prevention and treatment of pediatric HIV disease, and spent the past nine years working in bioethics research.

“That makes sense for going to a job like this, where we want to make sure that things are being done well, both effectively and efficiently, but also ethically,” McKinney said.

In addition to his science teachers at West and LHS — most notably LHS biology teacher Stan Roth — McKinney also credits his pediatrician, Dr. Helen Gilles, for drawing his interest to the medical and science fields. McKinney said Gilles inspired him because of her dual interest in people and solving problems.

“To making a contribution, the pathway started with medicine,” McKinney said. “Because she was clearly a really bright, motivated person who used medicine for the good of the community.”

McKinney has been a member of the Duke University Medical Center faculty since 1985, and served as director of the division of pediatric infectious diseases from 1994 to 2003, according to the release. McKinney earned his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College in 1975 and his medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.

McKinney will begin his position as chief scientific officer at AAMC in September, and said he is looking forward to helping improve how clinical research is done in the U.S.

“We could do better and still be protecting people and it’s time to redo the rules,” McKinney said. “There’s a lot of momentum towards that.”