University of Missouri names new dean of medical school

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The chief of cardiology at Tulane University will become the dean of the University of Missouri School of Medicine, effective Dec. 1.

The university announced Tuesday that it had chosen Patrice Delafontaine, a member of the Tulane faculty from 2003 to 2014. He served in various roles, including director of the Heart and Vascular Institute and medical director of cardiovascular services at Tulane University Hospital and Clinic.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reported Delafontaine's appointment comes more than two years after the medical school's former dean, Robert Churchill, resigned shortly before a federal fraud investigation. Investigators found two radiologists committed billing fraud. The investigation and an accompanying lawsuit are continuing.

Delafontaine previously worked at the University of Kansas Medical Center, the University of Geneva and Emory University in Atlanta.