VP Jakub Tolar
Shaping the future of health care
"The complexity of the future requires emphasized teamwork, cross-disciplinary collaboration, cross-University collaboration, and an increased effort to look beyond ourselves and our own knowledge." - Jakub Tolar, MD, PhD, Vice President for Clinical Affairs
Jakub Tolar, MD, PhD, has served as Vice President for Clinical Affairs at the University of Minnesota since 2018.
He also serves as Dean of the University of Minnesota Medical School, Campus Public Health Officer at the University of Minnesota, Board Chair for the University of Minnesota Physicians (M Physicians), and Co-Lead for the M Health Fairview Joint Clinical Enterprise.
Originally from the Czech Republic, Dr. Tolar received his medical education (MD) in Prague at Charles University. In 1992, he came to the University of Minnesota Medical School, where he completed his PhD in Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology and Genetics, and also completed his residency in Pediatrics and fellowship in Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation. In his 30 years at the University, Dr. Tolar has served in many positions, including Director of the Stem Cell Institute from 2013-2017, and Executive Vice Dean of the Medical School from 2015-2017.
A physician-scientist, Dr. Tolar's laboratory and clinical research focuses on finding new ways of treating children with lethal genetic diseases—like epidermolysis bullosa, mucopolysaccharidosis type I (Hurler syndrome), Fanconi anemia, and dyskeratosis congenita—by developing safer and more effective cellular therapies. Dr. Tolar is credited with the first successful bone marrow transplant to treat a disease of a different organ, the skin.
Board-certified in pediatric hematology/oncology, Dr. Tolar practices at the M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital.