Colleagues,

With mixed feelings, I announce that Dr. Timur Durrani will be leaving the Lab for a position as the deputy director of occupational health at UCSF. Timur joined the Lab eight years ago as medical director. During that time, his deep expertise in occupational medicine, preventive medicine, and public health served us well. During the worldwide pandemic, he helped steer the Lab from uncertainty in the early days to establishing controls that kept the Lab operational while keeping us all as safe as possible. His communication skills and calm demeanor helped us understand and manage the dangers of the COVID threat during numerous COVID town halls and lunch and learns.

I want to thank Timur for not only his work during the pandemic but also his leadership in several initiatives over the years, including moving from paper records to the Lab’s electronic medical record-keeping system, addressing the occupational hazards of environmental smoke through Lab and UC working groups, and collaborating with UC Berkeley to integrate health services which expanded medical services for Lab employees.

Throughout his time at the Lab, Timur has lived out the Lab’s Stewardship of people by always putting the health and safety of the Lab personnel first. He will be missed. I wish him well in his new position at UCSF.

Best regards,
Mike

—
Michael Witherell
Laboratory Director
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory