MOMENTUM UPDATE
FROM THE DESK OF DR. MICHAEL JOHNS
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE
ROBERT W. WOODRUFF HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER
June 2006
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE WITH THE WHSC VISION : "TRANSFORMING HEALTH AND HEALING"
I thank all of you who were able to attend last Thursday’s State of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center message entitled: "Vision 2012: Transforming Health and Healing." The standing-room-only audience in WHSCAB both inspired and energized me, and I appreciate the opportunity to share our plans to transform the Woodruff Health Sciences Center into an unparalleled center of learning, discovery, community, and care for the 21st century. For those of you who were unable to attend or who would like to listen to the message again, the talk can be viewed at http://whsc.emory.edu/vision2012_future.cfm. I said this repeatedly during my message, but let me say once again that we will reach this vision through your efforts and dedication. There is not a more devoted group of faculty, staff, and administration in any academic health center in the nation. The brief video with the "I am responsible for Making People Healthy" message during my speech is reflective of the talented and committed group of employees we have in the Woodruff Health Sciences Center. I also want to thank our Woodruff Health Sciences Center Board of Trustees and the Emory University Trustees for their enthusiastic support of the many initiatives we have developed or are planning as part of our Transforming Health and Healing vision. Our Trustees are outstanding in their commitment to the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, and for that we should all be very appreciative.
ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE NAMES ANNUAL HEALTH CARE HEROES
The Woodruff Health Sciences Center once again garnered numerous honors in the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s annual Health-Care Heroes awards. We took the top honor in five of the seven categories, including special recognition of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center for its role in assisting displaced residents of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Other awardees included Robert Franch, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Cardiology (Lifetime Achievement Hero Award); Christopher Hillyer, School of Medicine (Community Outreach Hero Award); and Maureen Kelley, Chair of Family and Community Nursing at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing (Allied Health Professional Hero Award). Award finalists included Thomas Heffron, Director of Adult and Pediatric Liver Transplantation at Emory University Hospital (Physician Hero Finalist), and Stuart Zola, Director of the Yerkes National Primate Research Center (Health-Care Innovations Hero Finalist).The Woodruff Health Sciences Center is a leader in so many areas of providing health care, in disease prevention, in health education, and in providing community benefit. It is gratifying to receive these honors and be placed at the top for service and excellence.
WINSHIP CANCER INSTITUTE RECEIVES PO-1 GRANT FOR LUNG CANCER
As part of our Transforming Health and Healing Vision, we have outlined five initial "centers of excellence" that will model integrated, patient-centered research and care. One of these is the Lung Center. A recent lung cancer grant from the National Cancer Institute illustrates why the Lung Center of Excellence is a prime target for investment, and already a core strength at Emory. The $7.5 million grant to the Winship Cancer Institute (WCI), one of the 12 largest currently funded lung cancer grants in the country, is a PO-1 grant. PO-1 grants are given only to institutions with broad-based, multidisciplinary, and collaborative research capabilities. This grant is designed around four scientific projects, supported by three core lab facilities, and includes a team of 40 researchers, clinicians, fellows, and technicians from 10 departments throughout the WHSC. The grant is directed by WCI’s Fadlo Khuri, co-principal investigator, along with Pharmacology’s Haian Fu.
In addition to the NCI grant, five other researchers involved in the PO-1 received grant support from the Georgia Cancer Coalition as Distinguished Cancer Clinicians and Scholars. They include Winship’s Otis Brawley, Wei Zhou, Shi-Yong Sun, and Dong Shin, as well as the Department of Urology’s Leland Chung.
Congratulations to all who are involved with this grant!
SAFE WATER CENTER EARNS GRANTS FROM WORLD BANK
In our ongoing efforts to promote health not just at home but around the globe, I am pleased to report that the World Bank’s Development Marketplace has selected two projects of the Center for Global Safe Water (CGSW), which is headquartered in the Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH), to receive competitive grants to support income-generating local enterprises in Bolivia and Kenya.
The Bolivia project, a collaboration involving Bolivian health experts, the CDC, and the RSPH, will build a commercial marketing campaign to create demand for sanitation services in local communities and incorporate small businesses to train workers in latrine construction, sanitation promotion, and marketing of waste-based fertilizers.
The Kenya project, a partnership among CGSW, Rotary Club of Atlanta, and CDC, aims to establish 1,500 vendors in the Nyanza Province to distribute 25,000 affordable water treatment products per month and thereby offer a safe-water solution to 200,000 people.
The CGSW is a partnership among Emory, CARE USA, and the CDC. These two projects were among 30 selected from more than 2,500 proposals.
Congratulations and best wishes in this important work to RSPH’s Christine Moe and Robert Dreibelbis, who are leading the Bolivia project, and to RSPH’s Trish Anderson and Richard Rheingans, and CDC’s Rob Quick, who are leading the project in Kenya.
FLEXCARS NOW AVAILABLE
The Woodruff Health Sciences Center and all of Emory are constantly searching for ways to minimize the impact caused by automobiles on parking, fuel consumption, and air quality. I am pleased to share that our faculty and staff now have new options for making their commuting lives easier as Emory launches two programs designed to play major roles in the effort to reduce the number of single-occupancy vehicles from the Clifton Corridor.
The first of the two efforts will add cars to campus: six of them, to be exact, in the form of Honda Civics that will create the nucleus of Emory’s Flexcar fleet, operated through an arrangement with the national program of the same name. The six Civics, one of which has a hybrid engine, will serve as community vehicles, available for rent at a reasonable fee to all Emory employees, and free (for up to four hours a week) to registered participants in the University’s transportation and parking program. This will be the first Flexcar program in Atlanta.
We hope the availability of the six Flexcars will promote taking advantage of our programs such as carpools and vanpools, MARTA subsidies, neighborhood shuttles, and our new park and ride lots, the second program designed to reduce traffic in the Clifton Corridor. The first park and ride lot opened this week at North DeKalb Mall. Employees can park free of charge and ride shuttles which will pick up and drop off every 20 minutes during peak times. Emory will provide security at the remote facilities. Although shuttle service will stop each night at about 7 p.m., employees who need to stay late on campus are guaranteed a ride back to their cars.
For more information about all of Emory’s transit options, visit www.ctma.com, and for specific information on the Flexcar program, go to www.flexcar.com
EMORY MEDICAL CARE FOUNDATION FACULTY RESEARCH FUND
The Emory Medical Care Foundation (EMCF) Faculty Research Fund offers research grants of up to $25,000 to faculty in the School of Medicine who spend 50% of their time in the Grady Health System. Preference is given to faculty members in their first 10 years at Grady. The grant program is designed to provide financial support for clinical studies that are related to the health care needs of the patients served by the Grady Health System or basic science projects that have clinical significance. The small grant program is meant to help individuals collect pilot data to be used for submissions to external grant agencies, as well as to encourage clinicians and educators to engage in clinical and basic science research.
Requests for research support are due three times a year: November, March and July. The next deadline is July 1st, 2006. For information on application procedures, contact Shelle Bryant in the School of Medicine Dean’s office at 404-727-4569 or sbryant@emory.edu, or click on the following link at http://www.med.emory.edu/research/information/funding_internal_emcf.cfm for proposal guidelines.
Let me add a personal note of thanks to all of our Woodruff Health Sciences Center faculty and staff who serve at Grady. You do tremendous work in one of the most crucial areas of health care for our city and our state.
CLAUDIA ADKISON IS FOUNDING MEMBER OF FOCI ACADEME
Congratulations to Claudia R. Adkison, JD, PhD, School of Medicine Executive Associate Dean for Administration and Faculty Affairs, for taking the lead as a founding member and the first Chair of the Forum on Conflicts of Interest in Academe (FOCI Academe). This newly-established national organization is affiliated with the Association of American Medical Colleges. Its members are individuals responsible for implementing and enforcing conflict of interest policies at universities and academic medical centers. Members meet twice annually to discuss challenges at their home institutions, share policies and procedures, and attempt to develop standards that can be adapted for national use. The matter of Conflict of Interest is of grave significance in many areas within academic health centers. The Woodruff Health Sciences Center has emerged as a leader in addressing the many issues raised by conflict of interest at an "up close and personal" level, and by developing workable solutions.
YOU ARE INVITED TO THE LEVY AWARD SEMINAR/RECEPTION ON JUNE 28
Marc Chimowitz (Neurology) and William Kelly (Biology), recipients of Emory’s 2006 Albert E. Levy Scientific Research Award, will present brief talks on the significance of the scientific contributions for which they are being recognized at a seminar and reception on June 28 at 3:30 pm in the Rita Rollins Room, 8th floor, Rollins School of Public Health. Dr. Chimowitz will discuss treatment of intracranial arterial stenosis, and Dr. Kelly will discuss the mechanisms of germ cell repression in C. elegans. Each year, one senior and one junior faculty member at Emory are selected by the University Research Committee for this recognition, which includes a monetary award. The award is named for Albert E. Levy, a businessman who supported high-quality scientific research.
PEDIATRICS EXECUTIVE PROGRAM FOR LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I am indeed flattered by the leadership development work conducted in the School of Medicine’s Pediatrics Department again this year. Lucky Jain and Department Chair Barbara Stoll were champions for the "2006 Pediatrics Executive Program" (PEP) that recently concluded. Lucky was an inaugural member of the Woodruff Leadership Academy back in 2003. As excellent leaders do, Lucky took what he gained from his WLA experiences and applied it in his home department of Pediatrics. Congratulations to all who participated in the 2006 PEP.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Gary Teal mentioned "energy and enthusiasm" as characteristics of Emory and the Woodruff Health Sciences Center when he opened the talk last Thursday evening. I agree 100% with that observation, and would add other "E" words such as exciting and elevating when I think of Emory. It is a wonderful time to be at Emory and in the Woodruff Health Sciences Center.
Thank you for all that you do.
Sincerely,
Michael M.E. Johns, MD
CEO, Woodruff Health Sciences Center