Dear Weill Cornell Medicine Community,
This month at holiday tables across this diverse city, you'll hear a common refrain spoken in different languages: To your health! Our friends and neighbors count on us to help them maintain or restore a healthy mind and body. As Winston Churchill famously remarked, "Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have." That is why I am so proud of the strength and vigor of the Weill Cornell community and the progress we've made this year.
We began 2015 by embracing a new model of healthcare, the Accountable Care Organization (ACO). Through NewYork Quality Care, our ACO, approximately 30,000 Medicare beneficiaries are receiving the right care at the right time. We have also continued to make great strides in caring for more New Yorkers where they live, most recently by opening a cancer treatment center in Lower Manhattan. In many areas of research, we have drawn our basic scientists, physician-researchers, and clinicians into close-knit units focused on shortening the pathway from bench to bedside. With our new curriculum, students are interacting with our patients on a broader and deeper level, learning not only the technical details of medicine but also the humanistic skills of physicianship.
These strategic developments across our mission are reflected in our new brand, Weill Cornell Medicine, which highlights our commitment to care, discover, and teach. As we continue our brand roll-out, we will be updating websites, signage, business cards, and other materials to reflect our new name and logo. Please visit our Brand Center at https://brand.weill.cornell.edu for a range of resources, including Brand Guidelines, Frequently Asked Questions, PowerPoint templates, and logos. Should you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact brand@med.cornell.edu.
As we look forward to next year, I would like to share with you several of our recent endeavors:
Weill Cornell Medicine entered into an agreement with Top Spring Huaxia Medical Investment Co. Ltd., to help it develop a modern medical center in Shenzhen, China's fourth largest city. We will be working with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital to provide advice on how to implement Western medical standards, practice guidelines, and innovations into Chinese healthcare. We will also help establish a continuing medical education center for practicing doctors in Shenzhen and nearby regions to learn the latest techniques.
Weill Cornell has received more than $10 million to study the effects of substance use on adolescent brain development, as part of a major new NIH initiative called the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study. The Weill Cornell Medicine portion of the study is led by Dr. BJ Casey, Director of the Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology, and will focus on early-onset substance use.
We've established the Dean's Award for Excellence in Mentoring Women Faculty. This award will recognize full-time faculty members, both men and women, who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing the academic careers of women by providing strong mentorship and fostering a supportive environment. Nominations are due by December 31, 2015.
Dr. Jane Salmon, Professor of Medicine and of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Weill Cornell and the Collette Kean Research Professor at Hospital for Special Surgery, has been appointed Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs. Dr. Salmon is one of the first Hospital for Special Surgery staff members to hold a senior leadership position at Weill Cornell Medicine, and we anticipate that her appointment will help strengthen the bridges between our institutions.
Dr. Jyotishman Pathak is our new Chief of the Division of Health Informatics in the Department of Healthcare Policy and Research. He comes to us from the Mayo Clinic, where he was the director of biomedical informatics at the Center for Clinical and Translational Science and the director of clinical bioinformatics in the Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery. His work focuses on developing new methods and tools for mining complex electronic health record data.
Dr. Philip Wilner, Executive Vice Chair of Psychiatry and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, has been appointed Ombudsman. The Ombudsman office provides a safe and confidential environment for faculty and staff to discuss a problem, conflict, or concern related to the faculty. The Ombudsman is neutral and independent of the administration and acts as an advocate for fairness.
Our faculty continue to generate important research results that impact public health and policy, clinical care, and drug development. Some recent findings include how to protect elders from abuse, a new drug combination for treating mantle cell lymphoma, and how cancers metastasize to particular sites in the body.
All these endeavors rely on the efforts of our talented students, faculty, and staff as well as the support of our Overseers. I thank you for your contributions to Weill Cornell Medicine and wish you a happy holiday season.
Warm regards,
Laurie H. Glimcher, MD
Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean
Weill Cornell Medicine
