November 2021 Dean's Letter

We have accomplished so much during the challenging months of the pandemic – each of us individually, as well as collectively as a community.  I am so grateful for your efforts and your dedication to Weill Cornell Medicine, which keep us advancing in our mission to care, discover and teach.

While I wish I could describe all of the incredible work that is happening throughout our institution, I am proud to highlight just a handful of recent accomplishments that reflect our community’s commitment to excellence and innovation.

Among our faculty:

• Two of our most distinguished investigators were elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine for major contributions in their fields of nerve cell damage and regeneration and the neuropharmacology of anesthesia.

• Three international thought leaders were appointed to the World Health Organization’s new nine-member Science Council to provide guidance on its science and research strategy.

• Our faculty are principal investigators on two of the ten Martin Delaney Collaboratory grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health to find a cure for HIV.

• WCM faculty are leading or co-leading two of the four Tuberculosis Research Units funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study tuberculosis latency and persistence.

• And eight researchers received Young Physician-Scientist Awards from the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the most granted to any institution in 2021.

Our students are also thriving:

• According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, Weill Cornell Medicine has one of the highest proportions of MD alumni who pursue academic careers in the nation, with 44% of recent graduates becoming full-time faculty at U.S. medical schools.

• We also have one of the highest proportions of MD-PhD graduates in the country, at more than 12% of the graduating medical class.

• Both of these statistics point to the fact that our students leave Weill Cornell Medicine with formidable research training and a desire to propel medicine forward.

• We continue to enhance the educational environment with new initiatives, including a Master’s program in Biomedical Imaging to launch in fall 2022, which will offer hands-on training at top imaging facilities at WCM and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Building a welcoming, inclusive, and equitable environment for our diverse community of students, faculty, and staff remains one of our highest priorities:

• At all levels of our institution, from special board committees to student-led task forces to town halls to affinity months, we continue to strive to make WCM a place where every member can grow professionally and feels they belong.

• We are making progress. Nine percent of our faculty are from groups underrepresented in medicine and science, compared to seven percent five years ago.

• The number of women in our highest leadership positions has increased by 75% over the past five years.

• And for an unprecedented fourth year in a row, Weill Cornell Medicine was honored to receive the Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.

• We recognize there is more work to be done, and I encourage you to explore the activities and resources available through the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Office of Institutional Equity, and other departments so that we can continue to achieve meaningful change together.

Thank you for everything you do to help us expand and elevate our ability to care, discover, and teach.  I wish you and your loved ones all the best for the holidays and the new year.

Sincerely,

Augustine M.K. Choi, MD

Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean
Weill Cornell Medicine
Provost for Medical Affairs
Cornell University