Translations: September 2008

September 16, 2008

This being a year of many firsts and new beginnings, I thought it appropriate to begin my new monthly column—called “Translations”— to coincide with the first GUMC Convocation, held last Friday. It was gratifying to see so many of you participating as we gathered as a unified campus to kick off the new academic year and celebrate the outstanding achievements of our faculty.

Those who participated in one or more of the Convocation morning discussion sessions with Drs. Leroy Hood and David Galas were treated to a preview of the profound opportunity presented by Georgetown University’s collaboration with the Institute for Systems Biology. The intellectual exchange and access to advanced technology this partnership provides offers us unprecedented advantages. It is no small thing that Georgetown's portfolio of capabilities, particularly the medical center, has made this collaboration possible. Thank you for your contributions, and keep your compasses handy. The paradigm is beginning to shift.

This fall is already a busy time for all of us as Phase II of the Strategic Planning Initiative is fully underway. We are in the final stages of organizational strategy development, with a team led by Herb Herscowitz, to evaluate and suggest some organizational models and structures that will meet the Medical Center's current and future needs.

And as of yesterday, the three other strategy design teams began their work:

The Systems Medicine Design Team is looking comprehensively at GUMC’s strengths in systems medicine in research and education, with our clinical partner, in order to shape the vision for this approach in the future, and is co-chaired by Lou Weiner and Mark Smith.

The Collaboration, Partnership and Communications Design Team is addressing internal and external partnerships, University and MedStar collaboration, and issues of transparency and communication throughout GUMC, and is co-chaired by Ray Mitchell and Barbara Bayer.

And the Sustainability and Performance Design Team is looking at financial and organizational models and how they are established to sustain funding and revenue for GUMC. This team will also look at and make recommendations for systems that will retain qualified faculty and staff and create growth for GUMC in the future, and is co-chaired by Bob Clarke and Julie DeLoia.

I look forward to sharing my perspective on a range of issues important to GUMC in this space each month. In the meantime, if there are specific ideas or issues you’d like to see discussed, please be in touch with me via gumcexecofc@georgetown.edu.

Howard J. Federoff



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