|   | Welcome to Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Medical schools have evolved to occupy a unique niche in society. Our foremost goal is to train the next generation of physicians. However, during the last half-century, medical schools have also become burgeoning centers for basic and clinical research, and the providers of highly specialized clinical care. The Feinberg School of Medicine is the academic home of more than 3,000 full-time and contributed services faculty members, 700 medical students, 1,000 graduate medical education residents and fellows, and 750 graduate students and postdoctoral research fellows. We are affiliated with five hospitals including Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, Children’s Memorial Hospital, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, and Jesse Brown VA Medical Center that provided in aggregate more than 2,100 inpatient beds. Our research is supported by more than $275 million and spans the spectrum from basic cell biology to clinical outcomes research. As the size and scope of activities at Feinberg School of Medicine expand, so does our opportunity to positively impact health, locally and around the world. This mission is accomplished both directly and indirectly. In our local community, we provide clinical care to the greater Chicago area. More broadly, we impact global health by creating new knowledge and training the next generation of physicians and scientists, who publish their scholarly work in broadly disseminated journals, interact with colleagues at international meetings, and further their training at sites around the world. Society has been generous in its support for these efforts, whether through private philanthropy, tax dollars to support research, payments for medical services, or scholarships for students pursuing medical degrees. In turn, we have an obligation to steward these resources carefully and strive for excellence in each of our missions. The prospects for the future of medicine have never been brighter. The unraveling of the human genome, advances in diagnostic imaging, and a deeper understanding of cell signaling pathways are but a few examples of pathways to new therapies and disease prevention. Although discoveries by individuals have made a huge impact on science and medicine, new advances are increasingly the result of interdisciplinary teams working at the interface of traditional areas of expertise. We now recognize that a team of cardiologists, radiologists, and biomedical engineers bring a perspective to medical research that cannot be achieved by any single specialty. The synergy from such interactions is the driving principle for our “One Northwestern” approach to bringing together faculty members across campuses and disciplines to accelerate the pace of discovery. I look forward to your participation in this bold planning effort over the next six months. Equally important and exciting are our efforts to provide safe, effective, and patient-centered health care in partnership with our hospital affiliates and faculty practice plans. The concept of “Northwestern Medicine” is being shaped as an effort to ensure consistent quality across our clinical service lines. Our goal is to be a leading academic medical center that
• impacts the field of medicine in all aspects—research, patient care, and medical education;
• conducts cutting-edge research that fundamentally changes how medicine is practiced;
• trains a new generation of researchers-clinicians-leaders committed to high impact science and medicine;
• recruits the most talented researchers, clinicians, educators, and employees;
• maintains highly coveted training programs and retains its trainees because of outstanding career opportunities; and
• compels people to pursue care and participate in clinical research at Northwestern. In closing, I thank my colleague Lewis Landsberg, MD, for his tremendous leadership and for creating such a solid foundation for us to build upon. I look forward to communicating with you on a regular basis to share plans and progress. With your advice and support, we can continue to foster the evolution of this great academic medical center. Best regards, J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD
Vice President for Medical Affairs
Lewis Landsberg Dean, Feinberg School of Medicine
Northwestern University
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