WHSC Components

The Woodruff Health Sciences Center includes Emory University School of Medicine, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Rollins School of Public Health, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, and Emory Healthcare, the WHSC's system of clinical operations.

Emory University School of Medicine (founded 1854)
Thomas J. Lawley, MD, Dean

Emory University School of Medicine is ranked among the nation's finest institutions for education, biomedical research, and patient care. The school had 49 applications in 2006 for each of its first-year positions, and its students perform extremely well compared with their peers at other schools. In 2006, for example, the pass rate for first-time takers of part 1 of the National Board Exam was 98%. Also in 2006, graduates went on to residencies in Georgia and 26 other states, with almost half choosing primary care specialties.

In addition to 455 medical students, the school trains more than 1,000 residents and fellows in 78 accredited programs. The school has 61 MD/PhD students in one of the 40 Medical Scientist Training Programs sponsored by the NIH. Some of these MD/PhD students are in a joint program with Georgia Institute of Technology, with which the medical school shares a biomedical engineering department ranked third in the country in 2006 by U.S. News & World Report. The medical school has 16 MD/MPH students. More than 230 medical school faculty also train predoctoral bioscience researchers in one or more of the eight programs of the university's Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences.

Faculty in five allied health programs train 390 students. These include a physician assistant program ranked third in the nation by U.S. News & World Report and a physical therapy doctoral program ranked eighth.

The medical school's faculty received $292.2 million in sponsored research in 2006, including funding received by medical faculty at Yerkes National Primate Research Center. Ranked 19th nationally in NIH dollars received, the school is one of the fastest-growing recipients of NIH awards in the country. The school has 1,981 full- and part-time faculty and 998 volunteer faculty. Physician faculty in Emory's own hospitals, affiliated teaching hospitals, and outpatient venues are responsible for more than 3.6 million patient visits annually.

The school has 15,183 alumni (5,350 medical school and 9,833 residency alumni), and one of every five physicians in Georgia was trained at Emory. In addition to the school's regular education programs, 7,490 physicians and other health care professionals came to Emory last year to participate in continuing medical education.

In addition to Georgia Tech and other research institutions throughout the state and nation, the medical school maintains strong ties with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, particularly in collaborations against emerging and established infectious diseases.

Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing (1905)
Marla E. Salmon, ScD, RN, FAAN, Dean

The Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing produces nursing leaders who are transforming health care through science, education, practice, and policy worldwide. It has 213 baccalaureate, 177 master's, and 12 doctoral students. Students who complete their undergraduate degree go on to become national and international leaders in patient care, public health, government, and education. The school offers a dual-degree program with Agnes Scott College, providing undergraduates with a strong background in liberal arts and nursing. The school's master's program offers opportunities to specialize in advanced nursing practice in a number of clinical settings and roles. Graduates are qualified to seek certification as nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, and/or clinical nurse specialists. A dual-degree option is available with the Rollins School of Public Health, allowing students to graduate with master's degrees in both nursing and public health. In this program, students can major in international nursing, a rare offering both in the United States and around the world. The nursing school's doctoral program focuses on clinical research, with emphasis on health policy, health outcomes, and ethics.

In 2006, the school received $5.2 million in research funding. Nationally, the school ranks in the top 10 among private schools in research funding from the NIH. It currently is ranked 26th overall by U.S. News & World Report, which also ranked the school's nurse midwifery graduate program seventh in the nation. Major programs include the Center for Research on Symptoms, Symptom Interactions, and Health Outcomes; the Lillian Carter Center for International Nursing; and the Fuld Fellowship, which targets second-career students with a special interest in serving vulnerable populations. The nursing school has 65 faculty, and students can learn from volunteer faculty at more than 300 clinical sites. The school has approximately 10,000 graduates.

Rollins School of Public Health (1990)
James W. Curran, MD, MPH, Dean

The Rollins School of Public Health has 784 students pursuing master's degrees and 126 PhD students in behavioral sciences and health education, biostatistics, epidemiology, health policy and management, and nutrition. The school has approximately 4,000 alumni.

A leader in interdisciplinary studies, the school offers dual-degree programs with the schools of medicine, nursing, business, and law. Master's degrees also are available with a concentration in clinical research and in Soviet, post-Soviet, and East European studies. The Career MPH is an Internet-based program for mid-career public health professionals who wish to pursue a degree while employed.

In 2006, the school recorded $37.7 million in research funding. These funds support research efforts in cancer epidemiology, nutrition, environmental and occupational health, HIV/AIDS education and prevention, addictive behaviors, youth violence, antibiotic resistance, health care costs and allocation of health resources, and micronutrient malnutrition.

Many of the 180 faculty and more than 250 adjunct faculty in six academic departments are linked by appointments, shared programs, or research grants with the CDC, Carter Center, American Cancer Society, CARE, Arthritis Foundation, and state and local public health agencies. Through these partnerships and in its role as a center for international health research and training, the school helps make Atlanta the public health capital of the world.

Yerkes National Primate Research Center (1930)
Stuart M. Zola, PhD, Director

One of eight national primate research centers funded by the NIH, Yerkes National Primate Research Center is dedicated to advancing scientific understanding of primate biology, behavior, veterinary care, and conservation, and to improving human health and well-being. Supported by $45.6 million in research funding, Yerkes' research program includes approximately 119 research projects. Studies involve 3,400 nonhuman primates (seven species) and 7,000 rodents. The center has two facilities—the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, continued main center on the Emory campus and a 117-acre satellite facility in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

In addition to 344 staff members, Yerkes is home to 32 faculty scientists, 95 affiliate and 38 collaborative faculty, and 108 research associates from Emory and other institutions. More than 125 graduate and undergraduate students participate in research and educational programs at Yerkes.

Yerkes is making landmark discoveries in microbiology and immunology, neuroscience, psychobiology, and sensory-motor systems. Yerkes researchers are seeking ways to develop vaccines for AIDS and malaria, pioneer organ transplant procedures and provide safer drugs to transplant recipients, treat cocaine addiction, interpret brain activity through imaging, increase understanding of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, unlock the secrets of memory, determine behavioral effects of hormone replacement therapy, advance knowledge about the evolutionary links between biology and behavior, and address vision disorders. The center is the only U.S. primate facility to have comprehensive imaging on site, which is critical to studying neurologic development and disease progression and to evaluating new therapies.

Collaboration is key to Yerkes research. Infectious disease research at Yerkes and at the Emory Vaccine Center fosters communication among some of the nation's leading immunologists and virologists. At the Living Links Center, scientists collaborate to study the animal roots of human social behaviors, such as cooperation, affiliation, and reconciliation. Yerkes researchers who also are members of the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience (CBN) collaborate with scientists from the CBN's consortium of eight Atlanta-based institutions in research and education.

Because of their similarity to humans in genetic makeup, behavior, and organ-system function, nonhuman primates provide irreplaceable opportunities to better understand, prevent, and treat human disease.

Emory Healthcare (1997)
Fred Sanfilippo, MD, PhD, Chairman of the Board
John T. Fox, President and CEO

Emory Healthcare, the largest, most comprehensive health care system in Georgia, includes Emory University Hospital, Emory Crawford Long Hospital, Wesley Woods Center, The Emory Clinic, Emory Children's Center, the jointly owned Emory-Adventist Hospital, and EHCA, a limited liability company created in collaboration with Hospital Corporation of America. Emory Healthcare has $1.4 billion in net patient service revenue and provides $70.7 million in charity care annually. It has 9,699 employees and 1,184 hospital beds (1,582 beds counting joint ventures).

In addition to Emory's own primary and multispecialty health care centers located throughout metro Atlanta (see pages 8-9), the Emory Healthcare Affiliate Network comprises hospitals and physicians throughout Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The affiliate network is designed to maximize Emory's resources as an academic medical center, enhance the provision of health care services, and support a community-based health care system.

Emory Healthcare also is an owner of 1st Medical Network, one of the largest PPO networks of physicians and hospitals in Georgia, serving more than 700,000 lives. It is designed to serve as a delivery system for HMOs, PPOs, insurers, and others, with a managed care network of hospitals and physicians in the state.

In conjunction with Air Methods Corporation, Emory provides medical oversight for four Emory Flight helicopters from flight centers in metro Atlanta, Griffin, Jefferson, and Cartersville that cover Georgia and surrounding states. The Emory Flight helicopters are on 24-hour standby to lift critically ill patients to the closest appropriate hospital.