Emory Health Sciences magazine

Spring 2008

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The eyes of others
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From the Executive VP
The last word

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	As passionate as we are about values—and as outstanding as Emory is—the reality is that no one organization holds all the cards.

From the Executive VP

For the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, vision means more than just looking down the road to improve human health. It means a shared aspiration—and intention—to be a model academic health center others strive to emulate. It means setting meaningful goals and implementing achievable strategies to get there. And it means enlisting the aid of all of our stakeholders—faculty, staff, students, and supporters—to help us transform health and healing.
     Our vision is necessarily ambitious; lives depend on it. We’re committed to high-quality care and innovative approaches to health and healing. We will continue to be global leaders in scientific discovery—both in basic science and in emerging research fields. We offer aligned, interdisciplinary education programs that produce talented, compassionate, and well-rounded health professionals. We continually evaluate our performance and actively seek opportunities to improve our efforts on behalf of the people and communities we serve. We develop and use cutting-edge technology to enhance all aspects of our performance. And we work to achieve maximum alignment among our academic departments, clinical services, research centers, and education programs.
     As passionate as we are about these values—and as outstanding as Emory is—the reality is that no one organization holds all the cards. That’s what makes collaboration one of our most pressing priorities. By collaborating with like-minded and complementary local partners (including Georgia Tech, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Morehouse School of Medicine, and the Atlanta Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center, to name a few) and our partners nationwide (including NIH, CDC, Ohio State University, and others), we enhance our ability to excel by focusing on the things we do best and learning from the best practices of others as we advance toward our vision.
     In this issue, you have an opportunity to see that vision in action. For example, our cover story will introduce you to Emory’s Global Health Institute, which is allowing us to achieve our vision not only at home but also around the world. This initiative brings all of our strongest assets to bear in the worldwide fight against disease. You’ll learn about a drug discovery training program in South Africa, student fellowships in global health, collaborations among Emory and scientists and practitioners in China, India, and Mexico, and efforts to reduce infant mortality in Bangladesh. This issue also features exciting developments in cancer research using some unexpected resources—ant venom and magnolia cones. Learn about a broad collaboration among basic scientists and clinical researchers to combat hepatitis C. And analyze a topic that’s on everyone’s mind—election year health care politics.
     As you’ll see in this issue of Emory Health Sciences, transforming health and healing is an inspiring and compelling vision, and we all have a role to play in achieving it. Together, we can make it happen. I welcome your thoughts on how we can work together to achieve our vision of transforming health and healing. Please share your feedback at evphafeedback@emory.edu.

Fred Sanfilippo, MD, PhD