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Vision
2012: Transforming health and healing
In 1979, Emory was given an extraordinary opportunity to chart a course
to greatness, thanks to the vision of the person for whom this health
sciences center is named. The last two decades of the 20th century saw
Emory emerge as a major research university and vital center of learning,
discovery, and service to humanity. As just one component of this momentum,
the Woodruff Health Sciences Center (WHSC) has created the best and most
comprehensive health system in our region. Our schools and academic programs
are among the top-ranked in the country. We have set a remarkable pace
of growth—both in quantity and quality—in our research. And
we attract top faculty and students from around the world.
If the end of the last century was the era
of Emory’s awakening to what it could be, then there is little doubt
in my mind that we have now begun, in the early part of the 21st century,
to establish the era of Emory’s preeminence. With the right vision,
leadership, and support, this university and the WHSC can be the source
of, and destination for, the most exciting, important, and transformative
thought and innovation in the 21st century. As President Wagner likes
to say, we will be a “destination University,” a place “where
courageous inquiry leads.”
Our University community recently completed
strategic planning that will guide us over the next seven to 10 years.
For our part, the WHSC has set an ambitious goal, Vision 2012: leadership
in transforming health and healing.
Why do we need a transformation? Simply
put, in health care, the paradigm has to change. Both science and society
are making such change ever more possible and urgent. In science, we are
seeing an increasing convergence of knowledge at the most fundamental
levels of biological systems. We have mapped the human genome and every
day we are making important discoveries that are quickly expanding our
understanding of what is possible. On the societal level, globalization
means that we have both unprecedented opportunities for improving health
but also unprecedented risks for the rapid spread of serious disease.
Science is enabling and society is requiring
that we transcend current boundaries of health care knowledge and practice.
From “reparative” medicine, we need to move to predictive
and preventive medicine, and to comprehensive and global public health.
From the “individual silo” approach to research and care,
we must transition to integrated, collaborative models. It is not enough
to simply be the best within the current model of health care. Instead,
we should take the lead in transforming health care locally, nationally,
and internationally.
These goals can’t be reached by just
a few visionary leaders or brilliant scientists or dedicated health professionals.
A true transformation of health and healing will take the combined efforts
of many thousands, even millions, of people. But I believe it can start
here with the approximately 15,000 or so dedicated members of the WHSC
team and this great University. Our science and our world needs our leadership
in transforming health and healing. I invite and I challenge each one
of you to be one of those leaders.
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