Dean’s Message

Dean’s Message

As we prepare to enter a new decade, I am eager to share our college’s accomplishments with you and convey some of our goals for the years to come. This is an exciting time to be in medical education, and I am very proud of our faculty, students, residents and staff for their dedication to our mission each day. This past year has been an exciting one, as shown in the pages ahead. One of the highlights was our reaccreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the accrediting body for all M.D.-granting programs in the United States and Canada. Although this process takes place every eight years, we spent two full years preparing for the LCME site visit in January. The outcome could not have been better – not only did the college maintain its full accreditation status, but the LCME added a rare distinction – accreditation with commendation, which signifies the college’s high level of performance. You’ll also read about our researchers’ significant progress and the ways their discoveries are being translated into promising new medical therapies. Our educators are creating new and innovative ways to prepare the physicians of tomorrow to practice medicine in an increasingly complex healthcare landscape. And our clinicians are transforming their patients’ lives every day with advanced technology and care. In this edition of the magazine, we’ve also highlighted several ways in which philanthropic giving advances our mission. The power of the philanthropic gift is seen in a new $20 million donation to the Stephenson Cancer Center by Peggy and Charles Stephenson and the Stephenson Family Foundation. Their generosity will further cancer research endeavors, which ultimately provides our patients with new treatments and improved quality of life. To extend the impact of the gift, Stephenson Cancer Center is committed to raising another $20 million. Donations large and small will be crucial in meeting that goal. In another story, we highlight a $100,000 gift from the Wisdom Family Foundation toward translational research within the Oklahoma Center for Neuroscience. This donation will allow physicians and basic science researchers to collaborate on common areas of research interest, with the aim of moving discoveries more quickly from the bench to the bedside. You’ll also read about the 2019 presentation of the Harold Hamm International Prize for Biomedical Research in Diabetes. The prize, which comes with a $250,000 award, has been funded in perpetuity by Harold Hamm, the namesake of the Diabetes Center. His commitment to diabetes research is paving the way toward discoveries that will prevent, treat and cure diabetes. Many other philanthropic partners further the mission of the OU College of Medicine, including the Presbyterian Health Foundation, whose generosity helps our researchers initiate projects or advance them to the next level. We also are grateful for the ongoing support of the Children’s Hospital Foundation, whose endowments and direct support allow us to recruit and retain internationally recognized children’s physicians and scientists. We are very grateful for our philanthropic partners and all they do to help us improve the health and well-being of Oklahomans. Large or small, philanthropic gifts are transformational to our mission of patient care, research and medical education. I hope you enjoy this issue of the OU Medicine magazine and that 2020 brings you health and happiness.

John P. Zubialde, M.D. Executive Dean, OU College of Medicine