A message from the Dean
This issue of Medicine@Brown arrives at the end of an eventful spring. In late February, Lifespan and Care New England signed a definitive agreement to merge and create, with Brown and The Warren Alpert Medical School, an integrated academic health system. The merger will now need to be approved by federal and state regulators. Brown’s affiliation and collaboration with a merged Lifespan and Care New England will help advance health care in the region by bringing Brown’s research and medical education to the table. We want to combine research at Lifespan, Care New England, and Brown to allow research discoveries to move more quickly from the lab to the bedside. A key part of this is to bring us together from a research perspective as we improve our grant portfolio, bringing more funding into thestate for research to lead to those innovative treatments. Most importantly for the Medical School, our students and residents will be trainingin and experiencing an optimal health care system. They’ll see what works and what doesn’t, and take those lessons into their careers as physicians.
In April, it was announced that I will be moving into a new role as senior health adviser to President Paxson and Provost Locke. If the merger is approved, there will be a tremendous amount of work to do in aligning our institutions along a common vision and goals. I will stay in my role as dean of medicine and biological sciences until my successors in place. Since I first came to Brown I have believed that forming an integrated health system would not only elevate The Warren Alpert Medical School and Brown, but the entire state of Rhode Island through improved patient care and economic growth.
I am incredibly excited to be able to focus on fulfilling this vision. I will also have the opportunity to continue collaborating with colleagues throughout the Division of Biology and Medicine. I’ve had a chance to work with some of the best people I’ve ever met here at Brown. They are caring educators, caring scientists, and outstanding health care providers who care about all facets of society. I am very proud of the hard work we have done together to grow our research and educational enterprises.
