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Illinois Medicine | 35 The class of 1975 was the first to graduate from the University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford. Members of the class joined nearly 500 fellow alumni, faculty members, administrators and friends for a 50th anniversary weekend in October to celebrate the college's many accomplishments and its successful mission to create better health for all. Celebrating 50 Years of Education, Innovation and Service T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F I L L I N O I S C O L L E G E O F M E D I C I N E R O C K F O R D Residency Program, and many practice family medicine and various subspecialties in Rockford and other rural communities. Research is also a vital part of the UICOMR mission. Since the Department of Biomedical Sciences was established in 1977, the Rockford campus has become a center for leading-edge research that has had a local, regional and global impact. It is the site of major scientific breakthroughs such as the Shingrix vaccine, which is used around the world to prevent shingles. Researchers there are also working on vaccines for lymphatic filariasis and heartworm, tests for lung cancer, therapies for prostate cancer, regenerative medicine to reverse paralysis, and nanomedicine to treat a variety of diseases. "What started 50 years ago in Rockford as a regional medical school has grown to become a health sciences campus that is known for its work in preparing healthcare professionals to serve in rural and underserved areas," says Dr. Stagnaro-Green. "Our Rural Medical Education Program and National Center for Rural Health Professions have developed successful models that can be applied to a number of health professions to help with the shortages that exist in all but four Illinois counties." Scenes from UICOMR's 50th anniversary celebration in October I IN 1971, THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PURCHASED the site of the former Rockford Tuberculosis Sanitarium and transformed it into a medical school. The first class of 20 medical students followed in the fall of 1972, accompanied by 10 family medicine residents. After years of study and planning involving local Rockford physicians, university officials and state legislators, Rockford's first and only college of medicine had become a reality. According to Regional Dean Alex Stagnaro-Green, MD, MHPE '05, MHA '17, the University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford (UICOMR) was created to meet a critical need for physicians in downstate Illinois. In its first five decades, UICOMR has fulfilled that founding mission by training more than 2,200 physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities. More than 420 UICOMR alumni are graduates of the Rural Medical Education Program, which recruits and trains students to practice in rural communities. "The RMED students receive additional classroom and clinical training in medical topics specific to rural communities and rural hospitals," says Dr. Stagnaro-Green. About 430 alumni are graduates of the Rockford Family Medicine