Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/62124
dean's message W ELCOME TO THE FIRST ISSUE OF ILLINOIS MEDICINE, a new name for a publication that has been around for a while. The term "Illinois Medicine" reflects the combined educational, research, clinical and community service endeavors of the University of Illinois College of Medicine as a whole—including all four campuses: Chicago, Peoria, Rockford and Urbana-Champaign—and the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago. Illinois Medicine acknowledges the greater integration that is taking place among the college's campuses and between the college and the medical center. By working together more closely, we are pooling our collective strengths to provide better education and care on behalf of the people of Illinois. The changes in this issue don't end with the name. Our new design, with a cleaner look and an increased focus on the college's alumni, is aimed at providing more information about your fellow graduates and news about the many developments at your alma mater. In this issue, for example, we cover how the University of Illinois at Chicago Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences is transforming research across the entire UIC campus, the $40 million renovation of the University of Illinois Medical Center, and how a new generation of surgeons is learning how to operate robotic instruments at the medical center. We're always moving forward. For example, Illinois Medicine will host a conference on diabetes and obesity on Sept. 21, co- sponsored by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science. Our efforts to advance medicine extend throughout the state, and we're expanding and strengthening a network of affiliated hospitals and clinics across Illinois to see how we can maximize patient care and research. If you follow the news at all, you know that this progress is taking place in a very difficult fiscal environment in Illinois. The state's budget crisis has forced the University of Illinois to require its employees to take furlough days, and a reduction in state support of higher education is requiring us to increase tuition for our medical students in a way I wish we could avoid. I am proud to say, though, that the dedicated physicians and teachers of the Illinois Medicine faculty have made sacrifices and accommodations to ensure that classes are not being interrupted and patient care is not being affected by the furloughs. And I would like to point out that the impact of the state's financial trouble is mitigated by the generous contributions of Illinois Medicine's alumni, patients and friends over the years. We are reminded again of how important private contributions are for scholarships to support our students and for better teaching and study facilities. In a very real way, our future is increasingly dependent on the support of our alums, friends and grateful patients. I hope we can count on you to continue your support. These are challenging times for education and medicine, but also an exciting period full of new advances and greater possibilities. Illinois Medicine has an important role to play in the future of medicine, and Illinois Medicine will continue to keep you informed about our work in patient care and in research and clinical progress. Sincerely, Joseph A. Flaherty '68, MD '71, Res '75 (alum of Urbana and Chicago campuses) Dean, University of Illinois College of Medicine I L L INOI S MEDICINE | 1