Indiana Landmarks Center
Indianapolis, Indiana
October 27, 2016
Introduction and Acknowledgements
Thank you, Dean Newhouse, and thank you all for being here for this wonderful occasion.
On behalf of the IUPUI campus, I am pleased to be here as we celebrate the vital role the School of Nursing plays in the research enterprise on our campus, at the university, and in the community more broadly.
Let me take a moment to welcome Executive Vice Chancellor Kathy Johnson, Interim Vice Chancellor for Research Simon Atkinson, Dean of the Fairbanks School of Public Health Paul Halverson; and Associate Dean for Cancer Research and director of the IU Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center Patrick Loeher.
Would you please help me welcome these distinguished colleagues?
The Research Enterprise at IUPUI
Two years ago, I had the pleasure of leading the strategic planning effort at IUPUI.
Of course, research plays a crucial role in that plan. More specifically, one of the strategic goals for our campus is to leverage our strengths in the health and life sciences. Located as we are in the heart of Indianapolis, IUPUI has developed a comprehensive array of academic units and programs to promote health-related research, education, and outreach.
In fact, our programs have evolved in alignment with and response to the growth and changes in the city.
Collaborative and interdisciplinary research are the hallmarks of the very best health and life sciences.
Researchers cross disciplinary boundaries to discover better answers to the most difficult questions: better treatments, more effective therapies, and more comprehensive solutions.
Such a collaborative approach has long characterized research on the IUPUI campus.
This spirit of partnership and collaboration allows IUPUI experts to work together to understand the problems our communities face, develop solutions, and work with our community to make these solutions a reality.
Precision Health Initiatives: Grand Challenges
The strength of our faculty and our understanding of the power of collaboration were critical to the success of the Precision Health Initiative, the first of the Grand Challenges initiatives to be funded at Indiana University.
In addition to leadership from the School of Medicine, the Precision Health Initiative draws on expertise especially from our outstanding faculty in the School of Nursing, the Fairbanks School of Public Health, and other key areas at IUPUI and at IU Bloomington.
One of its goals—to cure at least one cancer.
This is a lofty goal that will require the collective work of many of our finest faculty members, but we are already well positioned to succeed.
The School of Nursing as a Center for Research Excellence
Today’s celebration identifies convincing evidence of the likelihood that we will succeed.
As one of the nation’s largest schools of nursing, the School of Nursing here at IUPUI is a center for collaborative, interdisciplinary research, with an impressive concentration of experts focusing on cancer research.
Their research ranges from early stage screening and diagnosis to end-of- life care and so will play an especially important role in the Precision Health Initiative, which takes a comprehensive approach to understanding the factors that contribute to health.
The success of any bold project depends on the people involved, and we are incredibly fortunate to have outstanding faculty researchers in the School of Nursing and beyond.
Let me say a special word of thanks and congratulations to Vickie Champion whose work we are celebrating this evening.
Vickie, I know more will be said about you later in the program.
I just want to offer you my personal thanks for all that you have done for cancer research, for the profession of nursing, and for our campus.
I’m proud to call you a colleague and a friend.
With outstanding researchers like Vickie Champion and so many others, IUPUI is ideally positioned to encourage the innovation and collaboration it will take to cure cancer.
The School of Nursing here at IUPUI is a center for collaborative, interdisciplinary research, with an impressive concentration of experts focusing on cancer research.
Chancellor Nasser H. Paydar
Conclusion: Rewriting the Story of Cancer
This is so important because it’s so personal.
Every person in this room has had an experience with cancer.
If you haven’t been diagnosed yourself, you know someone who has.
You know the story of how the disease progresses and how it can become the center of gravity within people’s lives.
I’m grateful to Vickie Champion and all of our researchers in the School of Nursing for helping to rewrite that story.
Thank you very much.