Medical care in the United States and around the world is facing a crisis. Finding therapies for the chronic diseases that threaten the developed world's aging population, taming cost increases and improving outcomes of U.S. medical care, and devising strategies for cost-effective care in the developing world—these are formidable challenges. Just as Stanford is undertaking other global initiatives, it is positioning itself to be a greater force for better medical care.
Four years ago, we celebrated Stanford Medicine's centennial: 100 years of pioneering breakthroughs. But we must do more, both for our local community and for those around the world who depend on our discoveries. For Stanford, the key is pursuing a multidisciplinary strategy in basic research in the lab, in clinical care at the bedside, and in translating discoveries into cures.
The Jill and John Freidenrich Center for Translational Medicine at Stanford, dedicated on October 17, exemplifies our commitment to this effort. Researchers working on clinical trials, in partnership with the hospitals and clinics, are focused on swiftly converting laboratory breakthroughs into treatments. The delays in translating discoveries into therapies have been an increasingly frustrating problem for Americans. The Freidenrich Center has the potential to help speed the process of going from discovery to cure, from bench to bedside.
To further leverage strengths of the University and our medical programs, earlier this year we launched a three-year, $1 billion Campaign for Stanford Medicine. It will support the construction of a state-of-the-art hospital, greatly improving our ability to care for patients, and enable our clinical departments to develop the expertise and capability to lead in key areas such as cancer, heart and cardiovascular disease and neurological diseases.
We have been greatly assisted by the vision, energy and determination of Phil Pizzo, dean of Stanford's Medical School since 2001, who will step down this fall. Thanks to his leadership, Stanford Medicine is well prepared to extend its innovations in this century. On December 1, Dr. Lloyd B. Minor will be the school's new dean. The former provost of Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Minor is the third former provost named as dean of one of our schools—and we know he will be a great asset in helping us achieve the goals we have set for the campaign.
This landmark effort is already under way with the construction of the new Stanford Hospital and the expansion of the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. These hospitals offer vital patient care to the greater community, even as they serve as centers of teaching and research for the campus. But the facilities, particularly the existing Stanford Hospital, have not kept pace with advances in health care delivery. Indeed, we are still using parts of the original hospital, built in 1959, for patient care. We have one of the top medical schools in the country, served by some of the world's most renowned researchers and physicians, but they are working in facilities that cannot handle today's increased patient demands, new standards for reducing infections and other complications, increased requirements for seismic safety, or the technological needs of complex medical emergencies.
It is vital that we provide Stanford Medicine with the resources it needs. The new Stanford Hospital, currently under construction, is a beginning. The Campaign for Stanford Medicine will also provide essential investment in research and teaching. The activities funded through the campaign will benefit so many—our students and our faculty, the patients in our hospitals and clinics, and people worldwide who are in need of therapies and treatments not yet discovered.
John Hennessy was the president of Stanford University.
