Dr. Robert J. Alpern has been reappointed to a second five-year term as dean of the Yale School of Medicine, effective July 1, President Richard C. Levin has announced.
Alpern, who came to Yale in 2004, has helped lead the medical school through a period of growth and increased stature, noted Levin, who cited the dean for his leadership, his rapport with the medical school and hospital communities, and his achievements in the areas of recruitment and program development.
"Faculty and staff expressed enthusiastic support for Dean Alpern's reappointment, noting his accessibility and willingness to listen, his clear vision and the school's upward trajectory," Levin said in a message to the community. "He is valued for his pursuit and recruitment of faculty and staff leadership of the highest quality, and for his excellent judgment in deciding among scientific priorities. Dean Alpern has transformed the school's relationship with Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH), a profound change that will have a lasting impact on the school's clinical mission. He cares deeply about the school and is ambitious for its future success."
Alpern, a nephrologist and researcher who is also the Ensign Professor of Medicine, came to Yale from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, where he served as dean and, before that, chief of the division of nephrology. During his five years at Yale, Alpern has overseen an expansion of the medical school's research and clinical operations, the establishment of several key multidisciplinary programs and a large number of faculty recruitments.
Alpern notes that he focused early in his term on expanding the facilities available for research. The Amistad Building, originally planned as office space, was converted to a research building. The medical school also leased a large amount of space at 300 George St. that had already been converted for laboratory use by biotechnology companies, and Alpern has participated in the development of the University's new West Campus, which will be home to a number of new research institutes and core facilities.
The additional space has supported formation of the Yale Stem Cell Center, the Program in Cellular Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration and Repair, and the Human and Translational Immunology Program. Likewise, it has supported continued growth in areas where Yale is already known for its excellence, such as genetics, immunobiology and internal medicine.
One of the results of these investments has been a steady increase in grants and contracts to the school from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Since 2004, Yale has moved from eighth place to fifth place in the NIH ranking of medical schools. "However, it is important to emphasize that NIH dollars are not the end point," Alpern says, "but they do indicate the quality of the research and they indicate what your peers think about its value."
Alpern says he is most proud of the administrative team he has built and credits them for the success the school has experienced. Deputy Deans Dr. Richard Belitsky, Dr. David J. Leffell, Carolyn W. Slayman, Cynthia Walker and her predecessor, Jaclyne W. Boyden, all provided extraordinary leadership during his first term, Alpern says, as have Jancy L. Houck, director of medical development and alumni affairs, and Mary J. Hu, director of institutional planning and communications.
He also credits the "outstanding" work of the department chairs and faculty, and points to several key external recruitments to leadership positions - notably, James Rothman as chair of the Department of Cell Biology; Haifan Lin as director of the Yale Stem Cell Center; and Paul Cleary as chair and dean of public health - as well as nearly a dozen major internal recruitments for department and program leaders.
An equally important focus of his first term, says Alpern, was expansion of the clinical practice and the creation of centers of excellence and interdisciplinary programs. "The key thing for a school like Yale is to tie these efforts to the excellent science here through translational research," he notes. In 2006, the school competed successfully for a landmark grant under the first round of the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program. The $57 million CTSA grant - Yale's largest ever - has been critical in building infrastructure linking YSM's research base to the clinical practice, notes the dean.
One of the clinical initiatives is a new transplant program, with renowned liver and kidney components, headed by Dr. Sukru Emre. A new chief of cardiology, Dr. Michael Simons, arrived last summer and is building the section's strength in interventional cardiology, heart failure, electrophysiology and basic research. The 14-story Smilow Cancer Hospital is set to open in the fall, and on Feb. 25 Alpern announced the appointment of a new director for the Yale Cancer Center, Dr. Thomas J. Lynch Jr., from Harvard. (See related story, page 1.)
With this progress and the addition of a cancer biology institute planned for West Campus, Alpern says, Yale is poised to be a world leader in cancer.
"All of this progress has benefited from close collaboration with YNHH," says Alpern, who has worked very closely with Marna P. Borgstrom, president and chief executive officer of YNHH. "We've improved the relationship between the medical school and hospital in a way that makes both institutions better," notes the dean.
The medical school's educational program remains extraordinarily strong, Alpern says, and has been bolstered by the 2006 appointments of Belitsky as deputy dean for education and Dr. Laura R. Ment as associate dean of admissions.
The school launched a strategic planning process for medical education in 2008, focusing on innovation in teaching as well as reinforcement of the Yale system, the unique educational philosophy adopted in the 1920s. Yale continues to be one of the most selective medical schools in the nation, with a record 4,139 applications for the 100 places in the Class of 2012. The School of Medicine will celebrate its bicentennial in 2010.
Just as closer collaboration with YNHH has strengthened the entire clinical enterprise, excellent relations with the University leadership have paid major dividends across the entire Yale campus, Alpern says.
"Rick Levin made a commitment to science and medicine, which inspired me to come here, and he delivered," Alpern notes. "To take a school as good as Yale and make it better is exciting, and we've come a long way. The reason I've signed on for another five years is to continue that ascent."