Council to advance health sciences at Penn State

Penn State President Graham B. Spanier has announced the formation of the University Health Sciences Council. The council, which will build on the work of the Health Sciences 20/20 team, will be responsible for developing, recommending and promoting initiatives across the University to advance health sciences education, research, service and outreach.

"Penn State has many highly regarded programs in the health sciences, and in a wide range of other disciplines," Spanier said. "A critical theme in the Health Science 20/20 report is the 'potential for integration of the physical, life, social, engineering, management and information sciences to identify and develop improvements in health systems, health policy, health-care organizations, health professions, health-care treatments, and health and medical devices.' By enhancing interactions among these disciplines, we can promote the development of new synergies. As a result, we will be positioned to define new paradigms in education, research and service, as well as advancing our clinical programs."

The council, which will be chaired by Harold L. Paz, senior vice president for health affairs, dean of the College of Medicine and chief executive officer of Penn State Hershey Medical Center, will begin its work immediately, making recommendations on initiatives that are required to fulfill the vision of advancing the health sciences at the University.

The council will:

-- Develop a health sciences strategic plan for Penn State with measurable goals and objectives which identifies necessary steps, responsible individuals and specific timelines.

-- Recommend areas for investment of resources to advance the University in its health sciences education, research, service and outreach missions.

-- Identify and recommend opportunities for alignment of campuses, colleges, schools, programs and institutes to create new synergies for Penn State to optimize the use of existing resources.

-- Collect and disseminate information on health science programs that benchmarks Penn State against its peers.

-- Foster a culture of collaboration at Penn State in the health sciences.

"Pennsylvania and the nation face many present and future health-care challenges including cost, quality and access. These challenges are driven in part by the changing demographics of the population that is aging and increasingly diverse," Spanier said. "Penn State must provide leadership for interdisciplinary health professions education to address workforce needs; research that links the laboratory bench to the patient bedside and incorporates broad-based disciplines in the natural and social sciences, humanities and arts; and a spectrum of health-care programs across the region that result in improved health status for all those served by the University."

Along with Paz, the council members are: Nan Crouter, director of the Social Science Research Institute and director of the Children, Youth and Families Consortium; William E. Easterling, director of the Institute of the Environment; Davie Jane Gilmour, president of Penn College; Madlyn L. Hanes, chancellor of Penn State Harrisburg; Peter Hudson, director of the Huck Institute of the Life Sciences; Daniel J. Larson, dean of the Eberly College of Science; Paula Milone-Nuzzo, director of the School of Nursing; Carlo Pantano, director of the Materials Research Institute; Robert D. Steele, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences; Fred W. Vondracek, interim dean of the College of Health and Human Development; Susan Welch, dean of the College of the Liberal Arts; and David N. Wormley, dean of the College of Engineering.