Background

The development of an innovative health sciences research and education initiative is critical for the continued economic development of the life sciences community across the state and the region, the strength of the statewide infrastructure and the health of all Delawareans.

Four major institutions - the University of Delaware (UD), Christiana Care Health System (CCHS), Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children/Nemours (Nemours), and Thomas Jefferson University--Jefferson Medical College, Jefferson College of Graduate Studies, Jefferson School of Health Professions, Jefferson School of Nursing, Jefferson School of Pharmacy, Jefferson School of Population Health (TJU) - are aligning their resources and efforts to create a unique, broad-based Delaware Health Sciences Alliance, focused on establishing innovative collaborations among experts in medical practice, health economics and policy, population sciences, public health, and biomedical sciences and engineering.

All four institutions are located within Greater Philadelphia, one of the nation’s leading life science regions. Over 400 locally-based life sciences companies, with 55,900 core, highly-skilled life-science employees and 310,000 support workers, make life sciences the #1 employer in the region.

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Building on a Common Vision

The Health Sciences Alliance builds on a common vision for the need to provide the finest health care education, cutting-edge, interdisciplinary clinical and translational research and an understanding of the success of new models and methods of healthcare delivery through comprehensive analysis of basic biomedical research, translational and clinical studies, epidemiology and outcomes research.

The Alliance partner institutions have successfully collaborated in over 100 areas, with individual projects ranging from medical student and resident education, cancer and cardiovascular research, nursing and health professions practitioner training, to research infrastructure development and industrial collaboration. Examples include: Nemours is the Department of Pediatrics for JMC; CCHS teaches over 100 JMC medical students in clinical rotations each year; through the Delaware Institute for Medical Education and Research (DIMER) and the UD Medical Scholars program, Delaware residents have preferred admission to JMC; students in the new TJU School of Pharmacy will spend three years at UD and followed by four years at TJU to receive the education required for the PharmD degree; occupational therapy students can spend three years at UD earning a bachelor’s degree and complete their MS at TJU in two more years; and, through the NIH-IDeA INBRE and COBRE grants, over $100 million in research and education infrastructure funds have been secured since 2000 by these institutions for Delaware.

A New Level of Cooperation

To strengthen the Alliance, two new interdisciplinary and inter-institutional centers will be established, building on a shared infrastructure and new level of cooperation to stimulate increased and comprehensive growth - the Delaware Center for Cancer Biology and the Delaware Cardiovascular Research Center.

Taken together, these initiatives will enable Delaware to develop enhanced professional health education focused on the state’s needs and enhanced research in areas important to the region, especially in cancer and cardiovascular disease. The short-term results will be more jobs and increased business opportunities in Delaware. In the longer term, these efforts will lead to improved health for citizens in the Delaware Valley.

RECENT PRESS

Health experts to address issues in education, research, practice
January 26, 2012--DHSA will hold its inaugural Global Health Symposium on Saturday, Feb. 4 at CCHS. The program will focus on education, research and practice, with presentations on topics ranging from refugee health clinics and relief medicine to anthropological approaches to the study of global health.
Christiana Care issues a call to men to prevent domestic violence
January 24, 2012--Christiana Care, a National Community Center of Excellence in Women's Health, has been working for years to help women who are victims of domestic violence at an annual event that offers resources, education and support.
After Holiday Eating Marathon, Jefferson Dietitian Offers 10 Tips to Get Back on Track and Kick Start New Year's Weight Loss Resolution
January 4, 2012--Celebrating the New Year goes hand-in-hand with creating resolutions to get healthy and trim - especially after weeks of holiday marathon eating. Dietitian Emily Rubin, R.D., L.D., with the Division of Gastroenterology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, says you can stay committed to being healthy and fit by following these 10 tips.
Procedure saves teen after rare carotid trauma
January 4, 2012--Neurointerventionalist Gregg Zoarski, M.D.'s recent surgical grand rounds lecture on carotid artery injuries focused on how to repair traumatic injuries to these vital vessels that supply blood to the brain.
Medical students delighted with Delaware branch campus Christiana Care is participating in Jefferson Medical College’s Delaware Branch Campus program, underscoring the transformative role the health system plays in medical education.
December 23, 2011--This achievement specifically spotlights our core competency in providing clinical education to third- and fourth-year medical students. Christiana Care has a long-standing relationship in providing first-rate medical education to students from Jefferson, one of the country's top-rated medical collleges.
Healthy Kids Delaware (HKD) Network celebrated its one-year anniversary earlier this month.
December 22, 2011--Earlier this month the Healthy Kids Delaware (HKD) network celebrated its one-year anniversary. The Healthy Kids Delaware network has been working to address health and wellness needs of children throughout New Castle County.
Interprofessional Care for the 21st Century: Redefining Education and Practice
December 14, 2011--Registration is now open for Jefferson InterProfessional Education Center's (JCIPE) 2012 conference: Interprofessional Care for the 21st Century: Redefining Education and Practice. The conference will be held on May 18-19, 2012 at Dorrance H. Hamilton Building, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA. The purpose of this conference is to showcase scholarly work and works in progress advancing interprofessional education and/or practice. This conference reflects on innovative implementation and evaluation strategies of the interprofessional competencies.
Nemours participates in Partnership for a Healthier America Summit
December 8, 2011--The Partnership, of which Nemours is a founding member, has a mission of supporting First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign by working with the private sector to fight childhood obesity. The theme that emerged at the summit, a gathering of leaders from business and industry, academia, nonprofits and government, was: "Make the healthy choice the easy choice."
DHSA plans workshop on collaborative education for clinicians and scientists
December 8, 2011--DHSA will host "Creating Clinical and Research Teams for the Future: Workshop on Collaborative Education for Clinicians and Scientists" on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, at the Ammon Education Center of Christiana Hospital. This workshop focuses on developing skills to write educational grants. The program will include information on how to obtain educational grant funding, set goals and evaluate an educational program, and develop an application for the DHSA Education Pilot Award.