JOAN AND SANFORD I. WEILL MEDICAL COLLEGE AND

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF MEDICAL SCIENCES OF

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

GENERAL FACULTY COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting held January 14, 2002

Uris Faculty Room (A-126)

Present: Dr. Randi Silver, Dr. Marlin Mattson, Dr. William A. Muller, Dr. Stephen T. Chasen, Dr. Joseph T. Cooke, Dr. Harvey Goldberg, Dr. Philip Gutin, Dr. Michael Lockshin, Dr. Louis Maggio, Dr. Takashi Mikawa, Dr. Teresa Milner, Dr. Ellinor Peerschke, Dr. Kenneth Rifkind, Dr. Hugh D. Robertson, Dr. David A. Shapiro, Dr. Robert Snow, Dr. Suresh Tate and Dr. Michael Ushay. 

Also Present: Dr. Mark Albano, Dr. Daniel R. Alonso, Dr. Bruce L. Ballard, Ms. Joanne Blauer, Dr. Paula Brill, Dr. Frank A. Chervenak, Mr. Barry Duignan, Dr. Antonio M. Gotto, Jr., Dr. David P. Hajjar, Mr. James Kahn, Ms. Ellen Krasik, Dr. Alvin Mushlin, Mr. Cyrus Nozad, Ms. Carolyn Reid and Dr. Lisa Staiano-Coico.

Guests: Ms. Haava Idriss and Dr. Mark S. Lachs.

            

3:30pm:     Following the arrival of the non-voting members, Dr. Silver convened the meeting.

I.     ACTION ITEMS

1.               APPROVAL OF MINUTES.  The Council approved the minutes of its meeting held December 10, 2001.

II.     REPORT ITEMS

1.     CHAIRMAN’S REPORT.   Dr. Silver introduced to the Council Ching-Hwa Sung, Ph.D., the newly elected Basic Science Member-at-Large.  Dr. Sung, Associate Professor of Cell Biology in Ophthalmology and Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy, succeeds Dr. Robert Duvoisin and will serve a term ending on June 30, 2005. 

Dr. Silver reported that the GFC sponsored course on Obesity and Lipid Disorders has been both well received and attended.  She encouraged Council members to attend the upcoming final lectures to be presented by Gerard P. Smith, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, and Louis J. Aronne, M.D., Course Director and Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine.  Dr. Silver thanked Dr. Gotto for his excellent lecture in December.

Dr. Silver congratulated Dr. Gotto for the announcement of the Medical College capital campaign on January 8, 2002.

2.     ESTABLISHMENT OF A DEPARTMENT OF GENETIC MEDICINE.  Dr. Gotto requested and the Council approved the establishment of a Department of Genetic Medicine at the Medical College.

The Department of Genetic Medicine will be a basic science department that will foster the growth and development of genetic medicine programs at the Medical College, including basic and applied research programs directed toward strategies for understanding and modifying gene expression for the treatment and/or prevention of human disease.  The basic research program will focus on defining and understanding the genetic repertoire directed toward specific biological processes.  The applied research programs will include the evaluation of these strategies in experimental animals. 

The effective date for the establishment of the Department will be the date that its first chairman is nominated and approved.  The Institute of Genetic Medicine will exist as a unit in the Department and its Director will report to the Chairman of the Department.  The Institute will continue to occupy its current space.  Faculty and staff with primary appointments in the Institute of Genetic Medicine will have their primary appointments transferred to the Department of Genetic Medicine and the Department will have appropriate representation on the Medical College Executive and General Faculty Councils.

Dr. Gotto emphasized the positive effect departmental status would bring to genetic medicine initiatives and the basic sciences as a whole at WMC.

3.               AFFILIATION AGREEMENT.  Dr. Mark S. Lachs, Co-Director of the Center for Aging Research and Clinical Care and Associate Professor of Medicine, presented and the Council approved a revised affiliation agreement with the Amsterdam Nursing Home (ANH).  Dr. Lachs presented on behalf of Dr. Oliver Fein, Associate Dean (Network Affairs), who was unable to attend the meeting.

ANH is a 409-bed, non-profit skilled nursing facility located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that provides traditional long-term care as well as sub-acute programs, and also operates an adult day care program.  In 1993, ANH entered into an affiliation agreement with the Medical College and the Hospital and has since become an important site for patient care, teaching and the development of programs of the WMC Division of Geriatrics. 

WMC faculty members, including those in the Psychiatry Service of the Westchester Division, provide most specialty services at ANH, and ANH transfers many patients to NYPH for hospitalization.  Additionally, ANH has become an important site for student research.  All WMC students awarded a summer grant from the American Federation for Aging Research conduct their research at ANH.  Additionally, the $2 million grant from the Reynolds Foundation to support geriatric medicine at the Medical College will increase student opportunities for research at ANH.  Programs to include medical residents in ANH programs and to teach a section of the Physical Diagnosis Course for second year Weill-Cornell medical students at ANH are in development.

Changes and additions to the Agreement signed with ANH in 1993 include: a clause stating that this shall be ANH’s principal affiliation agreement with a medical school and hospital; a requirement that the ANH Medical Director have a WMC faculty appointment; a requirement that the Chief of the Division of Geriatrics at WMC serve on the Search Committee for the ANH Medical Director; the designation of the ANH Medical Director as the ANH individual empowered to nominate ANH medical staff for WMC faculty appointments; the stipulation that future joint clinical programs be developed through the NYPH geriatric service line; changes to the organization of the patient transfer procedures; the requirement of adherence to quality standards adopted by the NYP Healthcare System; and a termination clause should the ANH Medical Director not have a WMC faculty appointment.

4.   WEILL CORNELL MEDICAL COLLEGE-QATAR.  Dr. Daniel R. Alonso, Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar (WCMC-Q), and Ms. Haava Idriss, Vice Dean for Administration of WCMC-Q, presented an update on planning for the Medical College in Qatar. 

Ms. Idriss reported that the first meeting of the Joint Advisory Board for WCMC-Q occurred in London on December 9, 2001.  Dr. Gotto, Mr. Steven P. Rosalie, Associate Provost; Mr. James Mingle, Cornell University Counsel; and Overseer Barbara B. Friedman represented Cornell University on the Board, and were joined by four members of the Qatar Foundation.  At the meeting, the Joint Advisory Board approved its by-laws and elected Dr. Gotto as Chairman for a period of two years.  The Joint Advisory Board also elected two external members: Jordan J. Cohen, M.D., President of the Association of American Medical Colleges, and Sir Christopher Paine, D.M., former Clinical Dean of Oxford University Medical School and President of the British Medical Society.  The Board will meet again on April 1, 2002 in London, and October 6, 2002 in Doha, Qatar.

Ms. Idriss reported that the seven faculty members necessary to staff the first year of the pre-medical program have been identified and have verbal agreements with WCMC-Q.  Four of these are current Cornell University faculty members and the remaining three have all had teaching and/or research experience at Cornell University in the past.  These faculty members are expected to relocate to Qatar beginning in May 2002.  Ms. Idriss and her administrative staff will relocate to Qatar beginning in February 2002 and Dr. Alonso will relocate in April 2002.  The program will occupy a temporary facility until the permanent facility is available in the Summer of 2003.  

Dr. Alonso reported on strategies for recruiting students for the pre-medical program.  He estimates that of the 35 Qatari nationals who matriculate at medical schools abroad every year, roughly half of these would qualify for admission to WCMC-Q.  Many of these and other students will be identified through the Academic Bridge Program.  Organized by a consortium of Texas Colleges, the Bridge Program is a one-year program that provides Qatari students with intensive courses in science and computer skills conducted in English.  Students in the Biological Science Program at Qatar University are also being recruited.  The WCMC-Q website will be expanded in an effort to familiarize more students and educators in the region with the pre-medical program.  Additionally, WCMC-Q will host a symposium in March 2002, funded by the Qatar Foundation, to communicate the mission and programs of WCMC-Q to students and educators in the Gulf region.  Dr. Alonso noted that although the desired class size for the program is 50 students, there could be fewer students in the first class, depending on the availability of qualified individuals. 

     Dr. Alonso concluded his presentation with architectural renderings of the permanent facilities under construction in Education City in Qatar.

     In response to a question, Dr. Alonso noted that the pre-medical program is a non-degree-granting program that offers transferable credit from Cornell University and the Medical School is a degree-granting program whose curriculum will largely resemble that of WMC.  Additionally, he noted that recruitment of faculty for the second-year of the pre-medical program has not yet begun.

     Qatar has accepted all of the policies and principles of Cornell University, including those that guarantee the right of admission regardless of nationality, race, ethnicity or gender.  Dr. Gotto reported on the Emir’s visit to New York City after the events of September 11, 2001, during which he donated one million dollars to the NewYork Weill Cornell Burn Center, and two million dollars to World Trade Center disaster relief funds, noting that the Emir was the only leader of an Arab State to visit the disaster site. 

5.     DEAN’S REPORT.  Dr. Gotto reported that negotiations are in the final stages with candidates for the Chairmanship of the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, and the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, and that he hopes to bring recommendations for approval to the Faculty Councils’ next meetings.  Negotiations also continue with candidates for the Chairmanship of the Department of Pediatrics.

 

     Dr. Gotto reported that the capital campaign for Phase II of the Strategic Plan was announced at a press conference on January 8, 2002.  The Medical College goal is to raise $750 million over five years.  It was announced that the Campaign has already raised $332 million, including a donation of $100 million from Mrs. Joan and Mr. Sanford I. Weill, Chairman of the Board of Overseers of WMC, and a donation of $50 million from Mrs. Corinne and Mr. Maurice R. Greenberg, a member of the Board of Overseers.  Mayor Michael Bloomberg participated in the press conference.

     Dr. Gotto reported that he has accepted the University’s offer to serve for an additional five years as the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of the Medical College and Provost for Medical Affairs.  The Council expressed its gratitude to Dr. Gotto.

6.   ADJOURNMENT.  The meeting was adjourned at 4:30pm.