Message from the Associate Dean and Director

At Boston University Medical Center, clinical and basic scientists along with graduate students are creating the foundation for 21st-century science.

From molecular biology to clinical trials, from computer models to pharmaceutical products, the research teams at the School of Medicine, Division of Graduate Medical Sciences, the School of Public Health, and the Goldman School of Dental Medicine are continually harnessing the technology of the future.

Boston University School of Medicine ranks between the 85th and 90th percentile nationally in research grants and contracts per faculty; the School ranks in the 90th percentile for ratio of basic science graduate students per basic science faculty. These superb indicators of strength in research resulted from a decision 20 years ago to expand vigorously a network of centers and institutes at our Center. The Boston University Medical Center Campus is now home to a Pulmonary Center, an Arthritis Center, a Cardiovascular Institute, a Cancer Center, a Center for Human Genetics, a Gerontology Center, a Center for Research in Women's Health, as well as the Mallory Institute of Pathology, the Thorndike Memorial Laboratory, the Maxwell Finland Laboratory for Infectious Diseases, and the Sloan Epidemiology Unit.

To accommodate the growth in these areas and in research emanating from the basic science departments, significant additions to the School's physical plant have been made. A new 35,000 square foot Dermatology Research Facility opened in 1991 at 609 Albany Street, and the Center for Advanced Biomedical Research, with 180,000 square feet of research space, was opened in 1994. In 1995, the state-of the-art McNary Learning Center was opened. It contains lecture halls, seminar rooms, and a highly sophisticated computerized teaching lab. A second research building adjacent to the Center for Advanced Biomedical Research is presently under construction and scheduled for completion in the Fall of 1999.

These new additions to research and teaching space will be fortified with an impressive modernization program of our existing research facilities. In 1995 the Housman Research Building was completely renovated. Renovations of the Evans Research Facility will be starting very shortly. The School of Public Health moved into new facilities last year. These changes will surely help to perpetuate an environment conducive to integrated inquiry between basic scientists and clinical investigators. Indeed, the prevalence of joint appointments between basic science and clinical departments attests to the high level of cooperation between clinical and basic scientists and clinicians in the conceptualization, discovery, and development of unusual research programs.

Our graduate programs at the Medical Center are evolving as a major force at the University and the medical school campus. There are approximately 500 students pursuing graduate degrees. Since 1993 the Schools of Medicine and Dentistry have been granted the right to confer graduate degrees from their respective Schools. At present they offer nine MA programs and eleven PhD programs. We would be delighted to answer any questions that may arise in your pursuit of a graduate program. Please feel free to contact my office for further assistance.

Carl Franzblau, PhD
Associate Dean and Director
Division of Graduate Medical Sciences

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