LETTER FROM THE LEADERSHIP

Dear Colleagues,

UC Davis' new Genome and Biomedical Sciences Building, next to the School of Medicine's Tupper Hall, marks the beginning of a new era in cross-discipline, life-sciences research. In this issue of UC Davis Medicine, we take a look at the impact this facility will have in enhancing the university's ability to advance medicine.

The facility brings together biologists, engineers, computer scientists and medical researchers in human health, agriculture and the environment to promote interactions among the different basic life-sciences areas and provide core facilities in genomics and bioinformatics to researchers across the campus.

In this issue of the magazine, you will read about remarkable research under way in the new facility by members of the Department of Medical Pharmacology and Toxicology that promises new approaches to treating diseases, such as epilepsy and multiple sclerosis. A related story features the new director of the Genome Center and how his expertise in plant genetics is benefiting cancer research.

We also are emphasizing our clinical research through our new nationally designated General Clinical Research Center. Highlighted in this issue, the joint one-stop shop for clinical research for the UC Davis School of Medicine and the Sacramento Veterans Affairs Medical Center is now home to some 63 approved clinical studies.

You will also read about a new application of telemedicine — telerounds. One of our physicians, urologist Lars Ellison, is testing a 51/2-foot-tall robot that he can steer into a hospital room while he talks to post-operative patients from his office several blocks away.

Perhaps most significant in this issue is your introduction to our new vice chancellor for human health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine, Claire Pomeroy. Dr. Pomeroy officially takes the reins on February 1, 2005 and is clearly ready for the challenges that await her. We think you will find her, as we do, to be an engaging, dedicated and articulate leader who is well positioned to take UC Davis Health System to the next level.

Sincerely,