http://nobelprize.org/

http://www.gatesfoundation.org

http://www.capacityproject.org/

Tufts University - Index

Tufts University - Medical/Sackler Case Statement Tufts University - Index

rEsEarch
and discovEry
TUSM nurtures discovery. Dr. Roderick
MacKinnon, a 1982 medical school
graduate, was awarded the Nobel Prize
in Chemistry in 2003 for research on
the electrical impulses that underlie all
movement, sensation, and thought. Research
by Tufts physicist Alan Cormack
led to the development of the CAT
scan; he shared the 1979 Nobel Prize
in Medicine for his contribution. The
development of immunosuppressive
drugs by Tufts researchers Dr. Robert
Schwartz and Dr. William Dameshek in
1959 made organ transplants possible.
Remarkable discoveries continue to
be made at TUSM. Dr. Diana Bianchi
and her team have found that fetal
cells remaining in a woman’s body after
delivery may provide clues to repairing
diseased or injured tissues. Andrew
Camilli is collaborating on a project
funded by the Gates Foundation to
create a needle-free vaccine for bacterial
pneumonia in newborn babies.
Bioengineering technology originated at
TUSM may enable patients to grow back
the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in
the knee and in the rotator cuff — great
news for hundreds of thousands of
people who require surgery each year for
injuries to these tendons and ligaments.
mErging disciplinEs and
Engaging thE world
Advances in such areas as genetics and molecular and cellular biology
are diminishing the traditional boundaries between disciplines and
increasing the interface between basic and clinical science. In addition,
international responses to health care are critical; we must now
measure our effectiveness by how well our graduates and researchers
collaborate across borders in service to people around the world. We
see a national imperative to train highly qualified and compassionate
physicians to address the needs of an aging population.
TUSM is well positioned to take on these complex challenges.
Our graduates are rigorously trained professionals who have honed
their skills in a collegial environment where basic scientists and
clinicians translate new discoveries into better treatment for patients.
Our global perspective brings answers and hope to people around
the world with health problems long considered intractable.
Pictured above: Kadesha Thomas, MPH07, spent the summer of 2006
in Zanzibar doing research for The Capacity Project, a USAID-funded
initiative aimed at providing immediate relief to the island nation’s
overburdened healthcare workforce.
International responses to health care are
increasingly critical, and our graduates and
researchers are highly qualified to respond.