I’m sure you’re all keeping up with the news surrounding the ongoing outbreak of novel coronavirus infection. As cases continue to rapidly increase in China and are seen globally, it is likely that we’ll see additional cases here in the United States. I want to reassure you that Emory Healthcare is diligently monitoring the situation and that we are well prepared to handle it if the need arises in Atlanta or elsewhere in Georgia.

Our superb frontline staff have protocols in place to ensure that we identify, isolate, and appropriately treat any patients who present to Emory Healthcare, while at the same time keeping our other patients and our staff safe. We also have in place one of the world’s pre-eminent infectious disease teams, whose expertise has shaped the world’s understanding and treatment of emerging threats such as zika and Ebola, among others.

This situation is rapidly developing, and the Emory Healthcare team and I will keep you updated as relevant changes occur. In the meantime, please share my confidence that we are well prepared and that we stand ready to help wherever and whenever we are needed.

Please direct questions and comments to evphafeedback@emory.edu.

Jonathan S. Lewin, MD, FACR
Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, Emory University
Executive Director, Woodruff Health Sciences Center
CEO, President, and Chairman of the Board, Emory Healthcare

Last month we broke ground for Health Sciences Research Building II (HSRB II), which will be built on Haygood Drive beside its sister facility. Plans for HSRB II include six stories above ground and two stories below ground, offering more than 346,000 square feet of dedicated research space for imaging sciences, biomedical engineering, cardiovascular medicine, child health including cancer, adult cancer, inflammation, immunity and immunotherapeutics, emerging infections and other cutting-edge interdisciplinary research programs.

The new facility will be funded in part from a generous $400 million gift from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, with $200 million of that gift directed for biomedical research. The additional $200 million will help build Emory’s newest cancer facility, Winship at Midtown, which broke ground in November at Emory University Hospital Midtown. Read more.

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) is awarding approximately $37 million over five years to a team of international researchers, led by Emory, to help accelerate the development of promising new therapies that will effectively treat or prevent Alzheimer’s disease. The grant is part of a larger $73 million-dollar program by NIA to establish the Alzheimer’s Centers for the Discovery of New Medicines, two new research centers designed to diversify and reinvigorate the Alzheimer’s disease drug development pipeline.

Through these centers, NIH will expand the use of open-science and open-source principles to de-risk novel drug targets with the goal of facilitating the development of new treatments for Alzheimer’s. “Given the widespread aging of the U.S. baby boomer population, and current unsuccessful treatment approaches . . . . this substantial investment by NIA answers a critical and time-sensitive need for a diverse portfolio of well characterized new therapeutic and diagnostic targets for Alzheimer's disease,” says Allan Levey, director of the Goizueta Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Read more.

Emory University has also been tapped by the The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to lead a new effort aimed at developing vaccines and other therapies to combat infectious diseases. Emory is leading eight academic institutions that will form the new Infectious Diseases (ID) Clinical Research Consortium Leadership Group. The group will also include a national and global network of collaborators and scientific experts.

David Stephens, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine and vice president for research of WHSC, will serve as the ID leadership group’s principal investigator along with Kathleen Neuzil, MD, professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

“Emory has established itself as the nation’s leader in vaccines and therapeutic treatments for infectious diseases,” says Stephens. “Our journey to this leadership group began several years ago with investments in infectious diseases research and faculty, and the development of Emory Vaccine Center. This new network of expertise and resources allows us to diversify the approaches to prevent, treat and evaluate infectious diseases, not only nationally but also on a global scale.” Read more.

A new book about Emory Clinic history: To the Ultimate Good: A History of the Emory Clinic, Early Years through 1994, recently hit the shelves. The book traces the history of the Emory Clinic, beginning with the initial gift in the 1930s from the legendary chairman of The Coca-Cola Company and philanthropist Robert W. Woodruff. Copies are available for purchase at the Emory Barnes and Noble Bookstore or online via the Bookhouse Group, Inc.

Molly Bachtel, assistant professor of nursing, will receive the 2020 American Association of Nurse Practitioners Advocate State Award for Excellence from Georgia.

Dimitri Cassimatis, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology, has been named the Martha West Looney Chief of Medicine at EUH Midtown.

Alexander Isakov, executive director of Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response, recieved the President’s Award from the National Assoc of EMS Physicians.

Wilbur Lam, associate professor of Emory+Children’s Pediatric Research Center, was named the inaugural W. Paul Bowers Research Chair by the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center.

Joellen Schildkraut, a leader in women's cancer research, joined Emory University's earlier this month. She is a professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Rollins and member of Winship's Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program.