Every day, health professionals strive to conquer diseases and improve our health by discovering new treatments and cures. Health-related research not only enhances the quality and delivery of health care but also offers people increased opportunities to pursue health education and careers, ultimately benefiting society at large.
To foster health sciences research at UC Riverside, partner with the external health community and serve a medically underserved Inland Empire, the university is launching the Health Sciences Research Institute. The HSRI aims to strengthen and focus research and graduate education in the biomedical and health sciences on campus and stimulate interdisciplinary collaboration with the private sector.
Purpose and Vision
The HSRI will bring together researchers from all sectors of health research to help produce ground-breaking discoveries in biomedical/health research. The HSRI will transfer new knowledge and treatments into the community in an effort to improve our understanding of health issues. The new Institute also will facilitate a dialogue with academics and the external health community on health-related issues and discoveries.
The HSRI's vision includes having a successful and internationally respected medical school that would attract strong clinical researchers and offer unique health-related graduate and professional programs in health. UCR already has a long and strong tradition of medical education via the UCR/UCLA Thomas Haider Program in Biomedical Sciences, which currently offers, at UCR, the first two years of medical school. UCR is seeking to expand this program into a full-scale, four-year medical school.
Building Upon UCR's Strengths
Through the HSRI, the university is making a major investment of resources in the recruitment of biomedical/health sciences faculty and building upon the university's strengths in the biological, agricultural, physical and socio-behavioral sciences. The Institute will help faculty members and departments in these areas to engage more effectively with new frontiers of biomedical and health sciences research.
In enhancing the national visibility of biomedical and health sciences research and graduate education at UCR, the HSRI also will:
- increase the number of faculty, postdoctoral researchers and graduate students doing research in these fields
- facilitate interactions among faculty and graduate students in cognate departments across campus, and
- provide central facilities and meeting spaces for these activities.
Interdisciplinary Focus
The HSRI will form the core of biomedical research, involving faculty from all over campus and covering a vast array of disciplines. Graduate training will be the centerpiece of the HSRI's mission, an early goal being the strengthening of existing programs to build enrollment and quality. Currently, the Institute is developing a program with guidance from national and international scientists. It is partnering, too, with UCR graduate and departmental seminar programs in supporting a high quality invited speaker series. The seminar series, which offers a direction on what will constitute the HSRI's focus, encompasses the breadth of biomedical and health sciences research at UCR.
Location
For a permanent home for the HSRI, the campus will plan and seek funding for space and facilities in conjunction with related developments of the proposed four-year medical school at UCR. In the meantime, the campus will provide space for offices, laboratories, core facilities and meeting rooms in existing buildings or in new space suitable for the recruitment and retention of both a nationally prominent director and faculty with vigorous, well-funded research programs.
Preliminary Plan and Mission Statement
A 20-member faculty committee, chaired by Michael Adams, professor of entomology, produced a report in February 2005 that included a preliminary plan and mission statement for the HSRI.
Consultation with the Divisional Academic Senate is taking place regarding a Guiding Plan for Establishment and Initial Operation of the HSRI (draft); the Guiding Plan is based on the February 2005 report.