120 Years 1893 - 2013 Our Living Legacy: HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES 2013 ANNUAL REPORT & HONOR ROLL www.mcw.edu Dear Friends and Colleagues In 2013, we celebrated the 120th anniversary of the Medical College of Wisconsin. Our origin dates to 1893 with the establishment of the Wisconsin College of Physicians and Surgeons. It was the vision of our founders to educate physicians and scientists who would go forth to meet the health needs of the growing population and raise the standard of medical care in Wisconsin communities and beyond. Throughout its history, this institution has served as a prime force for improving the level of health in our community and state. Our legacy can be measured in the thousands of doctors and scientists taught and trained here, and in more than 200 significant research discoveries made by faculty that have improved medical capabilities. But ultimately our legacy is told in the countless people restored to healthier lives. From the roots planted 120 years ago, MCW has grown into a nationally recognized leader in education, research, clinical Jon D. Hammes (Far right) care, and community engagement. Our work today and the Chairman, Board of Trustees, Medical College of Wisconsin actions we set in motion now will affect the health and lives of generations ahead. In this Report, we honor our anniversary by highlighting stories that connect our past and future and carry John R. Raymond, Sr., MD (Center) forward our legacy of creating healthier communities. President and Chief Executive Officer At every major turning point in the College’s history, our community, our donors, and our state have stepped forward Joseph E. Kerschner, MD (Second from right) with tremendous support, underscoring their belief that this Dean of the Medical School and Executive Vice President institution and medical center are vital to the health of the citizens. We thank you for making our advances possible. In particular, we recognize our largest donor, the MACC Fund Ravi P. Misra, PhD (Far left) Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer, Inc.), which has contributed more than $35 million to MCW since 1976, more than a quarter of our history, for pediatric cancer and G. Allen Bolton, Jr., MPH, MBA (Second from left) blood disorders research. Together, we will continue to build Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer healthier communities for generations to come. MEDICAL COLLEGE OF WISCONSIN Dear Friends and Colleagues MEDICAL EDUCATION EXPANSION WILL LEAD TO HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES Building a living legacy of healthy communities for Wisconsin requires understanding MILESTONES future needs. Responding to a projected statewide shortage of 2,000 physicians over the next 20 years, the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) is expanding its Identify community 2012 partners medical education program into new regions of the state. Working with partners in Green Bay and Central Wisconsin, MCW is developing an Spring & State of WI Building innovative community-based program designed to educate and train more physicians Summer Commission who will remain in Northeast and Central Wisconsin to practice. Target start dates for 2013 Approves Funds the first class of medical students are summer 2015 for the Green Bay campus and summer 2016 for the Central Wisconsin campus. Submit Green Bay campus expansion From day one, planning has included many partners. Community Advisory Boards applications to and other stakeholders in each region provide ideas and feedback that are priming accrediting bodies Fall these programs for success and sustainability. Engage partners for 2013 faculty recruitment Through collaboration, start-up expenses are greatly reduced by sharing existing and development facilities and resources. The programs are structured to reduce student debt and allow Begin residency quicker entry into the workforce. During the course of their immersive curriculum, slot expansion students will be engaged at sites throughout communities in their respective regions. For the Green Bay campus, academic components will be housed at St. Norbert Spring Begin student College in DePere (administrative, classroom and anatomy laboratory spaces), where 2014 recruitment construction is underway on St. Norbert’s new Gehl-Mulva Science Center, and at Bellin College in Green Bay (simulation and clinical skills laboratory spaces). Faculty Submit Central members from Bellin College, St. Norbert College and UW-Green Bay will teach in Fall Wisconsin campus the program. Clinical rotations will be at Aurora BayCare Medical Center, Bellin Health expansion 2014 applications to and Prevea Health, Milo C. Huempfner VA Outpatient Clinic, as well as St. Mary’s accrediting bodies Hospital and St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay. In Central Wisconsin, administrative spaces and classrooms will be housed in facilities Summer Target date for first class of students in at Aspirus Wausau Hospital, and Northcentral Technical College in Wausau will 2015 Green Bay share anatomy and simulation and clinical skills laboratory space. Medical students will train in hospitals and clinics owned by Aspirus, Marshfield Clinic, Ministry Summer Target date for first Health Care and Riverview Hospital Association during their early clinical experiences class of students in and rotations. They will engage with faculty and students from Northcentral Technical 2016 Central Wisconsin College, UW-Marathon County, UW-Marshfield/Wood County and UW-Stevens Point throughout the course of their study. Subscribe to Connections, The future students of these programs embody the legacy MCW continues to build in the bimonthly e-newsletter for Wisconsin. History will measure this work over generations by the lives touched and the regional medical education the health of people preserved. campuses, at mcw.edu/connections. 2013 ANNUAL REPORT & HONOR ROLL 1 PATIENT CARE PATIENT Our Living Legacy: IMPROVING HEALTH THROUGH PATIENT CARE For an appointment with an MCW eye physician, or to make a gift Christopher Lechner (right) received laser eye that supports vision research at MCW, call 414-955-2020. surgery under the care of Dr. Thomas Connor (center) at the Froedtert & the Medical College Read more about MCW’s Advanced Ocular Imaging Program at of Wisconsin Eye Institute. The pioneering mcw.edu/AOIP research of Dr. Alfredo Dubra (left) aims to make possible early detection and prevention Read more about clinical trials at MCW at mcw.edu/mcwclinical trials of diabetic eye disease. and specifically cancer clinical trials at mcw.edu/cancerclinicaltrials 2 MEDICAL COLLEGE OF WISCONSIN A landmark advance in diabetic eye treatment more than three decades ago has improved vision dramatically for thousands of patients ever since. Today, vision research at the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Eye Institute seeks to redefine success by actually preventing retinal eye disease. Pioneering eye care benefits generations More than 35 years ago, Ida Teichmiller was treated by Medical College of Wisconsin physicians at the With your support, Eye Institute as part of a national clinical trial evaluating laser surgery as a new treatment for diabetic eye MCW continues to disease. Ida was in her 70s and nearly blind from complications of diabetes. The treatment succeeded. lead advancements The laser surgery restored partial vision to Ida; she could see her family and read again for the rest of in research and her life. More than that, the clinical trials nationwide proved the effectiveness of the treatment, which patient care. remains the standard of care to this day. Now, four generations later, the legacy of the clinical trial and Ida’s participation has benefited thousands of patients worldwide, including Ida’s own great-grandson, Christopher Lechner. Diagnosed with diabetes at age 11, Christopher began experiencing vision problems in his 20s, to the point where he had to stop driving, leave school, and halt his career goal of auto mechanics. Under the care of Thomas Connor, MD, at the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Eye Institute, Christopher received specialized treatment, including laser surgery, which has advanced since his great- grandmother’s day. Now 25, Christopher’s vision is restored and stabilized; his life is back on track. Diabetes can damage the blood vessels in the retina, a condition known as diabetic retinopathy, which can lead to blindness. “The clinical trials of three decades ago were a game changer,” said Dr. Connor. “Before then, nothing could be done for diabetic vision loss.” Today’s pioneering research by MCW vision scientists holds far-ranging potential for the ultimate goal: actually preventing eye disease. MCW’s Advanced Ocular Imaging Program is a world leader for inventing technology to non-invasively view the living cells in a person’s retina. The team, co-directed by Joseph Carroll, PhD, and Alfredo Dubra, PhD, has developed novel methods for visualizing the retinal photoreceptors and vasculature in vivo with unprecedented microscopic detail. Their work aims to detect the earliest changes in a patient’s retinal cells, signaling the start of disease long before symptoms appear, to make prevention possible. Dr. Dubra’s studies are searching for early bio-markers of eye diseases, including diabetic retinopathy. The Eye Institute is one of only a handful of places in the U.S. with this equipment and expertise, and patients of MCW eye specialists have benefited already. Clinical trials at MCW and nationally continue to