Much to celebrate

Each year, I have the wonderful opportunity to get together with the faculty, staff, and students of Emory's Woodruff Health Sciences Center (WHSC) to discuss the “State of the WHSC.” Together we reflect on the triumphs of the past year and focus our collective energy and will on the opportunities and challenges of the year ahead. In the past year, in spite of unprecedented external challenges, the people of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center achieved more than ever before in our history.

Our schools of medicine, nursing, and public health continue to educate and train students who are not only among the world's brightest, but who also have a deep commitment to leading positive transformation in the world and having a meaningful impact on the lives of others. Our research funding remains consistently impressive in spite of a challenging funding environment, reflecting the strength of our investigators and the lifesaving breakthroughs they work so hard to pioneer. And our extraordinary health care team earned the nation's top honors for quality and safety this past year—Magnet designation and recognition by the University HealthSystem Consortium as the No. 2 and No. 3 hospitals in the nation—without ever losing focus on the care and compassion that our patients and their families deserve.

As you've seen from the stories in this issue of Emory Medicine, from advances in brain tumor treatment and understanding the biology of fear to life-affirming palliative care and cutting-edge heart transplants, the Woodruff Health Sciences Center and all the people it serves have much to celebrate. Thanks as always to our faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends for the outstanding year past and for all the outstanding years to come.