TULANE TALK

February 7, 2003

Good Morning:

As promised, here is the presentation I made to the University Senate regarding the implementation of our strategic plan: http://www.tulane.edu/%7Estrplan/reports.shtml. As you will see, this presentation focuses on the more than 65 percent increase in total research and development funding Tulane University has received since 1998. This money supports research throughout the university with a particular focus on the sciences and engineering.

As part of this increase we have also realized significantly more funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, two organizations whose grant processes are among the most competitive in the U.S.

Part of our funding success is due to the partnerships we have forged between the Tulane University Health Sciences Center and the LSU Health Sciences Center. For many years we fought with LSU for research dollars as fiercely as we competed with them in athletics. In recent years, however, our co-operation has created the Louisiana Gene Therapy Consortium, the Neurobiotechnology Initiative and the Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium of New Orleans. These new centers are taking innovative approaches to advance research in preventing, diagnosing and treating disease.

Tonight, I will gather with leaders from both universities to celebrate these partnerships and the journey which we have just begun. Through shared vision and expertise, these three partnerships will improve the lives of all of us and place New Orleans at the forefront of the exciting and promising field of biomedical research.

Have a great weekend,