Dear School of Medicine Colleagues,

This week, as we begin our new academic year, we are reminded that Georgetown's greatest strength is our ability to bring together exceptional science, compassionate care and ethical leadership in service of health, hope and healing. We are delighted to share an important milestone that reflects this commitment: Georgetown has been awarded its first National Institutes of Health (NIH) Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) grant to support the training of MD/PhD students. This award recognizes the strength of our physician-scientist training program and our vision for preparing leaders who will shape the future of medicine.

For more than three decades, Georgetown's MD/PhD program has prepared physician-scientists who bridge scientific discovery and patient care. Today, its graduates serve as faculty and leaders at top academic medical centers and as innovators across the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and venture capital sectors. This award builds on that legacy and expands our ability to educate future leaders who will improve lives through research, innovation and clinical excellence.

Beyond the training program itself, this award provides important external validation of Georgetown's biomedical enterprise. It reflects the quality of our faculty, the strength of our scientific programs, our culture of collaboration and mentorship, and our ability to prepare the next generation of physician-scientists.

Last year's incorporation of Biomedical Graduate Education (BGE) into the School of Medicine further strengthened Georgetown's integrated approach to biomedical education. The closer relationship between the MD program and BGE's portfolio of PhD programs and NIH-funded training grants creates stronger connections among medical education, research and graduate education, opening new opportunities for collaboration, mentorship and innovation while preparing the next generation of physician-scientists.

Further distinguishing our Medical Scientist Training Program is its MD/PhD pathway in bioethics, reflecting Georgetown's longstanding leadership in preparing physician-scientists who lead with both scientific excellence and ethical insight. Through the Kennedy Institute of Ethics and the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics, Georgetown has helped define the field of bioethics for more than half a century. Building on the pioneering work of Georgetown’s Dr. Edmund D. Pellegrino, whose scholarship helped establish modern clinical bioethics, these centers provide the academic foundation for preparing physician-scientists to address not only tomorrow’s scientific challenges, but also the ethical questions they inevitably raise. 

The program brings together exceptional faculty mentors from across neuroscience, cancer biology, pharmacology and bioethics to prepare physician-scientists capable of translating discovery into better care for patients while advancing the future of medicine. We congratulate Dr. Todd Waldman, Dr. Peter Turkeltaub and Dr. Daniel Sulmasy for their leadership, and we thank the many faculty, students, staff and alumni whose decades of scholarship, mentorship and collaboration made this achievement possible.

This achievement reflects decades of commitment by faculty, students, staff and alumni who have built Georgetown's physician-scientist training program through outstanding scholarship, mentorship and collaboration. Together, we are preparing leaders who will advance health through discovery, inspire hope through innovation, and bring healing to patients and communities around the world.

Sincerely,

Norman J. Beauchamp Jr., MD, MHS
Executive Vice President for Health Sciences
Executive Dean, School of Medicine

Anna T. Riegel, PhD
Vice President for Research
Vice Dean for Biomedical Graduate Education