R&D gets a boost
Planned medical school will boost Virginia’s profile in research and development

by Garry Kranz
for Virginia Business
March 2007

The future looks rosy to Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger. He predicts that by 2012 Tech could corral as much as $500 million in federal research contracts, nearly double the R&D money the school receives now.

Steger has reason for optimism: namely, a new medical school Virginia Tech is launching in conjunction with Carilion Health System in Roanoke.

The combination of a medical school with a research institution could elevate Virginia Tech to one of the nation’s top 30 research universities — a key goal for Steger since he took over as president in 2000. Clinical research, especially that which builds on Tech’s existing strengths in bioinformatics, supercomputing, nanotechnology, life sciences and veterinary medicine, should position the university to win more federal grants from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

In 2005, Tech spent $289.9 million on research and was ranked 56th among 630 research universities that furnish data to the NSF. In 2006, Tech’s total research expenditures increased to $321.7 million, an 11 percent increase that may move the school up in the national rankings.

Along with learning to diagnose and treat illness, medical students will get an opportunity to pursue groundbreaking research. That is a format used by only two other medical schools in the country: Harvard Medical School’s Health Sciences and Technology program and the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. The dual emphasis will require graduates to pass a five-year curriculum to earn their medical degrees, one year more than normally required. “We’ve been working very diligently to expand the opportunities for our undergraduates to do research. Also, this [project] will help us to attract the best and brightest faculty in the country,” says Steger.

Two events coincided to bring about the new medical school. First, Carilion Health System is switching its business model. Rather than orienting health-care delivery around its hospitals, Dr. Edward G. Murphy, Carilion’s CEO, is pushing for a clinic-based approach that relies more heavily on physician practices. That shift “has made our push into research even stronger than it’s ever been,” says Murphy.

Second, a study by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) painted a sobering picture for the nation’s health-care apparatus. Critical shortages of physicians are imminent as soon as 2020 unless enrollment in medical schools can be increased by 30 percent. Yet only half of the nation’s medical schools were even remotely considering expanded enrollment, necessitating the need for new teaching hospitals.

Only blue-chip medical students need apply at the new Roanoke school. Officials say each graduating class will be limited to about 40 students. The smaller classes are designed to foster greater interaction between students and faculty. The school is scheduled to open in 2009.

The Virginia Tech-Carilion venture could be a financial bonanza for Southwest Virginia. Economic activity associated with medical schools generates about $15 billion in annual tax revenue, according to the AAMC study. In addition, the presence of the medical school will attract top-notch physicians, notes Murphy, and better enable the region to retain graduating doctors.

Organizers are looking to the Virginia General Assembly to help defray startup costs estimated at $30 million to $50 million. Winning legislative funding seems like a formality, though, given the effusive praise of lawmakers when the project was announced in early January. Operating costs will be met through tuition and money provided by Virginia Tech and Carilion, although private donors are said to be lining up to capitalize endowments.

The medical school is the second recent major research project to involve a Virginia university. SRI International, a nonprofit research organization headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif., plans to build its Center for Advanced Drug Research in Rockingham County, with plans to partner with nearby James Madison University in Harrisonburg. SRI officials say the Shenandoah Valley location provides excellent geographic access to government clients.

Only time will tell the significance of the Virginia Tech-Carilion and SRI projects. For now, though, Virginia’s research community welcomes these new players.