Russ White 0:00
Well, welcome to another episode of Kevin's conversations on MSU. Today, Kevin is Michigan State University President Kevin guskiewicz, who joins me occasionally to elaborate on key initiatives he's leading to guide MSU into its vibrant future. Today, Kevin welcomes the co chairs of MS use, Health Sciences Council. The Council was convened under the guidance of the Office of the President to advise and support collaboration on curriculum, interprofessional education, clinical care and the development of strategies to enhance our performance in biomedical and public health research. In today's episode, President guskiewicz talks with co chairs, Joyce de Young, Dean of MS use College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Jeff mckeegan, Senior Advisor in MSU Office of Research and Innovation and professor in the Department of Pediatrics and human development in the MSU College of Human Medicine. Last June, you announced a thorough assessment of Michigan State's Health Sciences structure, given today's complex healthcare environment and MS use unique mix of educational research and clinical assets. After six months of diligent work, the council has delivered its final report to you with several bold options for a more integrated approach, positioning the university as a model for addressing complex health challenges and advancing health and wellness. So can you tell us a little bit more about why you have created the Health Sciences Council and what its mission is? What are some of these bold options you're looking at? Great, yeah. Well, thanks

President Guskiewicz 1:36
Russ, for for having us today. I want to thank Dr. Dejong and Dr. MacKeigan, for for being with us, and, most importantly, for serving as the co chairs on this Health Sciences Council. A lot of work went into this. You know, my initial goal was really aiming to better align our unique mix of educational research and clinical assets here at Michigan State and and to leverage our strengths in human, animal and environmental health to best meet the needs of Michiganders, and to be sure that we're putting the best health care providers, physicians out into our communities. And I think I talk often about, you know, unleashing synergies. Synergy Unleashed for maximum impact in educating the next generation of healthcare providers. I think we have a great opportunity to do this. We graduate perhaps more physicians than any university in the country, given these two outstanding colleges of osteopathic medicine and human medicine. So it's just an opportunity for us to make sure that we're aligned, that we're leveraging the strengths that we have, both in teaching and research and serving those communities, and really pleased with the work of the council. So some of the initial areas of focus that show up in the Health Sciences Council report include the possibility of uniting our colleges of human medicine and osteopathic medicine into one structure, with allopathic and osteopathic degree pathways. That would, I think some of the benefits there are around our research a unified research agenda could grow Michigan State's research impact through joint administration, enhance clinical research infrastructure, increased patient volume and new interdisciplinary opportunities. Another big, bold idea that shows up in the work of the council is a more interdisciplinary collaboration. A Combined School could create opportunities for integrated curriculum development and collaborative clinical integration and care. Another idea is around the possibility of a new College of Health Professions and encompassing current MSU allied health programs to better address some of the urgent workforce needs that we see here in Michigan and in the Midwest. So again, a lot of opportunities. I'm going to turn it over to Joyce and Jeff to get their thoughts. How did some of these big bold ideas emerge and and how we might think about acting on these here over the next year to two years?

Joyce deJong 4:09
Sure. Thanks for that. Kevin, so working with the council, we we made agreements amongst ourselves to to explore all these big bold options and and some of the things that we were looking for, such as the idea of a medical school merger, which, which is a really, it's a very big, very bold idea, but it gives us, it gives us an opportunity to have a unified strategy for growth, and an opportunity for us to to develop the medical education of the future, and how are we going to train physicians in the future? Because with AI and so many changes occurring, there are a lot of different opportunities for us to do that, and we should do it together as one team. This also there's a there was a significant need for us to be able to strengthen our. Partnerships. We have great partnerships in the community with Henry Ford, you know, with corwell, with McLaren, and this also allows us to expand our collaboration with Henry Ford Health, being a big part of the new medical education process, Jeff, I'm going to turn it over to you for some of how this will improve our our research opportunities and even our public and global health initiatives. Yeah,

Jeff MacKeigan 5:26
absolutely. Thank you, Kevin and thank you, Joyce. This is a really exciting time for the university. You know, the Council and its work product really is a 65 page report as stated, sort of structured as these big, bold options and ideas, we were really intentional about the benefits and the trade offs of each of those options, and really was just great work of the 13 leaders that joined Joyce and I on this council. Now I'm really excited about the uniting the opportunities and our efforts across the university. We've mentioned the impact on the colleges and the departments, and it really is an integrated approach that really fosters sort of collaboration and a framework for these health sciences initiatives. So I think when you think of research, Kevin mentioned it already, it's really a unified research agenda to grow MSU research product and and we have some exciting unifying themes that we want to pull out of that when I think of the med school, you know, you Joyce, you mentioned, you know, bringing those two premiers to colleges together, one College of Human Medicine, if you will, offering two degrees. And what's really quite exciting is the impact of the 1900 medical students coming together could be the largest single campus medical school in the nation and and that that drives research, and that drives education

Russ White 6:47
that is exciting. And Kevin, I know you like the term one team, one health. Could you talk about one team, and then maybe Joyce and Jeff can talk about one health? Sure.

President Guskiewicz 6:56
So I talk often about us working together as a leadership team, and I just finished a meeting earlier here this morning with all of our deans and program center directors. And I really believe that solving the grand challenges of our time involves coming together as one team, whether those challenges are sort of the ones that higher ed is facing Currently, we have to work together as a team, and so it's about alignment of priorities. And I think that the work of the Council, as I read this report it, it just sort of feeds that, that narrative and that commitment of one team working together. And the theme that that emerges throughout is not just one team, but one health. And so maybe Joyce and Jeff can talk a little about about that and the opportunities in front of us. So

Joyce deJong 7:52
one health in the big picture is an integrated, very collaborative approach that recognizes the interconnectedness of human health, animal health and our environmental health, our air, our water. It emphasizes, really, this need for interdisciplinary cooperation amongst all of our all of our colleges here, every college in this institution can contribute to this, but it's medicine, vet science, public health, environmental science, but things like preventing cancer and then curing cancer and detecting cancer sooner. And how can we prevent cancer? And then knowing that Kevin came here, and I think even before he got here, he was saying one team, it really resonated with the council that we are one team. This is where we should be breaking down silos and all kinds of barriers in order to accomplish one health, because there is not another institution on this planet better situated to address one health than Michigan State University. Jeff, what are your thoughts? I just

Jeff MacKeigan 9:01
want to pick up on that absolutely, you know, one team, one health, you know, that vision, it really will leverage. One Health will leverage ms use unique strengths in the environment, right? The tremendous work being environmental, being work being done here, the agricultural, the natural resources that Med, as we know, is excellent nutrition, you know, human health, and certainly the whole University's identity around that. So this is really a unified strategic vision that's going to drive us forward. So Joyce

President Guskiewicz 9:34
and Jeff, what do you both see as as the challenges and opportunities ahead for MSU Health Sciences change, as you know, can be difficult for people, and especially a place with rich traditions, and I talk often about the importance of embracing those rich traditions. Joyce, one of the reasons I asked you to co chair this is that you're not only the dean of our College of Osteopathic Medicine, you're an alum as well, and so you. Understand those deep, rich traditions better than anyone, but also opportunities to become a more contemporary looking University and College of Medicine. Perhaps so. Thoughts about challenges, but equally important, the opportunities may be more important the opportunities ahead.

Joyce deJong 10:15
Yeah, and I think the opportunities are so compelling in this in this scenario. And you're right, change is hard. It always is, but the potential unification of MSU, CO, M and CHM presents the opportunities to make sure that our strengths are not just maintained, but are maximized, and that we can, we can provide higher quality, better physicians. For the state of Michigan, we're the number one provider physicians. And if we can do that better and make certain that that that the quality of the education is better than ever, that's a great strength. But, like I was going to say, this is a challenge as well. That's going to require a lot of strategic planning, and there's going to be culture changes, but, but these are things that we want to do. Them thoughtfully, move ahead, carefully, make sure we're making good decisions and and address the need for for change in our in the cultures.

President Guskiewicz 11:15
Great. You know, Jeff, you're a very accomplished cancer researcher, and I know you, but you care deeply about the way research is integrated into the educational model here at Michigan State, and also the way in which we serve our communities. Maybe some thoughts around that, where are the the opportunities ahead on the research front as we think about the the options we're considering? Well, yes,

Jeff MacKeigan 11:40
certainly the research front tremendous opportunities around that as we come together. As you know, in at the Cancer level, the university's more than tripled its NCI funding in the last three years alone. We have other examples of that with other tremendous institutes, the Institute for quantitative health, on campus, doing tremendous work in other disease areas. So bringing these strength, the research strength of the college of osteopathic medicine with the research strength of the College of Human Medicine together will really be transformative and really make us a huge impact. And I'm also really excited about, like you said, the educational piece of this, the student experience and, and certainly we have the combined medical school as one option and, and a new College of Health Professions is another option. And why this is so exciting is that you know, over 10% or one in 10 jobs in healthcare in Michigan and across this nation, our healthcare related and, and and this will bring the university together around, certainly one team. I just wanted

Joyce deJong 12:44
to highlight something that Jeff said, and that is this opportunity for interdisciplinary education and research. I think that with the the new, you know, with a new College of Health Professions, that the opportunities in interdisciplinary education and our research are are magnified significantly, and it's something that we can really leverage here.

President Guskiewicz 13:07
That's great. And also, you know, Dean Kim Dodd from veterinary medicine was part of the council. And if we think about one health maybe a little bit from either of you about the role of veterinary medicine and this One Health approach, either around education or research, can can elevate our game here at Michigan State.

Jeff MacKeigan 13:26
Well, I'd love to pick up on this absolutely, with the tremendous contribution of the council members, including Dean Dodd. You know, the concept of One Health originally, originated out of veterinary medicine and and really a capture. But if you look at the current state of, say, bird flu and other diseases that are coming out of animals and maybe spreading throughout our agriculture, but also skipping and jumping to humans at times, is really a really huge global challenge. And, and this would put Michigan State, and continue to maintain us in the forefront of that

Joyce deJong 14:00
yeah, and I'll say to that Matt and Dean Dodd, she is the biggest cheerleader for one health here at Michigan State University. That was really clear during the work of the council. And it's exciting to see the opportunities that that that we have, but also that she envisions and verbalizes to make certain that we're doing this right. We're doing this well and and really leading in this area.

Russ White 14:26
And Joyce and Jeff, could I just ask you, you're obviously passionate about this topic. Why are you so and what made you accept Kevin's invitation to lead this important Council? Well,

Jeff MacKeigan 14:36
certainly it's a it's a thank you. It was a tremendous privilege to be able to serve on this council, and it's actually a fun story. I was I was actually Kevin works late, and he called me, and I was actually teeing off on the golf course with my son, and I actually didn't take his call. So I was happy that he actually was able to get back to me talking with Vice President Doug gage of research and innovation. And, and certainly that was the context that had me taken and, and certainly the opportunity to lead, lead and help with the other 13 leaders on this council was just something I couldn't, couldn't pass up. That

President Guskiewicz 15:11
was the right decision, Jeff, to play that round of golf with your son. Much more important than taking my call, you eventually took the call to call me back, and I appreciate it. Yeah,

Joyce deJong 15:23
so I was, I'm relatively new here. I've been here longer than Kevin, but by about 20 days, so, but this was a really exciting opportunity, and I think as the leader of the College of Osteopathic Medicine, I really value this opportunity, and have a lot of gratitude for being able to do this. But also, I think coming in from the outside of MSU, I had been really a key partner in building a new medical school in Kalamazoo W Med, and I like growing and building and imagining how we can do things better. We had that great opportunity there, and being able to apply a lot of those skills here, of what if we did something new and different, and how could we how can we really improve and make things great? So it's just been a great opportunity. It's been an educational opportunity, but I hope that the work and that the council has been able to produce is a value to to the institution. So

President Guskiewicz 16:25
one of my charges to the council back in July was to be sure that we could strengthen our partnerships with these critically important healthcare systems, be it McLaren, here locally, corwell health, Sparrow Henry Ford Health. So could, could you both just elaborate a bit about how the outcomes of the of this important work will do just that

Joyce deJong 16:47
Michigan State University and Henry Ford Health. It's no secret there's a strong partnership there and and really in the health sciences, we consider Henry Ford our primary partner in developing and improving medical education, in in working through with research, huge research enterprise and and and opportunities with Henry Ford, as well as our local partners, we have medical education is obviously a key priority in in all of the providers that we're educating. And so it's it's important that we also maintain and strengthen our relationships with McLaren, greater, Lansing, as well as with Sparrow, UVM Sparrow, we work closely with all of them. And Jeff, what are your thoughts on our partnerships?

Jeff MacKeigan 17:42
Well, absolutely the, you know, the Henry Ford Health and Michigan State Health Sciences partnership, you know, started four years ago, and it really is a revolutionary shift in integrating, like you said, education and research in clinical care and and so part of this partnership is well underway. As you mentioned, we're really excited, in two years from now, the opening of a research center there that will be on Henry Ford's campus that will house 80 faculty and have cutting edge research going on for all disease areas. And then, you know, I'm really, you know, with my connection to research in Grand Rapids, the core well health and Michigan State Partnership around the Alliance, really bringing biomedical research and education into the Secchia Center and the Grand Rapids Research Center and even the Doug Meyer medical innovation building is really an exciting hub for medical research for us

Russ White 18:38
and Kevin, as we wrap up, could You just talk about the next steps for the council? What should we be watching for

President Guskiewicz 18:45
sure? So I'm just really encouraged by the feedback that we've received so far as we've been socializing this with both internal and external stakeholders. Some of the partners and healthcare leaders across the state of Michigan are very excited about some of the options we're considering, and so over the next two to three months, we'll provide opportunities for continued learning and input for those that would be affected by potential changes, before any final decisions are announced, with a structure for implementation, many details still remain, including the leadership decisions for for new medical and health colleges, which will be based on two principles that I like to talk about. I think all colleges need to have a relationship with the provost. That's something that's going to be really important. And we've learned through this process to really ensure a unified academic enterprise. I think the nature of our healthcare sciences programs and relationships with external health system partners necessitates that the President also maintains a close working relationship with the internal health sciences leadership. So we want to be sure that we have the right structure in place that the. That allows for that, but I'm just excited by the opportunities presented by our vision for the One Health concept, which is again based on better aligning and leveraging our essential assets and that we already possess. And I think the future is very bright for Michigan State University's Health Sciences. And I just want to again, thank Joyce and Jeff for the leadership role that they've played, and I know we'll continue to play as we work through this process.

Russ White 20:25
So again, we've been discussing the Health Sciences Council with co chairs Jeff mckeegan and Joyce de Young President Kevin guskiewicz, joined us on this episode of Kevin's conversations on MSU today. And I'm Russ white. This is MSU today. Find

Speaker 1 20:41
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