Getting Wiser about Getting Older
Dean of Medicine David S . Greer , MD , and renowned gerontologist Sidney Katz , MD , establish the Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research at Brown . The center investigates the health care and social service needs of the elderly and the chronically ill , in the context of the science and psychology of aging and illness , to improve their quality of life . In subsequent years , similar centers and institutes have formed to coalesce research and its application to care in areas such as alcohol and addiction studies , HIV / AIDS , Alzheimer ’ s disease , and digital health .
1996
How to Train a Doctor
Brown School of Medicine launches the MD2000 Curriculum , a competency-based model , designed to build and assess students ’ mastery of nine core abilities and a knowledge base considered essential for practicing physicians . The abilities stress effective communication ; basic clinical skills ; using basic science in the practice of medicine ; professional development and personal growth ; the social and community contexts of health care ( updated to health equity and racial justice in 2020 ); and moral reasoning and clinical ethics . The curriculum is heralded as a model and replicated at medical schools in the US and abroad .
Brown medical students must master nine core competencies .
2001
Responding at Ground Zero
The Rhode Island Disaster Management Assistance Team , including a number of Brown medical faculty and students , deploy to Ground Zero in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks . The RI-DMAT and the disaster medicine division of the Medical School ’ s Department of Emergency Medicine have served the state — such as setting up the COVID-19 field hospitals at the height of the pandemic — and beyond , responding to Hurricane Katrina , the Haiti earthquake of 2010 , and whatever disaster may come next .
2005
Studying Superfund Sites
Brown receives a four-year , $ 11.5 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to establish a Superfund Basic Research Program to support research on the health threats posed by Rhode Island ’ s contaminated industrial , commercial , and residential lands , and on ways to rehabilitate those lands . With 13 waste sites on the Superfund National Priorities List and another 300 brownfields requiring decontamination before they can be reused , Rhode Island is a prime laboratory for analyzing the health effects of asbestos , mercury , chromium , heavy metals , and other toxic consequences of the state ’ s industrial history . The Brown program takes a multidisciplinary approach , engaging scientists from various fields — including medicine and public health — in collaborative research and translating their results into materials that will educate , influence policy , produce beneficial technologies , and improve environmental health and safety . It has been refunded several times and its work continues today .
2007
A Transformational Gift
In January , The Warren Alpert Foundation , founded by Rhode Island-based businessman Warren Alpert , pledges $ 100 million to Brown Medical School , and the Brown Corporation votes to rename the school in the donor ’ s honor . Much of the gift is used to build a home for the Medical School near Rhode Island , Women & Infants , and Hasbro Children ’ s hospitals . The remainder of the gift creates two endowed professorships and an endowed fund for faculty innovation in medical education ; it also supports biomedical research and creates the Warren Alpert Scholars Program , which provides medical
Warren Alpert scholarships .
2011
First Home for the Medical School Opens
On August 15 , Brown celebrates the grand opening of the new home for The Warren Alpert Medical School . A 1928 building at 222 Richmond St . that previously housed Brier jewelry manufacturing received a $ 45 million expansion and retrofitting to become a new Jewelry District landmark and a highly visible and distinctive home for the Medical School . It marks Brown ’ s first major development off College Hill and anchors a decade of revitalization and investment in the neighborhood . The state-of-the-art building provides classrooms , an anatomy lab , and study space for medical students .
18 HEALTH DISCOVERIES l WINTER 2023