President Kern Wildenthal and his wife, Marnie
We live in a time when many people are focused on national ratings and awards and aspire to be ranked the best in their fields. Sports rankings are daily fodder for headlines. Awards for best movies and television shows are broadcast in programs seen by millions.
While striving for top rankings in many different areas of life, it is especially gratifying when Dallas can point with pride to being No. 1 in a field of overpowering importance: biomedical research.
Basic medical research will serve as the basis for future clinical breakthroughs for generations to come – and in that crucial arena, UT Southwestern Medical Center recently earned the top ranking among all American institutions – not only medical centers but also prestigious academic universities.
According to the most recent five-year analysis of biomedical fields by Science Watch, an independent publication that objectively analyzes the relative importance of research publications and institutions, UT Southwestern's overall impact in biology and biochemistry research ranked first in the nation.
In addition to leading the country in these fundamental areas that underpin medical progress, UT Southwestern also ranked third nationwide in psychiatry/psychology, seventh in neurosciences and behavior research, and eighth in genetics and molecular biology, reflecting the great breadth of our medical research excellence.
Science Watch based its survey on all papers published from 2001 to 2005 and subsequently cited by other scientists and clinicians in their own publications.
With four Top Ten ratings in the seven biomedical categories analyzed, UT Southwestern clearly ranks among the very best anywhere. Only three others – Harvard University, Stanford University and the University of California at San Francisco – appeared in more categories (and none in all seven). Two other Texas medical centers – Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio – were each ranked in one category.
Dedicated pursuit of new discoveries by UT Southwestern physicians and scientists benefits millions, and their exceptional success deserves broader recognition and even some cheerleading.
UT Southwestern is home to scores of medical stars and is internationally recognized for its strong clinical, research and educational excellence. For example, we have:
•Four active Nobel Prize winners – more than any other medical school in the world.
•One of the highest average admission test scores for medical students in the country, along with exceptionally competitive residency training programs.
•An unsurpassed pediatric heart disease program in association with Children's Medical Center Dallas, including the first successful pediatric heart transplant in Dallas in 1988.
•An adult heart and lung transplant program with survivals in excess of 90 percent – ranking among the top 10 in the nation, year after year.
•Texas' first laparoscopic gastric-bypass surgery in 1999, with more than 2,000 weight-loss surgeries performed since.
•Mortality statistics after heart attacks that are almost twice as good as national and regional averages.
•Forty physicians and researchers elected as presidents of their national specialty associations.
•Three-fourths of Texas' medical members of the National Academy of Sciences, the most prestigious scientific society in America.
•More than 90 percent of all federal biomedical grants in Dallas and more than three-fourths of all those in North Texas.
I hope this provides a heightened sense of pride in UT Southwestern as the flagship academic medical center in the southwestern United States and as one of the great medical research leaders in the world.
