Rice becomes member of Texas Medical Center

Rice
becomes member of Texas Medical Center

Two neighboring
Houston landmarks will have even closer official ties as
Rice University becomes a member institution of the Texas
Medical Center. Even though there has been close collaboration
between the two since the 1960s, there has never been any
official document indicating the joint interests. Through
the years, dozens of scientists in a number of departments
at Rice have worked with about 20 of the member institutions
of the Texas Medical Center (TMC).

The Rice Board
of Trustees at Rice accepted the TMC’s invitation to
become a member at its quarterly meeting in December.

“Collaborations
in research and teaching between Rice and TMC institutions
have multiplied over the past 10 years,” Rice President
Malcolm Gillis said. “And that pace will intensify
in the now unfolding revolution at the intersections of
nano-, bio- and information technology. Rice’s becoming
an official member of the Texas Medical Center is a logical
step in helping to make South Main Street one of the most
vital and productive centers of that revolution.”

Richard E. Wainerdi,
president, chief executive officer and chief operating officer
for the Texas Medical Center, said, “It is with particular
pride that we welcome our neighbor as our newest member
institution.”

Wainerdi pointed
out that from the beginning, Texas Medical Center has been
identified by its strong academic ties, and that Baylor
College of Medicine and The University of Texas M.D. Anderson
Cancer Center were the first two members — both member
institutions with strong Texas academic credentials. Other
institutions of higher learning that have become member
institutions include University of Houston, Texas Woman’s
University, Texas A&M University System, Prairie View
A&M University, Texas Southern University and Houston
Community College System.

Gillis recounted
that the collaboration between Rice and TMC was first established
in 1964 when researchers from Rice worked with Michael E.
DeBakey of Baylor College of Medicine to develop an implantable
artificial heart. Today, these efforts have blossomed into
more than 90 productive partnerships, large and small, in
education, research and outreach.

“We are
justly proud of all our joint programs with the Texas Medical
Center and of their truly astounding range,” Gillis
said. “The future is even more promising. There are
more than five million patient visits a year to TMC, which
makes it the world’s largest.

Hundreds of researchers
and students at both Rice and Texas Medical Center institutions
represent the future of biomedical science and technology.”

Wainerdi said,
“That the informal arrangements between scientists
at Rice University and those in the Texas Medical Center
have existed for decades will serve us even better in the
future. The close collaboration on many additional issues
will now be easier, and the results coming from the joint
scientific research will be even greater.”