Director's Message
Building a new hospital is an enormous undertaking. A staggering amount of work must be accomplished before the first legs of a foundation are put into place. Planners and architects thoroughly assess the physical site. Those who will work and be cared for in the new hospital review, debate and come to agreement on who and what will go where. These are the necessary preliminaries, and it's important work that we have carried out during FY '98.
Defining the role of the Clinical Center and how it supports the nation's vision for clinical research was the subject of another enormous undertaking that culminated in a report from the NIH Director's Panel on Clinical Research, which was released in December 1997.
Under the leadership of Dr. David G. Nathan, president of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, this panel examined the myriad issues affecting clinical research today and crafted a series of recommendations on how to improve the nation's efforts in this arena.
A primary recommendation by the panel is, in essence, another foundation the Clinical Center must build as the bricks and mortar of the new hospital emerge. Our mandate from the panel is to support the conduct of "cutting-edge protocols and be a resource and national model for clinical research. . . "
To fulfill that charge, we will continue to assess and anticipate the needs of those who work and are cared for at the Clinical Center. We will continue to evaluate and expand our educational efforts to more fully prepare the nation's clinical researchers for the optimum conduct of science. Finally, we will carefully and thoughtfully construct a foundation of commitment and support deep and broad enough to meet the challenges we will face in the new century.
John I. Gallin, M.D.
Director, Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center
