January 24, 2024 – Innovation and excellence have been constant themes for Nashville as the prime destination for health care firms.
That reputation continues to grow thanks to two major expansions: an announcement of the first school of global health in the United States, and an elevated partnership between a pair of cancer research organizations with connections to two major providers – McKesson and HCA Healthcare.
Meharry Medical College, the nation’s largest private, historically Black academic health sciences school, announced that it is opening the nation’s first school of global health, with a mission of eliminating global health inequities.
The school — which anticipates beginning to enroll students in the fall of 2024 — will instruct students on a variety of subjects, including health care law, health policy, biostatistics, global health diplomacy and negotiations. “The School of Global Health essentially enables us to address all of the pressing health issues that we’ve been dealing with,” Daniel Dawes, dean of the school and the senior vice president and executive director of the Meharry Institute of Global Health Equity, told the Nashville Business Journal.
Dawes added: “The school is going to enable us to address these challenges in a more comprehensive manner than we’ve been able to, taking a completely new approach to health equity by breaking down the silos and finally connecting all the dots needed to root out health disparities around the world.”
In addition, SCRI Oncology Partners announced last month that it has joined the U.S. Oncology Network, which is supported by pharmaceutical distributor McKesson. SCRI Oncology Partners, a cancer treatment center in Midtown and connected to Nashville-based HCA Healthcare, conducts clinical trials via an affiliation with HCA’s Sarah Cannon Research Institute.
“We will continue to expand the SCRI network’s capabilities and undertake new groundbreaking studies that will lay the foundation for the advancement of cancer care,” SCRI Oncology Partners founding partner Dr. David Spigel told the Nashville Post. “We are excited and committed to offer patients the opportunity to receive the best in care while also having access to the most innovative options in research in the communities where they live.”
The Nashville Stars applaud all involved groups on their innovation and pursuit of excellence, an approach which the Stars continue to embody on the path to bring another leader — Major League Baseball — to Music City.