Third-year dental student Gustavo Morrice spoke of the joy he felt to be able to provide a full set of dentures for a patient recently.
“To me, that was really powerful,” he said. “I love what I do.”
A Nashville native who has dreamed of being a dentist since fourth grade, Morrice was addressing the distinguished alumni members and friends on the University of Tennessee President’s Council, which met in Memphis Friday, November 22, for its 10th annual showcase and awards dinner. UT Health Science Center had the privilege of hosting this important and strategic gathering of statewide leaders.
Thursday night, UT Health Science Center partnered with Mighty Lights, Inc., to light the Hernando de Soto and Harahan bridges across the Mississippi River in orange to celebrate its great pride in its statewide impact and role in the UT System. The impressive light show also welcomed UT System President Randy Boyd and the President’s Council members to Memphis.
“This city was celebrating our presence and noble mission last night,” UT Health Science Center Chancellor Peter Buckley, MD, said Friday morning, welcoming Boyd and the council members to the Memphis campus. “Memphis is our home …Tennessee is our campus. Through our vital partnerships in Memphis and across the state of Tennessee, we improve the health and well-being of Tennesseans.” The chancellor’s brief remarks highlighted the university’s new leadership recruits, increased attention to brand awareness, and stronger and more inclusive organizational culture.
The President’s Council members started the day at the university’s newest and most remarkable building, the Delta Dental of Tennessee Building. In addition to Morrice’s moving testimony and a walking tour of the state-of-the-art building that opened in 2023, they received updates on the college from new Dean Ken Tilashalski, DMD. The group also learned about the college’s Healthy Smiles Initiative, a $53 million effort in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Health to increase access to oral health care by growing the dental workforce and opening clinics in underserved areas across Tennessee. Allen Stanton, MDiv, director of Strategic Initiatives, who skillfully leads the Healthy Smiles initiative in the college, detailed its progress, including the opening of the newest clinic, the Kingsport Dental Clinic of the Appalachian Highlands, a collaborative effort with community leaders, partners, and supporters.
Next, they toured the Nursing Mobile Health Unit, parked in front of the Mooney Library Building in the Historic Quadrangle. Under the outstanding leadership of Diana Dedmon, DNP, assistant professor and Director of Clinical Affairs in the College of Nursing, the Nursing Mobile Health Unit is expanding much-needed care in two rural West Tennessee areas, Lake and Lauderdale counties, with funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration.
Following lunch in the beautifully renovated Mooney Library, Paul Wesolowski, the inaugural vice chancellor for Strategic Partnerships, spoke of UT Health Science Center’s statewide presence through vital partnerships with major hospitals and clinics across Tennessee, including in Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga.
Researchers Monica Jablonski, PhD, Hamilton Endowed Professor, vice chair and director of Research in the Department of Ophthalmology; Wei Li, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Ramesh Narayanan, PhD, professor in the College of Medicine’s Department of Medicine-Hematology and director of the Center for Cancer Drug Discovery, were joined by Maha Krishnamurthy, PhD, president of the UT Research Foundation (UTRF). They educated the audience on the innovative research they are doing on various diseases and their efforts to move their discoveries into the marketplace with the invaluable assistance from UTRF.
“There are about 10 different drugs coming from UT Health Science Center,” Dr. Krishnamurthy proudly said.
“Everything we talk about is ultimately about patient care,” Dr. Jablonski emphasized. “It is important to be aware of the talented people we have working at the universities across the state.”
Illustrating this fact, Sandra Davern, PhD, section head of radioisotope research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), described a highly innovative collaborative translational research initiative in radiopharmacology to enable the earlier detection of cancer. UT Health Science Center, the University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute (UT-ORII) in partnership with ORNL, and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, are working together to develop new radiopharmaceutical therapies to detect and treat ovarian cancer.
Terri Finkel, MD, PhD, told the council about her successful effort to advocate for legislation to require TennCare coverage as a separately payable benefit for supporting the clinical use of state-of-the-art rapid whole genome sequencing of newborns and children exhibiting signs of rare genetic diseases. The legislation became law in July, and already children are benefiting from it, a remarkable achievement and testament to Tennessee’s position at the forefront of pediatric health care innovation and precision medicine.
Representing the clinical and research expertise at UT Health Science Center in partnership with Regional One Health, its primary adult partner hospital in Memphis, Evan Glazer, MD, PhD, associate professor of surgery, discussed surgical innovations in cancer care. These include a novel liver perfusion treatment for cancer, which has brought the university international recognition, and robotic surgery he is performing as a Top Doctor working in partnership at Regional One Health.
“UT Health Science Center is growing in cancer distinction,” Dr. Glazer proudly said.
The President’s Council Awards Dinner at the Hyatt Centric on Beale Street concluded the council’s activities Friday night during a very inspirational event.
Honored were:
- Brian Winbigler, PharmD, a UT Knoxville and UT Health Science Center alumnus, was inducted into the UT Alumni Association (UTAA) Past Presidents Council. Dr. Winbigler is the 2023-24 president of the UT Alumni Association Board of Governors. He is the site manager of Alliance for Multispecialty Research (AMR)-Knoxville, and a former assistant professor in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Translational Science in UT Health Science Center’s College of Pharmacy.
- Ron Frieson, a UT Knoxville alumnus, received the President’s Council Service Award. Frieson is the chief operating officer of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. In 2022, he and his twin brother, Don, donated $1 million to the Black Cultural Center at UT Knoxville, now called the Frieson Black Cultural Center.
- The Kennedy Foundation received the Philanthropist of the Year Award. In 2023, the foundation made an $8 million gift to the UT Chattanooga School of Nursing that will fund the Dorothy and Jim Kennedy Health Sciences Building.
- Sara and Ross Croley received the Jim and Natalie Haslam Presidential Medal. The couple made a $7.5 million investment to UT Knoxville’s College of Nursing, helping to fund the construction of the new Croley Nursing Building, scholarships, and an Endowed Dean’s Chair for the College of Nursing.
At several points during the exhilarating and enlightening day, UT President Randy Boyd proudly highlighted the great momentum and impact of UT Health Science Center, as it leads in partnership toward its compelling vision of Healthy Tennesseans. Thriving Communities.