One of the joys of working at Jefferson is the chance to study its 200-year history. The archives tell a story not just of milestones — the firsts, the discoveries, the breakthroughs — but of a temperament. Jefferson physicians have always been more than skilled clinicians. They’ve been collaborators. They’ve been restless, curious minds. And, when confronted with the defining challenges of their era, they have risen to meet them.
That spirit feels especially relevant now.
This fall, in my State of the College address to faculty and to alumni at Alumni Weekend, I spoke about turning challenge into opportunity. It is not a slogan but a necessity. The landscape of healthcare and medical education is shifting under our feet: financial pressures, research funding uncertainties, workforce shortages, the mounting complexity of patient care. These are not abstract problems. They shape how we teach, how we practice, and how we discover.
Yet, when I look at Jefferson today, I see not a crossroads but a foundation of real strength.
Applications to the Sidney Kimmel Medical College reached record numbers this year. In a time when some fear a waning interest in medicine, this is heartening. It tells us that young people still see this profession — difficult, demanding, and profoundly human — as a calling worth pursuing.
At the same time, our alumni and donors have stepped forward to ensure that research, the lifeblood of progress, continues to thrive. Their support for bridge funding has kept promising investigations alive through the inevitable gaps in federal grants. These acts of belief, large and small, sustain the momentum of discovery.
And on Oct. 28, we took an even larger step forward with the creation of the SKMC Clinical and Translational Sciences Center. This new center will be an engine for turning scientific insight into better health outcomes. It will link scientists with clinicians, making research more collaborative, efficient, and impactful — shortening the time between discovery and real-world benefit.
Research alone cannot transform lives; it must be carried into practice. The center’s design recognizes this, embedding education and mentorship at its core. Our next generation of clinicians and investigators will learn not only how to conduct studies, but also how to build bridges between disciplines, between discovery and delivery, between Jefferson and the communities we serve.
The generosity of longtime donors Sidney and Caroline Kimmel, who have offered to match every gift to the new center dollar for dollar, stands as a profound vote of confidence in this work. Their support, and the support it will inspire, will help secure Jefferson’s place as a leader in clinical and translational science.
Challenges will not disappear. They never have. But if our history teaches us anything, it is that adversity can sharpen purpose. The investments we are making — in people, in ideas, in collaboration — are not only about resilience. They are about renewal.
Jefferson’s next chapter, like its first, will be defined by the conviction that discovery and compassion are inseparable, and that, together, they can change the world.
