WashU Medicine to make neurosurgery inroads with philanthropic gift
WashU Medicine says the gift will help the department recruit talented neurosurgeons and neurosurgery researchers.
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WashU Medicine in St. Louis is turning a philanthropic gift of $50 million into a vehicle for recruiting neurosurgeons and researchers – and enhancing the research capabilities of the facility's neurosurgery department.
Andrew Taylor, an emeritus trustee of Washington University in St. Louis, and his wife, Barbara, made the donation after receiving care from WashU Medicine neurosurgeons. The department has been renamed the Taylor Family Department of Neurosurgery.
Among neurosurgery departments at U.S. medical schools, WashU's is ranked number 5 in research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
WashU Medicine, or Washington University School of Medicine, is a private medical school specializing in medical education, research and patient care
WHAT'S THE IMPACT?
WashU Medicine said the gift will help the department recruit talented neurosurgeons and neurosurgery researchers, enhance neurosurgery residency and fellowship training programs, and strengthen areas of expertise for which the department is already well-regarded, including innovations in neurotechnology, brain tumor treatment and spinal surgery.
The gift is also designed to foster expertise in emerging or rapidly changing neurosurgery research fields and to support high-risk, high-reward projects, which would allow faculty to investigate novel areas of research as opportunities arise, without being as tied to the timetables or priorities of external granting agencies.
Dr. Gregory Zipfel, head of the Taylor Family Department of Neurosurgery and the Ralph G. Dacey Distinguished Professor of Neurosurgery, said in a statement that the new recruitment and research initiatives are likely to lead to major advances in the field of neurosurgery, as well as new treatments. Breakthroughs, particularly in the areas of neuromodulation and the treatment of brain tumors, could be meaningfully accelerated by the gift.
"For example, our researchers in the Brain Tumor Center at Siteman Cancer Center are on the precipice of making true inroads into the treatment of glioblastoma, which is currently a universally fatal type of brain cancer," said Zipfel. "A gift like this can really shorten the timeline for developing better treatments. This transformational gift will have a lasting impact on our department, on WashU Medicine and our patients as we discover and innovate."
THE LARGER TREND
Andrew and Barbara Taylor and the Crawford Taylor Foundation previously gave $30 million to support the Taylor Family Institute for Innovative Psychiatric Research at WashU Medicine. The Taylor family and Enterprise Mobility also contributed a total of $70 million to establish and expand the Enterprise Mobility Scholars Program, which provides scholarships to undergraduate students with financial need.
Most recently, in 2023, Andrew and Barbara Taylor made a $15 million gift to create the Taylor Family Center for Student Success, which provides resources and support to first-generation and limited-income undergraduate students.
Jeff Lagasse is editor of Healthcare Finance News.
Email: jlagasse@himss.org
Healthcare Finance News is a HIMSS Media publication.