Happy New Year! But first, Happy Old Year!
In case you missed it: While faculty and staff were on their well-deserved holiday break, Governor McAuliffe late last month announced a groundbreaking partnership between Mason and Inova Health System that will establish Northern Virginia as a competitive hub in the growing field of personalized medicine.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Inova CEO Knox Singleton, George Mason Rector Tom Davis, and many leaders from both organizations and our community came together to make it official at a Dec. 22 press conference. Here’s what the Governor said: “By combining resources, Inova and Mason will place Virginia at the forefront of the fight against cancer, heart disease and other life-threatening illnesses. Biomedical research is also a pillar of the ‘New Virginia Economy.’ The work these two great institutions perform will spur opportunities for entrepreneurship, create new companies and generate jobs that will grow our economy and help us prosper.”
I agree–and I’m thankful for the Governor’s personal involvement in making the partnership happen!
Inova’s chief, Knox Singleton, in turn highlighted how, “together, Inova and George Mason University are investing in research and development to help keep healthy people healthy and provide precise, effective and personalized treatment to patients we are privileged to serve.”
As Virginia’s largest public research university, a key part of our mission is to deliver research that improves lives, drive economic growth through innovation and help solve complex problems. This exciting partnership will help us accomplish all of that and more.
2016 is off to a promising start.