Sanford Health officials visit UNMC

From left, College of Medicine Dean John Gollan, M.D., with Sanford Health Executive Chief of Staff John Paulson; Keith Miskimins, Ph.D., director of Sanford Health’s cancer biology center; Sanford Vice President of Research Ben Perryman, Ph.D.; Sanford President Charles O’Brien, M.D.; and Jennifer Larsen, M.D., associate dean for clinical research in the UNMC College of Medicine.

Officials from Sanford Health USD Medical Center — the clinical arm of the University of South Dakota School of Medicine — visited UNMC on Friday to discuss possible research and clinical partnerships.

They met with with Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., College of Medicine Dean John Gollan, M.D., College of Medicine Associate Dean for Clinical Research Jennifer Larsen, M.D., and several others from UNMC.

“We were thrilled the team from Sanford visited our campus and were able to discuss possible cooperation between our institutions,” Dr. Gollan said. “Geographically and demographically, we have a lot in common and such collaboration would be fitting in the current health care climate.”

Those visiting from Sanford included:

• President Charles O’Brien, M.D.;
  
• Vice President of Research Ben Perryman, Ph.D.;
  
• Keith Miskimins, Ph.D., director of the cancer biology center; and
  
• Executive Chief of Staff John Paulson.

The Sanford team toured the campus, getting a look at the Durham Research Center, the Munroe-Meyer Institute’s autism spectrum and feeding disorders centers, The Nebraska Medical Center’s emergency room and The Lied Transplant Center.

Over lunch the Sanford group also learned about:

• UNMC’s efforts in cancer research and therapy from Eppley Cancer Center Director Ken Cowan, M.D., Ph.D.;
  
• UNMC’s genetics program from former MMI director Bruce Buehler, M.D.;
  
• UNMC’s transplant program from Alan Langnas, D.O., professor of surgery at UNMC and chief of transplantation at The Nebraska Medical Center;
  
• UNMC’s public health efforts from Keith Mueller, Ph.D., associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Public Health; and
  
• UNMC’s diabetes program from Dr. Larsen.

Dr. O’Brien echoed Dr. Gollan’s sentiments about the two institutions having common ground and said he was impressed by the breadth of research going on at UNMC as well as the medical center’s facilities.