{"id":115770,"date":"2024-10-09T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-09T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=115770"},"modified":"2024-10-10T13:26:32","modified_gmt":"2024-10-10T18:26:32","slug":"dr-davies-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/10\/09\/dr-davies-forum\/","title":{"rendered":"100 days into new role, Dr. Davies expresses pride in UNMC’s work"},"content":{"rendered":"
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UNMC Interim Chancellor H. Dele Davies, MD, spoke about his first 100 days in the role during his latest all-campus forum, held Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joined by Bill O\u2019Neill, executive director of UNMC Strategic Communications, in an interview format presentation, Dr. Davies answered questions and discussed his goals, meetings with stakeholders on campus and across the state, and the lessons he\u2019s learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In what he called an extraordinary first 100 days, Dr. Davies said listening to so many interesting people has been the highlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he went from community to community, he said he found \u201cincredible, immense pride in UNMC and the entire University of Nebraska system,\u201d from enthusiastic graduates to people who praised the work of UNMC\u2019s faculty, staff and students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key takeaway, he said, is the number of people in Nebraska who are looking to UNMC to address the health workforce shortage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a critical need, and our goal, as a health sciences center, is to do everything we can (to address it),\u201d he said, pointing to two memoranda of understandings signed this month in Scottsbluff to develop a new nursing pathway for rural students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His own goal, Dr. Davies said, is that every student in Nebraska who wants to be a health care provider will have a pathway to become one without any barriers that prevent them from doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe cannot afford to leave any student behind,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also expressed excitement in the continued advancement of Project Health<\/a>, the first phase of the $2.2 billion Project NeXT, a joint effort between UNMC and its primary clinical partner, Nebraska Medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat will change everything we do here on this campus and impact every single community that we take care of across the state,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also credited funding that UNMC (and other entities) receive from the Nebraska Legislature \u2014 specifically the Nebraska Tobacco Settlement Biomedical Research Development Fund \u2014 as being integral to research growth, particularly around cancer care, and recruiting researchers who bring research dollars into Nebraska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor every $1 million in research funding we get, that\u2019s 15-30 jobs,\u201d Dr. Davies said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is just a smattering of some of the opportunities that I had,\u201d Dr. Davies said, saying he was proud to be working with UNMC\u2019s incredible students and to be helping the state of Nebraska build its health care workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Davies also:<\/p>\n\n\n\n