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Temple's History of Science
Health care has been one of Temple's dominant industries for much of the last century. Additionally, Scott & White from the time of its founding over 100 years ago has been engaged in medical education and research. Beginning in the 1950's Scott & White recognized that in order for it's clinical services to enjoy an enhanced regional and national reputation of excellence it would be necessary to expand efforts in both undergraduate and graduate education as well as biomedical research. The tireless efforts of a broad spectrum of community leaders ultimately led to the establishment of the Texas A&M University College of Medicine in the mid 1970’s with the agreement that the final 2 years (clinical curriculum) of medical education would be delivered in Temple.
After several decades of educating young physicians to become preeminent in their chosen clinical field, leaders of the Temple campus realized that to become recognized as a leading academic health center they would need to 1) evolve to a full 4-year medical school campus and 2) substantially increase the amount and scope of biomedical research on the Temple campus. Following intensive negotiations with the Texas A&M University Board of Regents agreement was reached in early 2006 to expand the undergraduate education program in Temple to include all 4 years of the curriculum leading to the MD degree, beginning in the fall of 2007. This decision promised to be transformational in terms of positioning Temple to become a major player alongside other prominent academic health centers in the state when competing for state and federal resources. Anticipating these developments, the three partners individually and jointly have already invested substantial resources towards building a sound research infrastructure in Temple, including:
- Reorganization of A&M College of Medicine basic science departments so that 2 of 5 departments are now headquartered in Temple.
- Construction of 2 new research buildings in Temple.
- Creation of 15 endowed research chairs at Scott & White
- Continued expansion of the Cardiovascular Research Institute currently consisting of 4 Divisions with 33 research faculty, 8 graduate students, 25 post doctoral level students, 24 research laboratory staff and 25 other support staff.
- Creation of the Cancer Research Institute on Scott & White's West Campus, including construction of a GMP drug production facility to accommodate an entire program recruited from Wake Forest University. Already that program which is heavily funded by NIH and industry has gained national attention for its innovative approach to cancer research and treatment.
- Planning for recruitment of more basic science faculty in Temple to help teach the 1st and 2nd year medical school curriculum.
The net result of the above initiatives has been a dramatic increase in NIH research funds flowing to the Temple campus and creation of an environment that is expected to serve as a ‘magnate’ for biomedical research and development entities that might consider relocating to the I-35 Corridor of Central Texas.
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