Alumni Association Home > Minnesota Magazine > Past Issues > 2006 > September-October 2006

My great-niece Faith Hoff was born at the University of Minnesota Medical Center on December 5, 2005. Three months before she was due, it was apparent that her heart needed help. As you may know, the University pioneered open-heart surgery nearly 50 years ago. Because of those early breakthroughs, doctors today were able to help baby Faith with a dual-chamber pacemaker and today she’s a happy 9-month-old ready to cheer on the Gophers.

That medical miracle was the result of innovative minds driven to discover a better way to care for people. Such innovative minds are still on campus, impatiently working to find therapies and cures. I’ve heard of a physician scientist in pediatric cancer at the U who is frustrated that half of her cancer patients will suffer serious complications from bone marrow transplants. She knew there had to be a better way to save these children without causing further health problems. She shared her frustration with a brilliant basic science cancer researcher who had made a recent breakthrough in research on mice. Now, within months, some of the first bone marrow transplant patients in the country will receive a new therapy in a clinical trial designed to reduce complications and improve recovery for both pediatric and adult cancer patients. We may be reading about a new breakthrough in cancer treatments by early next year.

That is the kind of medical innovation that happens when physicians and scientists work together within a vibrant academic environment like the one we support at the University. And now that academic environment needs our help in a big way. Success in biomedical science is critical to achieving the U’s goal to be among the top three public research universities in the world. Simply put, there are no top universities without a strong medical school and health sciences enterprise.

We at the alumni association are focusing our grassroots legislative network in support of the U’s ongoing legislative priorities—the biennial budget bills and bonding bills—and we’re committed to getting funding for buildings that support biomedical breakthroughs. The legislative passage of the Minnesota Biomedical Sciences Research Facilities Authority will establish a separate bonding authority for the state-of-the-art buildings dedicated to biomedical research. A research facilities authority would provide a predictable source of funding to finance four new buildings over the next 10 years, at a cost of approximately $300 million.

What can you do to help? The governor’s seat and all 201 seats in the Minnesota Legislature are up for grabs November 7. Candidates will be listening carefully to the voters over the next couple of months. We need you to call or write the candidates and deliver a simple message: Support the University of Minnesota’s biennial budget request, which funds the operation of the University, and support the Biomedical Sciences Research Facilities Authority. Lives depend on it.