UI and Carle Health Systems announce research agreement
November 3, 2015
In a statement released Monday morning, the University announced that a new research affiliation agreement with Carle Health Systems, which will establish new policies regarding joint research and governance, was completed.
The agreement, which was signed last week, was part of an affiliation agreement signed by the Board of Trustees in July, said Kayla BanksCC, executive director of Operations and Planning at Carle-Illinois College of Medicine.
The Board and Carle decided in July to sign the additional agreements within 90 days of the affiliation agreement, which led the University and Carle to “work diligently” to establish the new policies.
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“(The agreement) really creates a governance structure for collaborative research between the two organizations and between University researchers and Carle physicians,” Banks said. “It really creates a road map for translating research from the laboratory bench to the point-of-care delivery, and with that, sparking innovation to allow for provisions of care to more patients at a lower cost with better outcome.”
The joint governance structure will be led by a steering committee consisting of four administrators — Peter E. SchifferCC, University Vice Chancellor for Research, Matthew GibbCC, Carle chief medical officer, Carle’s vice president of research, and director of the University’s Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Initiative.
Banks said the shared governance structure will support coordination between the University and Carle through a variety of mechanisms.
“The mechanisms are the governance committees that will be put into place and then also providing some roadmaps for the nitty-gritty of research, like intellectual property management,” Banks said.
On Sept. 30, the University and Carle announced the creation of a search committee to name a dean of the college. According to a University press release, the committee will aim to have a dean named by spring 2016.
“(The committee will be) looking for a candidate with extremely strong collaborative leadership skills,” Gibb said in a previous interview with The Daily Illini.
He said the committee will also look for someone of “national prominence” who can help recruit the caliber of faculty the college will seek.
Robin KalerCC, campus spokeswoman, said in a previous interview, once a dean is chosen, the “first order of business” is establishing job requirements; the committee is not yet sure what exactly they’re looking for in a candidate. Regardless, she said external nominations are encouraged.
“The dean will be heavily involved with development of curriculum and logistics such as space needs and facility needs,” Kaler said.
