Sanford Ehrenkranz (left) talks with Robert Birch about his experience as former chair and founding member of Departmental Associates.
Departmental Associates started in 1982, when Dr. Marcus Reidenberg, director of the program, and other faculty and administration met to explore ways to further involve community members with the Medical College. Departmental Associates was conceived, allowing those individuals to meet with faculty to discuss medical research and medical progress. In addition to making financial contributions, Departmental Associates gain greater insight into the day-to-day realities of medical research at an academic research institution.
"This meant seeing how it differed from an independent research institute and from a community hospital in its everyday activities as well as its 'big picture' concepts," said Dr. Reidenberg, who is also professor of pharmacology, medicine, and public health.
Since its inception, Departmental Associates has raised over $4 million for the Medical College, with additional support for specific grants and programs. The program continues to support researchers at Weill Cornell through the Departmental Associates Bridge Fund - a program to assist worthwhile investigations that have not been able to get funding upon first re-application for highly competitive grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). To date, the Departmental Associates has invested $566,693 in the Bridge Fund. With this support, many scientists have successfully re-applied for NIH grants, yielding over $25 million in NIH re-application grants since the Bridge Fund started in 1995.
Dr. Marcus Reidenberg and Marie DeLuca celebrate 23 years of Departmental Associates.
"This is quite a financial return on the initial investment. More important is the return in research accomplishment and discoveries by our awardees that will contribute to improving medicine in the future," said Dr. Reidenberg.
On hand at the April 19 event were past and present members, including Sanford Ehrenkranz, who spoke about his experiences as a founding member and former chair of Departmental Associates. Other guests included Doris Bachrach, Bob Birch, Kathy Buddenhagen, Marie and Peter De Luca, Bill Gedale, Ruth and Reg Kingsberg, June Reidenberg, and Helen Dunn and Samuel Seltzer. Following Mr. Ehrenkranz's address, Dr. Reidenberg presented a lecture entitled "Nonprescription Analgesics Including COX2 Inhibitors and the Alternatives."