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Visionary gift will create Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine

Today, we were honored to announce a $50 million gift from Jeff and Susan Brotman and Dan and Pam Baty to create the Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine, which will harness the research of UW Medicine, Fred Hutch and Seattle Children’s to focus on delivering on the promise, power and reach of precision medicine to save and change millions of lives.

Deepening our population health partnerships

The University of Washington is a truly global university, with partners and projects in 129 nations around the world. One of the units that has built a worldwide network of collaborators is the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which seeks to use data to support decision-making on a range of issues related to health and health care. Two of its partners are China CDC and the Center for Health Statistics & Information (CHSI), both of which I had the pleasure of visiting today.

Seeding a healthier world

Today I had the opportunity to once again meet with our Global Innovation Exchange partners during a visit to Tsinghua University. It’s a lush, beautiful campus, made even more vibrant by the fact that it was graduation season. There were countless graduates in caps and gowns all over the campus, posing for photos as they prepared to launch off into the world. It reminded me of our own commencement ceremonies just a couple weeks ago, and like then, I was inspired by the graduates’ optimism and how they have so much ahead of them.

UW stands with the world to fight climate change and protect our future

With almost a hundred of our university peers and with the Governor Inslee and other governors, mayors and business leaders, we have become signatories of the CERES letter stating that in the absence of leadership from the federal government, we remain in solidarity with those around the world committed to a transition to clean energy and to holding global warming to well below 2°C.

Reflecting on the first year of the Population Health Initiative

This month, we mark the one-year anniversary of our Population Health Initiative, an effort we launched with the goal of bringing our community together to improve health and well-being here and around the world. The impetus for that call remains as strong as ever, while our capacity to create change for the better is only growing. One year in, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on what we’ve accomplished so far and what lies ahead in this journey.

Reconnecting with Cuba, and Cubans, was a joy

This past weekend marked a milestone in Cuban-American relations as Alaska Airlines began the first regular commercial service from the West Coast to Cuba. I was deeply honored to be invited on the inaugural flight to Havana, where I was born. I’m still processing the trip, but wanted to share a few of my impressions with the UW community along with some photos from that beautiful city.

Announcing a transformative gift for the UW’s Population Health Initiative

I am humbled to announce that the UW’s Population Health Initiative has received a transformative gift from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – a gift that will accelerate our work to improve human health, environmental resiliency, and social and economic equity here and around the world.

The 2016 University of Washington Annual President’s Address: For Washington and the World

When I get asked what my vision for the University of Washington is, I have a ready answer: I want this university to be the number one university in the world in terms of impact. I’m going to take this opportunity to talk about that impact – on our state, nation and our world. Above all, on our collective future.