Skip to main content
Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences VCHS
  1. VCHS
  2. About
  3. Meet Vice Chancellor Carethers
  4. Messages
  5. Advancing Health and Innovation in the New Year

Advancing Health and Innovation in the New Year

 

Dear Health Sciences colleagues:

As we welcome the new year, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on the remarkable progress we achieved together in 2024 and share some exciting plans for 2025.

2024 Highlights

Last year was a banner year for UC San Diego Health Sciences. Our schools and health system received top rankings across all aspects of our tripartite mission. We celebrated the successful one-year anniversary of the Alvarado Hospital acquisition and opened three new ambulatory clinics – the Infusion Clinic at Rancho Bernardo, the Center for Airway, Voice and Swallowing, and the Obstetrics and Gynecological Procedures Clinic at Genesee. These expansion projects significantly enhanced our capacity to provide patient-centered care. In research, we opened a new facility at 8980 Villa La Jolla Drive, creating new opportunities for scientific collaboration. These advancements, coupled with substantial discoveries in artificial intelligence, cancer and translational research, position us to remain at the forefront of innovation.

In education, we launched the Atkinson Physician Assistant Education Program and celebrated the five-year anniversary of the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science. Additionally, our leadership team continued to evolve, adding key roles to centers and institutes that strengthen integrative research and institutional growth.

Looking Ahead to 2025

In 2025, we aim to build on this momentum with key initiatives, including:

  • Clinical Advancements: The opening of our McGrath Outpatient Pavilion, which will further expand access to exceptional care. We will also publicly launch the Rady Satellite of the Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute (ACTRI), bringing clinical research space to Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego.
  • Research Innovation: The opening of the Viterbi Family Vision Research Center and official groundbreaking of the Multidisciplinary Life Sciences Building, as well as submitting major grant proposals for the CTSA and CCSG.
  • Educational Excellence: Working towards LCME accreditation and continuing progress toward accreditation for public health and the physician assistant program.
  • Leadership Development: Furthering leadership development programs and strengthening our leadership team with the appointments of School of Medicine Dean Barbara Jung and a new Associate Vice Chancellor for Integrative Research, as well as completing year three of the VCHS Internal FTE Excellence program.

Furthermore, Health Sciences will align with the university’s refreshed strategic plan to ensure that our initiatives advance institutional priorities and amplify our impact on local and global communities.

Thank you for your dedication and hard work, which make these achievements possible. I am inspired by what we’ve accomplished together and look forward to another year of collaboration, innovation and excellence.

Here’s to 2025! May all of us find peace and joy in the year ahead!

Sincerely,

John M. Carethers, MD
Vice Chancellor, Health Sciences