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Nearly two full years into the COVID-19 pandemic, Rosalind Franklin University is stronger, more resilient and more deeply committed to its mission of education, research and service. Our frontline health workers, standing strong amid new waves of infection, remind us that the education we offer is good work, important work and vital to the health of our nation.
Our recently concluded yearlong commemoration of the centennial of Dr. Rosalind Franklin’s birth offers another important reminder of our namesake’s courage and determination and the dogged pursuit of basic science research. In addition to her historic contribution to solving the structure of DNA, Dr. Franklin’s crystallography work on the structure of viruses confirmed the single-helix structure of RNA — an achievement that more than six decades later redounds to our benefit in mRNA-based COVID vaccines.
“ We continue to seek and build strategic partnerships across sectors as a means to solve complex challenges.” Dr. Wendy Rheault
Aaron Klug, chemist, crystallographer and Dr. Franklin’s close collaborator in the study of viruses, said in his 1982 Nobel lecture, “It was Rosalind Franklin who set me the example of tackling large and difficult problems. Had her life not been cut tragically short, she might well have stood in this place on an earlier occasion.”
Faced with our own problems, like fulfilling our mission while navigating a pandemic, we continue to lean into trusted relationships and partnerships. Our longstanding commitment to interprofessional education and collaborative practice has served us well, helping us to find solutions and navigate uncharted territory. It has helped us build a culture of teamwork, communication and collaborative leadership that positions RFU to lead the transformation of care delivery and health professions education.
We continue to seek and build strategic partnerships across sectors as a means to solve complex challenges. Our new College of Nursing is a case in point. Under our partnership with Lake Forest College and Northwestern Medicine, we’re aligning aspects of our academic program with our neighboring health system’s workforce needs. We’re playing to each other’s strengths, leveraging our resources, extending our reach and mitigating risk. We’re building an education-to-workforce pathway with a trusted local academic partner who will help us connect with, mentor and educate underserved youth eager to improve the health of their communities.
Partnerships help us anticipate and meet community healthcare needs. When we ask a health system like Northwestern to partner, we don’t have to guess at what they need. We know because we’re in a relationship. Inclusion yields better solutions, and the interprofessional approach offers better health care.
Our ability to partner was certainly a factor in our recent $2 million matching grant from the State of Illinois, as creative public-private agreements continue to power our Innovation and Research Park and Helix 51 incubator. Working together with multiple stakeholders across sectors, we have built a solid foundation for our research enterprise, ensuring benefits for our university, community and region for generations to come.
Above all, partnerships help us drive innovation — one of our core values — which can help solve national and global challenges, particularly in times of crisis and polarization.
RFU will continue to be guided by its values. We will continue to advocate on issues that go to the heart of our mission. We are so grateful for our many partners. Your investment in the education of health and biomedical professionals, in research and innovation — in RFU — is an investment in health, in science and in our shared and very bright future.
