UT Southwestern is raising $500 million for medical research and clinical advances in a campaign, Innovations in Medicine, that will help it attract more of the world’s leading scientists and clinicians and secure UT Southwestern's position at the pinnacle of international biomedical science. Most of the funds raised will be directed toward endowments and project support for basic and clinical research on major diseases of special importance, for which breakthroughs are possible over the next few years and decades. These include the following priorities:

$72 million for Alzheimer’s and other neurological disorders. Researchers at UT Southwestern are making significant strides in understanding Alzheimer's. They are also unlocking the mysteries of Parkinson's, epilepsy, visual and hearing disorders, and paralyzing afflictions such as multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and spinal injury. Discoveries about genetic and molecular control of brain-cell function are revealing the underlying causes of many neurological diseases, including mental illnesses and substance abuse.

$55 million for cancer. UT Southwestern is a leader in research and treatment for a variety of cancers - breast, prostate, lung, ovarian, intestinal, skin and brain, as well as leukemia, lymphomas and pediatric malignancies. New ways to predict genetic susceptibility are being developed, and fresh insights on the regulation of cell division and programmed cell death are providing novel approaches for treatment.

$41 million for heart disease and stroke. Today, the world's most advanced research endeavor on the underlying causes of heart attacks, heart failure, high blood pressure and stroke is based at UT Southwestern. The "Dallas Heart Disease Prevention Project" is gathering the most comprehensive data ever assembled on an American population. At the same time, our clinical advances in cardiac transplantation and in the treatment of heart failure are setting national standards. Our work on the genetic and environmental control of risk factors for cardiovascular disease is revolutionizing medicine.

$44 million for pediatric illnesses, birth defects and inherited disorders. Knowledge of the genetic code has opened the way to prevent and cure a host of pediatric diseases. Many illnesses that strike at an early age have genetic influences - congenital heart diseases and other birth defects; sickle-cell disease; cystic fibrosis and other pulmonary diseases; diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus erythematosus; Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis; and many forms of pediatric cancers. For these and related diseases, whether they appear in childhood or later in life, basic and clinical research is rapidly leading to new strategies for cures and preventions.

$20 million for infectious diseases, immunology and bioterrorism defense. UT Southwestern scientists are working aggressively to develop better vaccines to prevent infections and more potent medicines to treat them. Immunological studies are revealing the body's natural defense mechanisms, how they can go awry and how they may be enhanced. And while we are seeking new ways to neutralize and defeat biological agents that might be used by terrorists, we are accelerating our battle against conventional infectious diseases such as meningitis, hepatitis and AIDS. 

$50 million for basic molecular research, biostatistics and computational biology, medical imaging and biotechnology. With data from the Human Genome Project, UT Southwestern researchers are poised to make major breakthroughs in molecular research and biotechnology. Researchers will increasingly rely on biostatistics
and computational biology, burgeoning fields that merge computer science and biomedicine. Clinical diagnosis and research are being transformed by amazing advances in the ability to make computer-assisted images of the body's organs, tissues, cells, and molecules. Partnerships with biotech companies will ensure that our discoveries are translated as rapidly as possible into effective and useful products.

$62 million for enhanced delivery of clinical care and service. The dramatic growth of UT Southwestern's clinical programs has provided an opportunity - and a need - to develop new means of overseeing more than 400,000 private outpatient visits annually, in addition to treating patients in its affiliated hospitals' clinics. Creating a model program to serve these patients effectively and graciously is a top priority. The Clinical Services Initiative will fund a streamlined appointment scheduling system, implement a patient-friendly telephone system, develop a computerized medical records system, enhance customer-service training, facilitate access to new imaging technologies and to clinical trials of new therapies, and establish endowments for master physicians and practice groups - all designed to create an unsurpassed patient-centered culture.

$156 million for facilities, equipment and information systems. Without modern facilities and equipment, even the best scientists cannot apply their full intellectual resources to conquering the diseases we are targeting. Funds are being sought for the largest research building ever constructed at a Texas university or medical center, for advanced technical research equipment, and for major clinical enhancements, including a new telephone system and computerized medical records, at St. Paul University Hospital, Zale Lipshy University Hospital and UT Southwestern's outpatient facilities.

Of the endowments being sought, $48 million will be designated to recruit and nurture tomorrow’s brightest scientific stars. UT Southwestern’s Endowed Scholars Program in Medical Science, launched in 1998, was the first program devoted specifically to launching the careers of new assistant professors with exceptional credentials and potential, providing them with a generous research support package for their first four years, as well as offering them the opportunity to work side-by-side with Nobel-caliber mentors. A priority of the Innovations in Medicine campaign is to extend this program beyond the five Scholars who are now recruited each year.