TCMC Receives Grant, Becomes Newest Founding Member
“The Commonwealth Medical College (TCMC) was born from the bold ideas of a group of community leaders working to address the region’s shortage of physicians,” said Dr. Daniel Flynn, Associate Dean for Research and Economic Development for the region’s latest Institution of Higher Education. “TCMC is a new medical school that will serve all of Northeastern Pennsylvania and expects to accept sixty medical students and thirty Master of Biomedical Sciences (MBS) students in August, 2009.”
Governor Edward G. Rendell recently announced that 18 colleges, universities, academic medical institutions and research institutions from across Pennsylvania will receive a $2.5 million investment from the Keystone Innovation Starter Kit (KISK) program to serve as a driver for the commonwealth’s economic growth, and help to cement the state’s reputation as a world-class leader in faculty recruitment and advanced technology. As part of the KISK program, The Commonwealth Medical College was awarded $137,000 for their faculty and/or technical needs. “The starter kit enables us to purchase a specialized piece of equipment called an ‘Array Scanner’ which is a specialized microscope that can detect rapid changes in cells and can screen many cell samples,” said Dr. Flynn. “We bought this piece of equipment to help our faculty analyze changes that occur in cells in response to deleting specific gene products, which enables faculty to uncover the function of certain proteins in diseased cells relative to normal cells. Our faculty member, Dr. Sonia Planey, developed this assay which can be done in the lab very cheaply. If this discovery turns out to be significant and useful, it will reduce the risk and cost to patients who are admitted into hospitals for diagnosis.”
The Commonwealth Medical College has campuses in Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and Williamsport, and is dedicated to training the next generation of physicians in a community-based model. “Focusing on selecting students with a propensity for community service, the school’s unique structure is designed to provide these students with diverse clinical experiences from the very first day of their education,” said Dr. Flynn. Dr. Flynn came to TCMC with a background in building research programs in Cancer and Cell Biology. He accomplished much at his former institution, but had a desire to help formulate larger research programs that were focused on discovery and fostered novel training opportunities for students. Dr. Flynn stated: “I inquired about TCMC to the Dean, who invited me to visit and ultimately, I was hired last December to develop our basic research and graduate education programs, and link these programs to health care and economic development.”
In addition to being a recent Keystone Innovation Starter Kit recipient, The Commonwealth Medical College has also become The Northeastern Pennsylvania Technology Institute’s newest Founding Member. “NPTI will link us with our research and education partners in the region and enable us to develop partnerships that will help not only us, but our collaborators,” said Dr. Flynn. “We will be able to pursue new educational initiatives, identify research collaborations, increase our ability to obtain federal funding for our research programs and also, NPTI will help us interact with the business community and address workforce training issues and develop applied research programs that promote economic development.”
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on Feb 28 2011. Filed under People in Education.
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