MU medical dean visits to drum up alum support for life science

William Crist's father, now 90, is one of two children out of a family of nine siblings that lived beyond the age of 20. This was not an uncommon statistic for families in the late 1800s. Polio, leukemia, diphtheria -- all killers in those days -- have been subdued by modern medicine in the past century.

It is with that in mind that Crist came to Cape Girardeau as the dean of the University of Missouri Medical School in Columbia on Thursday. He came to generate excitement among M.U.'s med school alumni in Southeast Missouri about the medical progress their alma mater has helped facilitate and rally them under the banner of life science expansion in Missouri's universities.

"If you look nationwide, life sciences is one of the growth industries because people have shown an enormous willingness to invest in it," Crist said. "The progress that has been made is more than those people realize. The results of this continued investment will be unbelievable."

Part of that continued investment would be a proposed $350 million bond issue that would help fund capital improvement projects at several of Missouri's universities and colleges, including Southeast Missouri State University. Many of these improvements would be aimed at development of life sciences facilities.

Under the proposal, Southeast would receive $17.5 million toward a $23.4 million renovation of Johnson, Magill and Rhodes halls, which house the university's math and science departments, including biology and chemistry.

More lab spaceCrist said M.U.'s share of the proposal would help fund construction of more lab space for bio-medical research.

"It will allow us to become a major part of the state's bio-med research," Crist said. He said M.U. already has strong plant and animal science programs in place. His goal is to "finish that loop" with stronger human science research facilities.

Medical research has been the focus of Crist's career. Before being named dean of medicine in September 2000, Crist had spent 30 years in labs fighting childhood cancer at Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Alabama in Birmingham, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., and the Mayo Medical School in Rochester, Minn.

Although most of Crist's life has been dedicated to human science research, he emphasized the need for synergy between what he considers the three branches of life sciences.

"It's not just doctors, it's the plant and animal scientists, too," Crist said. "All of their work benefits human health."

By connecting these branches and investing life science research and education in the state's universities, Crist said Missouri can become a nationwide leader in the growth industry.

trehagen@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137