To Our Readers: Message from Ravi Thadhani

A few months ago, I celebrated my first anniversary as leader of Emory’s health sciences schools, centers, and institutes; health system; and research enterprise. I’ve learned much about what sets Emory apart from its peer institutions. The breadth and scope of our work cover the full spectrum of health and healing, while a deep commitment to collegiality and collaboration really distinguishes us among other academic health centers and amplifies the impact of our scientists, medical professionals, and educators.

The Emory Microbiome Research Center (EMRC) is a perfect example. The human microbiome is the community of trillions of microorganisms living on and in our bodies. Some of these microorganisms can cause illness, but the vast majority work in concert to help us digest food, boost our immune systems, support heart and brain health, and more. They may even help us fight disease.

These microbes have a pervasive influence on all human life. That’s why Emory launched the EMRC to better understand the microbiome and how we might manage it to promote optimal health. The center embraces Emory’s distinctive spirit of collaboration to foster multidisciplinary research among scientists in wide-ranging disciplines including immunology, cell and development biology, metabolism, bioinformatics, genomics, and many others, along with leading-edge analytical and computational technologies.

With our tripartite, co-equal core missions of research, education, and patient care—and our commitment to collaborating across disciplines to maximize results—Emory is uniquely qualified to advance our understanding of the microbiome and to develop opportunities to apply that knowledge to improve lives and provide hope.

I hope you will enjoy reading more about Emory’s innovative microbiome research (page 40), along with many other exciting and transformative projects underway here. And thanks to our health science communicators for another outstanding publication highlighting our collaborative efforts to promote health and well-being for our patients, faculty, staff, students, and community.

Kind regards,

Ravi Thadhani

Please direct questions and comments to evphafeedback@emory.edu.