Decades in the Making
Letter from Guest Editor Kimberly Eck, senior associate vice president for research
Research Impact: Decades In the Making
Universities didn’t become the core of the science, technology, and innovation ecosystem accidentally.
Inspired by scientific advancements made during World War II, Vannevar Bush (then director of the US Office of Scientific Research and Development) wrote his seminal treatise, Science: The Endless Frontier, in which he described institutions of higher education as the “chief contributor to pure science.”
Bush made the case that universities were ideal organizations to advance research in the United States because they provided a rich, multidisciplinary environment to independent researchers who value knowledge creation.
Ever since, universities have been critical to the growth and success of the national research network, contributing significantly to scientific and technological advancements as well as the country’s prosperity. From 1996 to 2020, the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) credits academic technology transfer activities with generating 580,000 inventions, $1 trillion in US gross domestic product, 6.5 million jobs, 19,000 start-ups, and 200-plus drugs and vaccines. Ultimately, these discoveries and advances improved national security, quality of life, and health.
Emory took intentional action to create an environment where research could flourish as it planned its first PhD-granting degree programs. In 1939, a committee on faculty research positioned Emory’s academic research as an “indispensable” benefit to students, the community, the Southeast, and beyond. The committee made multiple recommendations that expanded the faculty’s ability to conduct research at Emory. Many of these supports are still in place today, such as the University Research Council (URC) seed funding program, a process for reducing teaching load to allow for research activity, and library resources.
Through deliberate investments and partnerships in the years that followed, including the acquisition of the primate research center in Lawrenceville, Ga., and selling the land on Clifton Road to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for its headquarters, Emory became a leading research center, fulfilling the potential the committee had foreseen.
Today, Emory conducts more than $1 billion a year in research activity driven by researchers in the Woodruff Health Sciences Center. Enterprise-wide grants and contracts are the second-largest source of operating revenue after patient services, surpassing revenue from tuition and the endowment combined. Research conducted at Emory has resulted in more FDA-approved drugs and vaccines over a 40-year period than have been developed by any other single institution of higher education. Emory researchers have informed public health policies impacting millions and saved incalculable lives.
Today, however, the societal benefits of academic research are not well understood, which has contributed to a mistrust in science and differing opinions on the role universities should play in the national research enterprise.
Multiple reasons contribute to this disconnect. One is that research impact can take a long time, sometimes many decades. To fully realize the effect that a single scientific discovery has had on the world is complex and not always readily apparent. Compounding this is the language of research, which requires precision and often uses jargon not accessible to non-experts.
In this issue of Emory Health Digest, we present several longitudinal stories that explore Emory’s role in pivotal research that has had a major impact on society, including discoveries that established the field of modern immunology, led to the development of drugs and vaccines, advanced infectious disease protocols, and improved diagnostics and treatments.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Eck, MPH, PhD
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