Joe G.N. "Skip" Garcia, MD, senior vice president for health sciences at the University of Arizona, has been elected to a three-year term on the board of directors for the Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC).
The AAHC is a non-profit association dedicated to advancing the nation's health and well-being through the vigorous leadership of academic health centers. The UA Health Sciences is a member of the organization, which held its annual meeting Sept. 17-18 in Atlanta.
Dr. Garcia, the UA Merlin K. DuVal Endowed Professor and an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, is an internationally noted physician-scientist, health administrator, scholar and educator. He is a leading authority on the genetic basis of lung disease and the prevention and treatment of inflammatory lung injury. A key member of the UA’s senior executive team, Dr. Garcia provides academic leadership for the UA Health Sciences colleges: the UA College of Medicine – Tucson; the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix; the UA College of Pharmacy; the UA College of Nursing; and the UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. He has more than 400 peer-reviewed publications, as well as an expansive portfolio of National Institutes of Health-sponsored research and continues to direct large federally funded programs. Dr. Garcia is a passionate advocate for the training of physician-scientists and is an active supporter of minority medical and science students.
Steven A. Wartman, MD, AAHC president and CEO, said, “I am delighted to welcome Dr. Garcia to the AAHC board. He is an accomplished leader, and I look forward to his perspective in this transformational time for academic health centers."
“AAHC and its member institutions are at the forefront of health professions education, patient care and biomedical and health services research. It is a privilege and honor to be elected to serve on this important board,” Dr. Garcia said.
About the Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC)
AAHS seeks to advance the nation's health and well-being through vigorous leadership of the nation’s academic health centers. Its mission is to improve the nation's health-care system by mobilizing and enhancing the strengths and resources of the academic health center enterprise in health professions education, patient care and research. The more than 100 academic health centers nationwide, including the UA Health Sciences, have enormous impact regionally, nationally and internationally.
- Education: They are essential to the nation’s higher education system as they educate tomorrow’s health-care providers and pioneers.
- Patient care: These institutions are vital providers of patient care, from basic to advanced, and offer comprehensive as well as cutting-edge treatments.
- Research: Their large portfolios of research generate new ideas, leading to novel concepts and therapies.
Academic health centers also serve as economic engines. Locally, they employ thousands of professionals and staff, and their research creates original products and technologies that benefit millions of people worldwide. Together, their impact is felt in nearly every sector of the global economy. They also are deeply embedded in their communities, often serving as safety-net providers and standing on the nation’s frontline of defense in response to public health outbreaks, natural disasters, local crises and potential terrorist attacks.