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South Florida Extra - Pacesetter
Research Run
Dr. Pascal J. Goldschmidt's idea of a weekend run is a 15- to 20- mile jaunt while listening to Spanish lessons on his earphones.
The Belgium native plans to bring that same focus to the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami, where in April he became dean and senior vice president for medical affairs.
"We have the opportunity to build the Miller School into one of the preeminent medical schools in the country -- not in 50 years, but in five to 10 years," says Goldschmidt, a cardiologist who was most recently chairman of the department of medicine at Duke University Medical Center.
Goldschmidt is overseeing UM's medical school during a crucial period of expansion. The university recently completed a 350,000-sq.-ft. clinical research institute and plans to build a hospital focused primarily on cancer and a biomedical research institute.
Through its "Momentum" campaign, the university has raised more than $1 billion -- much of it earmarked for medical programs. Goldschmidt, a soft spoken and intellectually curious man who has devoted extensive research to applying genomics and cell therapy in coronary artery disease, says he intends to push for excellence in all three areas of the school's mission: Patient care, teaching and research -- particularly research.
Dr. Pascal J. Goldschmidt, 52
Senior vice president for medical affairs, dean: Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami.
Oversees: More than 1,000 faculty, including 777 physicians and more than 600 medical students, 210 students on a Ph.D. track and 80 in master's programs.
New hospital: Insists UM's new hospital won't reduce the flow of insured patients to tax-assisted Jackson Memorial Hospital. "Not at all. The plan is to bring more private patients to Jackson. We have enough patients to fill both hospitals tomorrow."
Backyard care: "Many patients fly to Northern cities to get care in academic medicine. I want people in the region to access that level of expertise not by flying 2,000 miles but in their back yard."
