Mayo Clinic and University of Minnesota Renew Historical Commitment

Thursday, December 15, 2011

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic today hosted University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler, Ph.D., to sign a renewal of a memorandum of understanding, tour Mayo Clinic, and meet with University of Minnesota students who are training and practicing at Mayo Clinic. During the visit, Mayo Clinic and University of Minnesota leaders stressed a long and cherished tradition of collaboration.

According to research released by the Battelle Technology Partnership Practice in 2010, Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota have a combined $18.5 billion economic impact on the state of Minnesota. Mayo Clinic, an academic medical center, is the state's largest private employer, and the University of Minnesota is the state's largest institution of higher education.

"Truly, the histories of our institutions are intertwined. Mayo Clinic's collaborative partnership with the University of Minnesota began in 1907, representing our first external collaboration, and remains a priority today," says John Noseworthy, M.D., president and CEO of Mayo Clinic. "We are proud to work with the University of Minnesota to educate and conduct groundbreaking research. President Kaler's visit today is the continuation of a relationship that has flourished for more than 100 years and that will continue to be important for our institutions for generations to come."

"The University of Minnesota's partnership with Mayo Clinic represents an incredibly powerful combination that is and will be a force for improving health outcomes in Minnesota and around the world," says Dr. Kaler. "I am deeply gratified to renew this partnership that builds on our shared history and invites a future of imagination and innovation."

Examples of the century-long collaboration include:

• 1907 — William J. Mayo, M.D., becomes member of University of Minnesota Board of Regents, beginning generations of Mayo Clinic service on the Board
• 1915 — $1.5 million gift from Mayo brothers establishes Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research at University of Minnesota
• 2003 — University of Minnesota, Mayo Clinic and State of Minnesota announce the Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics (Partnership)
• Published 94 peer reviewed papers in scientific journals as of July 2011
• More than $82 million in external funding, resulting in an eventual estimation of 2,464 jobs
• 2008 — University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic create new, innovative models of education through Memorandum of Understanding
• 2010 — Partnership announces "Decade of Discovery" with the goal of preventing, treating and curing Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes

Drs. Noseworthy and Kaler renewed the memorandum of understanding to plan and implement collaborative education programs to support the state and region. Since the memorandum was first signed three years ago, Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota have begun numerous collaborative efforts, including the Bachelor of Science in Health Professions educational collaboration and the Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology consortium.

Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota are also engaged in the Partnership to position the state of Minnesota as a world leader in technology. As part of the Partnership, "Decade of Discovery" was born in 2010, where Mayo Clinic and University of Minnesota scientists committed to curing diabetes in 10 years. Yogish Kudva, M.B.B.S., and Ananda Basu, M.B.B.S., M.D., of Mayo Clinic, and Steven Koester, Ph.D., of the University of Minnesota, presented an update of their Partnership research to Mayo Clinic and University of Minnesota leaders during the visit.

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