Chapter 09: Global Academic Programs: Organization
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Description
In this Chapter, Dr. Bogler sketches the history of Global Academic Programs (GAP) and its connections with other global initiatives at MD Anderson.
He begins by explaining why education is part of MD Anderson’s mission and how GAP links to this mission. He notes that GAP began in 2002 to evaluate and manage the many requests to work with the institution. He notes that GAP was one part of the Center for Global Oncology –also included were the Global Clinical Programs and Global Business Development. Dr. Bogler says that GAP still partners with these two initiatives, but explains how their reporting structures have been altered. He now also serves on joint international advisory board he co-chairs with Amy Hay [Oral History Interview], head of Global Business Development.
Identifier
BoglerO_01_20141110_C09
Publication Date
11-11-2014
Publisher
The Historical Resources Center, Research Medical Library, The University of Texas Cancer Center
City
Houston, Texas
Interview Session
Oliver Bogler, PhD, Oral History Interview, November 10, 2014
Keywords
An Institutional Unit; MD Anderson History; Institutional Mission and Values; Institutional Processes; The Business of MD Anderson; Education; Beyond the Institution; The MD Anderson Brand, Reputation
Topics Covered
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center - An Institutional Unit; MD Anderson History; Institutional Mission and Values; Institutional Processes; The Business of MD Anderson; Education; Beyond the Institution; The MD Anderson Brand, Reputation
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Disciplines
History of Science, Technology, and Medicine | Oncology | Oral History
Transcript
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
I wanted to ask a little bit about kind of the backstory to that, because, I mean, obviously the Global Academic Programs is an extension of a lot of issues about education that are already in place at MD Anderson, and one of them, of course, is that education is part of the mission. So I wanted to pick up a little bit about that for context. You know, first of all, why is education part of the mission of MD Anderson?
Oliver Bogler, PhD:
So I would say—let me take a little step back. I would say that predominantly GAP is focused more on research collaboration and ultimately also clinical research and clinical care, but it does touch on education too. I mean, it really tries to reflect all the mission areas into the international space. I think education’s part of our mission because we are a university. I know we sometimes forget that, but we must remember. And we train an enormous number of people, I mean far more than you might think. I think at any one time there are four, five, six, or even seven thousand trainees engaged with MD Anderson in a given year, so a lot of nursing trainees, fellows, postdocs, graduate students, and all kinds of other international visitors. And that’s where I think GAP connects with the education mission predominantly. We bring in a lot of people to MD Anderson and we raise the awareness about the institution in many places as well, and it’s really critical. Dr. Kantarjian, who’s an Associate Vice President in the GAP program, he credits the fact that he was able to come to MD Anderson as an observer. I think he applied to one other Cancer Center, and I want to say Sloan-Kettering, but you’d have to fact-check that. Anyway, some other center on the East Coast, and they didn’t give him an opportunity to come, and we did. And he came and he saw, and he was like, “Wow! I want to work here.” And now he’s the chair of our leukemia department and one of our leading clinician scientists. So his point is—and I completely concur—is that you never know who you’re going to inspire by making these connections and who you’re going to be able to—either by bringing them here or going there. So I think that’s part of the vision for GAP. When Dr. Mendelsohn started it, I think that was definitely part of the desire. So my understanding is it started in around 2002 and it was to foster international collaborations and it was, I think, also in response to the fact that at the time and even today we get a steady stream of people who come to us, and they send letters and emails to various contact points, it could be the president, it could be a faculty member they know, and they say, “Hey, we want to work with you. Help us do that.” So GAP is the place where those requests go for evaluation and triangulation, and ultimately if there’s something there, potentially work up to a relationship. So it makes a lot of sense, and I think it’s an increasingly critical part of the mission. And I have to say that Dr. DePinho is just as enthusiastic and supportive of the mission of GAP as Dr. Mendelsohn was. I mean, I think there’s no real difference, and I think, if anything, Dr. DePinho has a broader vision of the impact he wants to have on cancer, and he doesn’t just mean in any one place, but everywhere.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Now, as I’ve—let’s see if I can sort of find my—because you work with the Vice President of Global Clinical Programs and then the Vice President of Global Business Development as well, is that—no, I’m not [unclear]? (laughs)
Oliver Bogler, PhD:
No, that’s a little bit outdated.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Okay. So update me. (laughs)
Oliver Bogler, PhD:
Yeah, sure. So when I joined GAP in 2010 in July, GAP was one leg of the Center for Global Oncology, and the two departments you just mentioned were the other two legs. Ed Diaz was the Vice President for Global Clinical, and at the time, Mitch Latinkic was the VP for Global Business Development, and we were this tripartite structure in the Center for Global Oncology. Now, I can’t remember exactly when the restructuring happened, but it was probably about two years ago, maybe a little bit longer, and essentially the Center for Global Oncology was abandoned and the other two departments were restructured into the Cancer Network, which now reports to Dr. Burke, who’s Executive Vice President for the Cancer Network. For a while, it reported to Dr. Burke when he was physician-in-chief through Dan Fontaine and Gerard Coleman when they were still both senior vice presidents. So that was the initial Cancer Network structure. And, of course, now in the Cancer Network, they still have Global Business Development. That’s Amy Hay now. Amy Hay was Mitch Latinkic’s associate vice president, but when he separated, she became vice president. And then Ed is still there, Ed Diaz. And now Maggie Rowe is the Vice President of Clinical Operations, I think, and Maggie was Ed’s former AVP. So they’ve kind of morphed into a slightly broader structure, and now mostly their focus is on the Cancer Network. So the domestic program with Cooper and Banner and so on and so forth and working with—you know, and we still partner with them a lot. I mean, GAP still brings the academic component to the Cancer Network relationship. So members of my GAP team might go to Banner or to Cooper and help with the research side, with the clinical research side, and we’re in constant contact. And now we’ve actually restructured the oversight of the whole global enterprise we have. So although we’re organizationally separate, you know, I’m over here in the provost area and Cancer Network is all under—Dr. Burke now is Executive Vice President for Cancer Network. But we have an International Advisory Board, which Amy Hay and I co-chair, and that board oversees all international work, including things like Dr. Chin’s oncology expert advisor, her work with IBM, which is a Moon Shot project and is also internationally connected. But also the philanthropy work and Physicians Network and everything, so all this stuff is now at least—I mean, that’s an oversight function. It’s really an integration function that that board does. It’s not a managerial function. They report separately into their different structures. But it’s an attempt to make sure that we’re coordinated.
Recommended Citation
Rosolowksi, Tacey A. PhD and Bogler, Oliver PhD, "Chapter 09: Global Academic Programs: Organization" (2014). Interview Chapters. 1562.
https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/1562
Conditions Governing Access
Open
