Dear Tri-I Community,
What a year 2022-2023 has been!
It has been a joy to gather in person again, to welcome new members and reconnect with colleagues and to celebrate the many milestones.
As of this writing, we are preparing for applicant Revisit Day and Residency Match Day, occurring simultaneously this year in a cosmic reminder that the MD PhD experience, whether within the Tri-I walls or beyond, is a continuous cycle of promise and potential, a rollercoaster of a journey enjoyed best in the moment with a healthy curiosity about what lies ahead.
This past year witnessed the celebration of the 50th anniversary of our beloved MD-PhD Program! Â Beginning as a joint program between Cornell University Medical College and The Rockefeller University, it has long since evolved to include the Weill Cornell Graduate School and the Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School. Tri-I and its predecessor programs has proudly produced 451 graduates, and this May, 16 graduating students will join our proud alumni.
This year also marks an occasion we view with mixed emotions: Dr. Olaf Andersen’s retirement. It is fair to say that Olaf built Tri-I into the program it is today, and we all owe him a debt of appreciation. We are looking forward to celebrating his career with a symposium and Tri-I reunion on June 23, and we look forward to seeing many of you there!
I will close by saying that every day I am reminded of how lucky the program is to have the steadfast support of our three institutions, the dedication of an incredible administrative staff (Catharine Boothroyd, Ben Levitt, Hanna Silvast, and Renee Horton), and the enthusiasm and generosity of Tri-I faculty who volunteer to teach and mentor our students. These days, the life of a physician-scientist can take many forms. No matter where we are in our careers, we never stop thinking about the why and how of human health and disease. That is a privilege indeed.
Happy Spring,
Kathy
Kathy Hsu, MD, PhD Tri-I MD-PhD Program Director