Board of Visitors Approves Academic Affiliation with Inova

June 9, 2017

Dear Health System Team Members:

Earlier today, the UVA Board of Visitors approved an academic affiliation with Inova Health System Foundation that includes a research institute and a UVA School of Medicine regional campus in Northern Virginia.

Located at the Inova Center for Personalized Health in Northern Virginia, the Global Genomics and Bioinformatics Research Institute will recruit eminent researchers to work in collaborative teams on genetics and genomics, bioengineering, systems biology of disease, developmental biology and computational biology. Our collective goal is to make scientific discoveries that can be turned into new treatments, drugs and devices that improve the health of patients across Virginia and beyond.

UVA and Inova will renovate a 220,000-square-foot building at the center to house the institute. Renovations are scheduled for completion by the end of 2018. George Mason University has joined UVA and Inova as partners in the institute, and we hope to have other public colleges and universities in Virginia join the institute.

We believe that through collaborative partnerships that build on the strengths of Virginia’s research universities and private industry, the Global Genomics and Bioinformatics Research Institute will improve the health of all Virginians and make Virginia a world leader in biomedical research. Similar to the Research Triangle in North Carolina, the institute can also spur new products and businesses that will greatly benefit Virginia’s economy.

Along with the research institute, the Board of Visitors approved plans Friday for a UVA School of Medicine regional campus at Inova Fairfax Hospital. Slated to open in March 2021, the campus will eventually accommodate up to 72 UVA medical students.

Students can opt to attend the regional campus in Fairfax after completing their first 18 months of medical school in Charlottesville. At Fairfax, they can perform their clerkship and post-clerkship rotations, which cover the last two-and-a-half years of medical school.

The regional campus will provide more capacity to accommodate UVA medical students while providing the students with the opportunity to learn in an environment with a denser population.

We will keep you updated as plans for our research and education affiliation with Inova continue to take shape.

Sincerely,

Richard P. Shannon, MD
Executive Vice President for Health Affairs

David S. Wilkes, MD
Dean, UVA School of Medicine

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