2019 Lecture Daniel E. Dawes, J.D. , was the 2019 Theodore R. LeBlang Distinguished Lecturer . His presentation was entitled: The Future of Health Equity in America . Dawes is a nationally recognized leader in the movement to advance health equity among under-resourced, vulnerable, and marginalized communities. An attorney, scholar, and health policy expert, Dawes serves as the Senior Advisor and General Counsel to the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, and as an Associate Professor of Complex Health Systems at the H. Wayne Huizenga College

Southern Illinois University School of Medicine was founded in 1970 with four areas of excellence: medical education, patient care, research and community service. Caring for the communities of central and southern Illinois is SIU Medicine’s mission, and the School of Medicine aims to improve the health of residents across its 66 county service region. In 2016, SIU Medicine launched the Office of Population Science and Policy (PSP) to advance its social mission and find innovative solutions to improve health beyond the confines of the hospital and clinical walls. Led by a group of pioneering

Aspects Volume 39 No. 1 What’s the state of the School of Medicine? The state of the School is good. It’s our mission to take responsibility for the health of the 2.2 million people in our 66 county-defined population. That’s our social accountability. The School of Medicine has a good reputation and has done good work with training students and resident physicians to be the heart and soul of clinical practice – it’s impressive what’s been done, but we have significant opportunities to do more to improve the region’s health. What are your top priorities? I want to renew and strengthen

TRAINING A ROBOTIC SURGERY GENERATION Aspects Volume 39 No.1 Written by Lauren Murphy • Photography by Jason Johnson It looks like something out of a science fiction film: a three-armed, six-foot tall, 1,400 pound robot with three-dimensional vision, forceps, needle drivers and cautery instruments that act as hands. Capable of performing delicate, extraordinarily precise procedures deep within the body using miniature instruments and 10 times magnification, the da Vinci ® Surgical System is the next generation of minimally invasive surgery. The robotic surgery platform is where imagination

TRAINING A ROBOTIC SURGERY GENERATION Aspects Volume 39 No.1 Written by Lauren Murphy • Photography by Jason Johnson It looks like something out of a science fiction film: a three-armed, six-foot tall, 1,400 pound robot with three-dimensional vision, forceps, needle drivers and cautery instruments that act as hands. Capable of performing delicate, extraordinarily precise procedures deep within the body using miniature instruments and 10 times magnification, the da Vinci ® Surgical System is the next generation of minimally invasive surgery. The robotic surgery platform is where imagination

TRAINING A ROBOTIC SURGERY GENERATION Aspects Volume 39 No.1 Written by Lauren Murphy • Photography by Jason Johnson It looks like something out of a science fiction film: a three-armed, six-foot tall, 1,400 pound robot with three-dimensional vision, forceps, needle drivers and cautery instruments that act as hands. Capable of performing delicate, extraordinarily precise procedures deep within the body using miniature instruments and 10 times magnification, the da Vinci ® Surgical System is the next generation of minimally invasive surgery. The robotic surgery platform is where imagination

Written by Karen Carlson Published in Aspects 39-1, Winter 2016 Jerry Kruse, MD, MSPH, was perfectly at home standing before a crowd of 200 at the Citizens Club of Springfield meeting in October. Poised on the stage at the Memorial Center for Learning and Innovation, the newly named fourth dean and provost of SIU School of Medicine gave his take on "The Future of Health Care" to a rapt audience. "I thought I might be asked to speak about the fate of the universe," Dr. Kruse joked. Intermixing a whirlwind of facts and humor, Dr. Kruse brought insights to the Citizens Club meeting that reflect

Written by Lauren Murphy | Photography by Jason Johnson Published in Aspects Magazine, Spring 2016 | Vol. 39 No. 2 Fifty-one-year-old Roy Bellamy was in and out of the emergency department more than 89 times in 2014, amassing upward of $330,000 in hospital charges. His costly pattern led him to Tracey Smith, DNP, and the team of hotspotters, a multidisciplinary group dedicated to identifying and helping hospital super-utilizers like Bellamy. Photo Caption: Dr. Tracey Smith visits Roy Bellamy while he’s not feeling well. In central Illinois, it’s a problem Dr. Smith, community workers and other

Written by Lauren Murphy | Photography by Jason Johnson Published in Aspects Magazine, Spring 2016 | Vol. 39 No. 2 Fifty-one-year-old Roy Bellamy was in and out of the emergency department more than 89 times in 2014, amassing upward of $330,000 in hospital charges. His costly pattern led him to Tracey Smith, DNP, and the team of hotspotters, a multidisciplinary group dedicated to identifying and helping hospital super-utilizers like Bellamy. Photo Caption: Dr. Tracey Smith visits Roy Bellamy while he’s not feeling well. In central Illinois, it’s a problem Dr. Smith, community workers and other