Giving Thanks to Advancing Health Through Research

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I hope you get a chance to breath, relax and enjoy the things most important in your life.

On this day of thanks, I want to express my gratitude to those I work with at MHRI, MedStar Health and Georgetown University. We are all so fortunate to work together to create new knowledge that improves the health of our community today, and the future health of all tomorrow.

During this last year, we experienced firsthand the power of science to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.  Medical advances have touched so many lives in so many ways.The COVID-19 vaccines are the result of many years of research and the work of many teams of investigators. Using this foundational knowledge, the first vaccine was created in less than a year for COVID-19 and since authorized for emergency use, more than 445M doses have been delivered in the U.S.  Most recently, even young children across DC are getting the vaccine through the work of public health officials and MedStar Health physicians.

While the vaccine has armed us with a tremendously powerful tool to fight the virus, I stand equally proud and grateful for the work our teams of investigators have done to better understand community spread, track COVID-19 mortality utilizing artificial intelligence, develop new treatment protocols for patients with COVID-19, and identify related and downstream impacts of the pandemic. These are only a handful of the impactful projects happening across the Institute and serve as examples of the potential we have as an organization to positively affect the well-being of our communities (and beyond).

As we continue to make progress in our efforts to overcome the pandemic, our research teams remain steadfast to investigator medicine’s other pressing issues across clinical disciplines and health services. MedStar Health's research will remain a critical tool in our mission to serve our patients, those who care for them, and our communities. I look forward to sharing more of our great work with you in the coming year and take great pride and joy to be part of the team.

With gratitude, Neil

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