Dear Colleagues,
Ten days ago, I embarked on this mission to lead the School of Biomedical Sciences at HSC to its next chapter. My intention is to collaborate with you as we inspire and direct the next generation of scientists, educators and caregivers. As we advance, there will be challenges but there will also be boundless opportunities. Together we will achieve what might seem unthinkable, unreachable and unobtainable by dreaming big and becoming a world-class provider.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform our School. We cannot stand still and look to others to do it for us. I personally believe in honesty, integrity, professionalism, fairness, collaboration and respect. I have no secrets and I own my choices and decisions. If you share these values and are up for the challenge ahead, if you are not afraid of missteps and setbacks along the way, I invite you to join me on this journey.
We cannot look back unless we are planning to go that way. Let us create the future and break boundaries in education and research. Let us teach and mentor those that will soon hold our future in their hands. Let us innovate and discover cures for devastating diseases and deliver what our communities need most. Let us be different.
My colleagues, I won’t tell you it will be easy. Nothing is perfect and most certainly success will not happen overnight. Whatever challenges face us, I promise that we will keep going. We will continue moving forward– never allowing others to bring us down.
Our goal is to be innovative, transformative and values based. These traits provide our incredible potential to educate and transform the lives of the next generations through our undergraduate and graduate programs. We must help our students cultivate critical thinking skills, teach them to analyze and build strategies toward discoveries that will create solutions for society’s most critical medical problems.
Linking education to research curiosity is not just an idea, it is our bedrock. Our research enterprise must be interdisciplinary and aspirational. It must lead us to unchartered territories and unexpected new scientific discoveries. Communication and collaboration with HSC’s world-class institutes will be at the heart of SBS’ achievements and allow us to lead the way for a better future for our communities.
Since the transition began, I have held more than twenty-five listening sessions and will continue until I’ve met with every SBS team member. It’s important to hear your ideas, your concerns and your frustrations. The SBS team will be invited to attend town halls and gatherings to further discuss the future of SBS. Do join us and be a part of this quest.
In closing, I am deeply honored by the opportunity to lead SBS. We have incredible assets, tremendous talent and immeasurable ability to innovate and transform.
Thank you for being part of this transformative journey, for it’s a journey we must take together. Together, we will create an inclusive, innovative and integrated future. Our integrity and values will be our greatest power in the journey ahead. Our commitment and professionalism will help us through anything that comes our way. HSC is built on values and SBS stands with these values.
The future isn’t just ahead of us; it starts now, it starts here and it starts with us. I look forward to our future together.
Sincerely,
Dimitrios Karamichos, PhD
Interim Dean, School of Biomedical Sciences
Executive Director & Endowed Chair, NTERI
Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacology & Neuroscience
The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth
Email: dimitrios.karamichos@unthsc.edu