University Senate has approved the merger of the School of Medicine’s five Basic Sciences departments into a new Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences.

“This organizational restructuring was driven by two major factors: the importance that integration and interdisciplinarity have assumed in biomedical education and research, and the desire of the School of Medicine to adopt a structure for the Basic Sciences that best enables academic achievement in a very challenging fiscal environment,” says Dr. Iain Young, Vice-Dean Academic.

Uniting the Departments of Anatomy & Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Microbiology & Immunology, Pharmacology & Toxicology, and Physiology has created a new foundation for multi‐disciplinary education and research collaboration, while enhancing the operational and strategic capabilities of the Basic Sciences.

“Our priority remains ensuring academic excellence and an optimal student experience,” says Dr. Young. “This change is the result of a year of consultation across the faculty and it is widely supported.”

Amalgamating HR, financial and infrastructure resources will improve efficiency and allow the new department to respond and adapt quickly to ongoing environmental change.

“More importantly, uniting faculty and staff around common missions and visions for education and research will promote the interdisciplinary collaborations on which future success in the biomedical sciences so critically depend,” says Dr. Young. “Our pressing need for a form that follows our function prompted this innovation. It is a model that may be useful to others in the University who face similar challenges.”