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Thursday, July 21, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com NEWS
Profiles of faculty members, departments
and research at University Medical School
Ward 4 City Council race challenges incumbent’s leadership
Researchers
continue to focus on
addressing pressing
health issues
By ALEXA ST.JOHN
Daily Staff Reporter
Last fiscal year, the Univer-
sity of Michigan Health System
saw more than 2.1 million outpa-
tient visits. The patients received
a range of care with new and
innovative technologies— from
psychiatric to orthopedic, car-
diovascular and surgical — and
the University Hospital offered
its services and resources in an
attempt to find successful treat-
ments and cures.
With a $466 million research
budget, a campus larger than
11 million square feet, 1,000
licensed patient beds and more
than 26,000 faculty, students
and volunteers that make up the
University Health System, it is no
question why many of the Medical
School’s departments consistently
rank with those of other competi-
tive schools nationwide. At the
Medical School, researchers and
professors continue to focus on
constructing innovative solutions
to society’s most troubling health
problems.
Today, researchers and admin-
istrators at the University Medi-
cal School continue to further the
goals set forth since its opening in
1850 and the opening of the Uni-
versity’s hospital in 1869 — the
first program in the United States
to have established and operated
its own hospital at the time to
learn and teach.
Depression Center —
Veteran’s Health
In 1906, one of the nation’s
first psychiatry departments was
established at the University. In
2001, the University’s Depression
Center became the nation’s first
comprehensive center of its kind.
Established to bring depression to
the forefront of medical research
and public discussion, the cen-
ter has received multiple honors
for research on adolescent brain
development, substance use and
more. Recent honors include the
Center’s selection as one of 13 sites
to launch a landmark study on
substance abuse and adolescent
brain development, in addition to
the induction of several faculty
members into the University 2015
League of Educational Excel-
lence.
Housed in the Rachel Upjohn
Building, the Depression Center
is dedicated to multiple aspects
of understanding mental illness,
including research, treatment,
education
and
public
policy.
Aimed at reducing the stigma that
often accompanies mental ill-
nesses, the center welcomes those
suffering from depression, suicide
survivors and college students.
There is also a distinct focus
on veteran’s mental health. Amy
Kilbourne,
University
profes-
sor of psychiatry and director
of the Veterans Affairs Quality
Enhancement Research Initiative
Program, said a focus on veteran
mental health is crucial particu-
larly due to the growing veteran
population in the United States.
According to the U.S. Census
Bureau, the 2009 to 2013 Ameri-
can Community Survey revealed
21.3 million veterans live in the
United States and Puerto Rico — a
total of 9 percent of the popula-
tion. Due to to this consistently
increasing population, the VA
changed its focus to strictly pri-
mary care services, and QUERI
was established in 1998.
Kilbourne, who represents the
national QUERI program office
in Ann Arbor, hopes to bridge
the gap between her interest in
psychiatry and veteran care. She
added that sometimes the only
provider of mental health services
for veterans is the VA, and, con-
sequently, QUERI often co-spon-
sors suicide prevention programs
and evaluates the best strategies
of implementation for suicide pre-
vention.
However, this is not the only
aspect of veteran health QUERI
works to advance.
“The goal of QUERI is to
improve veteran’s health, and,
in order to accomplish that goal,
QUERI promotes the more rapid
implementation of research into
routine care practice,” Kilbourne
said. “We do that primarily by
funding a national network of VA
affiliated investigators who are
Two residents
running for
Councilmember
Krapohl’s seat
By KEVIN LINDER
Daily Staff Reporter
City Councilmember Graydon
Krapohl (D–Ward 4), who ran
unopposed in his original 2014
election, faces two separate chal-
lenges for his council seat from res-
idents dissatisfied with what they
describe as his ineffectual leader-
ship. However, he argues it is mere-
ly his brand of centrist pragmatism.
Both Eric Lipson and Diane
Giannola are challenging Kraphol
for his seat. Whomever emerges the
victor of the Aug. 2 Democratic pri-
mary election will most likely claim
the seat unopposed in November.
In a recent forum hosted by the
League of Women Voters, the three
candidates came together to dis-
cuss their positions on these issues.
Lipson and Giannola tended to hold
conflicting proposals for solutions
to issues facing the council, where-
as incumbent candidate Krapohl
tended to hold a neutral position.
The topic of development high-
lighted where these two candidates
differ. Giannola is a supporter of
growth in density, pushing for the
development of a large building
complex at the downtown library
lot. Lipson opposes this and sup-
ports maintaining green space and
constrained growth.
However, both Lipson and Gian-
nola share a discontent with the
current state of affairs on City
Council.
Giannola, a 20-year resident and
current manager of the Univer-
sity’s Venture Accelerator, believes
the current City Council currently
lacks an aspect of customer service
and that it operates to push agendas
through, rather than communicate
and work with residents on their
issues.
“Overall, the mentality seems to
me that they don’t see it as a service
job and more that they have been
appointed to this to pass the initia-
tives,” she said in an interview with
the Daily.
She feels strongly that com-
munication with residents is lack-
ing, primarily because many City
Council members do not put forth
the effort. Particularly, she believes
there is no meaningful constitu-
ent service in Ward 4 from its City
Council delegation.
“Graydon is non-existent from
what I can tell,” she said.
Both challengers have expressed
concerns about what they described
as Krapohl’s neutral, “wait and see”
approach to how issues unfold.
Lipson, a 40-year resident who
has acted as city planning commis-
sioner and director of Student Legal
Services, said in an interview with
the Daily he believes that many
City Council members, including
Krapohl, do not vote decisively. He
believes his competitor’s voting
habits are non-conducive to taking
actual steps forward toward solu-
tions for on-going issues such as
the dioxane plume and the lack of
transparency around the proposed
train station development.
“There are some members who
are more independent than others,”
Lipson said. “And there are some
members, such as my competi-
tor the incumbent that I am run-
ning against, who vote along the
party line and are aligned with the
mayor.”
Krapohl, a former Marine and
self-proclaimed pragmatist, says
that he votes in line with the mayor
for logical reasons, not for political
reasons.
“I don’t fly by the seat of my
pants,” Krapohl said in an inter-
view with the Daily. “When I talk
at Council, I try to get to root prob-
lems and not treat symptoms. I tend
to align with the mayor because I
think philosophically on a number
of issues I agree with that approach;
I don’t think that’s bad.”
Krapohl, who was born in Ann
Arbor and has extensively played a
role in city government during his
time as a resident, has served on the
Ann Arbor Parks Commission and
as a Neighborhood Watch coordi-
nator. While on City Council, he has
served on the Human Rights Com-
mission and the Local Development
Finance Authority.
“I think my experience and per-
spective is different from the other
two candidates, and I think that
both of them seem to be very issue
oriented and to some extent have an
agenda” Krapohl said.
Both Lipson and Giannola have
focused on particular areas of inter-
est during their campaigns and
have expressed that they intend
to take immediate action on these
issues if they are to be elected. Lip-
son wants to take immediate action
toward addressing the spreading
dioxane plume dealing with issues
of transparency concerning the
$500 million
AT A GLANCE
U-M MEDICAL SCHOOL
Sponsored Awards to
Support Research
41%
Of all U-M Expenditures
to Support Research
#12
1,534
$65 million
6,272
Ranked Medical School
in NIH Funding (2014)
Active Clinical Trials
Source: U-M Medical School
Industry Sponsored
Awards
Publications in
PubMed (2014)
2,698
74
Proposals Submitted
for Support
License Agreements with
Business & Industry
See CITY COUNCIL, Page 9
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