SickKids and U of T: An A+ Affiliation
The 1994-1995 Research Institute Annual report celebrates the 75 year relationship between The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and the University of Toronto.
“Where would the Hospital for Sick Children be without the University of Toronto? Adrift in downtown Toronto without an academic lighthouse, that’s where. We can no more imagine the Hospital without the University than we can the University without the Hospital.”
Dr. James Friesen,
Director of SickKids Research Institute,
1994-1995 RI Annual Report.
The relationship between SickKids and U of T began in 1919 when Dr. Alan Brown, physician-in-chief at SickKids was appointed as associate professor of medicine at the University. He enthusiastically combined his teaching with his clinical duties, administrative responsibilities and efforts to develop research activities at the Hospital.
In 1935, U of T established paediatrics as a separate department in the Faculty of Medicine and Dr. Brown was named U of T’s first professor of paediatrics, leading a long line of physicians, researchers and other health care professionals at SickKids who have shared their knowledge and experience with U of T students.
According to the 1994/1995 RI Annual Report, more than 700 SickKids staff had appointments at the University of Toronto and they made up 20 per cent of the Faculty of Medicine. The two institutions also collaborated on research programs like the Structural Biology program with a joint Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Facility, housed in the Medical Sciences Building at U of T and funded by the SickKids Foundation. Dr. Friesen predicted at the time that collaboration of research between institutions would be the wave of the future.
“Our relationship with the University of Toronto, as vital and rewarding as it is now, will only become stronger as we seek more opportunities for collaboration. … In the future there will be more shared research projects, more joint appointments and expanded partnerships in programme development. I’m convinced that this is how huge advances in research and clinical practice will be achieved.”
And he was right. The relationship between SickKids and U of T continues today with clinicians and researchers all holding cross-appointments at U of T and working on many projects shared between the two institutions.