Missouri Medical Review Fall 2009 : Page 25Tom and Anne Smith are joined by MD-PhD students Brian Bostick, left, and Kevin Fisher, second from right, and Amanda Brodeur, MU MD-PhD graduate, in March at a celebration of the Smiths’ $2 million gift to the School of Medicine. “Thank you to everyone who has ever helped us, educated us, healed us, or in any other way allowed us to reap the benefits of a long and healthy life,” Tom Smith said at the celebration. “Anne and I have been very fortunate throughout our lives, and it is gratifying to have this opportunity to pay back.” receive high satisfaction from discovery, teaching and providing patient care, this is often in exchange for a lower salary than a physician would earn in private practice. Scholarships for MD-PhD students provide immediate benefits to medicine. Medical students are enabled to explore the potential of science during their years of highest creativity and interdisciplinary training. As MD-PhD graduates advance in their careers, scholarships they received as students allow them to have more years of productive research without the enormous burden of tuition debt from medical education. And when MD- PhD graduates complete training in their chosen clinical specialties, they typically return to academic medical centers like MU’s to lead translational research teams and train the next generation of physician-scientists. “Tom and Anne Smith have provided a transformational gift that will help tear down financial barriers for students considering careers in academic medicine,” said MU Chancellor Brady Deaton, PhD. “The Smiths’ support of MD-PhD students will result in the development of outstanding medical minds at MU. Graduates of their program will also go on to advance patient care, research and education throughout the world.” Tom Smith received a computer science degree from MU in 1984 and went on to found Datastorm Technologies, a software development company headquartered in Columbia. He is the president of Smith Investment Management, Flat Branch Pub and Brewing, and Sirius Hospitality LLC, which owns the HuHot Mongolian Grill franchise in Columbia and St. Louis. The Smiths, who are deeply devoted to preserving and protecting animals, also support the University Concert Series and have previously established a scholarship endowment in computer science in the College of Arts and Science at MU. In addition, Tom Smith currently serves as a trustee for the Missouri Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. The Tom and Anne Smith MD-PhD Program began with nine students and is led by 16 executive committee members. Half of the executive leadership members are physician-scientists with MD-PhD degrees. Anthony, the program director, also is chair of MU’s Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences. He previously helped direct the MD-PhD program at Duke University and developed curricula for medical scientists at Harvard University. —Rich Gleba 25 Publication List |
