New Medical School Dean Says Reputation of Winship Matches Reality

Wong is a widely recognized health services researcher in academic surgery, with an extensive record of research funding and peer-reviewed journal publications. She has been a leader in prominent professional organizations, including the Society of Surgical Oncology, the Society of University Surgeons and the Society of Surgical Chairs.

WINSHIP MAGAZINE: What was it about Emory University School of Medicine that interested you in taking the job as dean of the medical school?

I have to say I was really excited to consider being a part of a team that is very integrated and aligned, considering how the components of Emory University, Woodruff Health Sciences Center, the School of Medicine and Emory Healthcare work together to make great things happen. Given my background as a surgical oncologist, having an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center with Winship’s reputation was what I was looking for and the kind of team I wanted to be a part of.

WM: Are you currently seeing patients as a surgical oncologist?

Well, not quite yet, but that's definitely in the game plans. I love taking care of patients. It is a tremendous gift. My expertise is in soft tissue tumors and skin cancers, so hopefully I can contribute to those clinics and see patients in that setting.

WM: In your recent interview with Ravi I. Thadhani, MD, MPH, Emory University’s executive vice president for health affairs, you said that this is a time of great opportunity and great challenge for academic medicine. Could you describe what you see as some of the opportunity, as well as some of the challenge?

I actually think the challenge is the opportunity because thinking about the greater mission and view of the mission, it really is about making sure that we train the next generation of clinicians, clinician-investigators and clinician leaders. And right now the health care field is a challenging landscape. We work in high-pressure environments and need to continually develop and take care of our workforce.

We also know that we face the direct challenges of the pressures of taking care of patients, the productivity pressures, the desire for folks to have more bandwidth to teach and do research. And all of those things together make for a pretty busy job.

In our people, I see this great desire to meet our missions, to really be able to provide the best patient care, to be top educators and to continue to push the boundaries of innovation and discovery. The challenge is how do we do all of that? I think we're good for it. I think we have all the right people. We need to put the pieces together and make sure that we continue to grow in the same direction.

WM: As dean of the medical school, how do you see the medical school and Winship aligning?

The alignment is such a natural one. Maybe the question you're asking is really about how do we make that happen? So many of our research programs are about how we discover so that we can conquer cancer. And then on the back end is how we deliver cancer care better—how we take those discoveries into the clinic at a faster pace and with greater fidelity. So many people who I interact with really want to see that relationship be stronger, and I see that relationship as key and critical.

WM: What are your impressions so far of Winship?

Everything that I believed about Winship has held up. Winship has an outstanding national reputation and is well recognized for being an outstanding cancer center. Winship is a matrixed organization that really allows for outstanding patient care, care of a greater population and continued advances in science and in clinical care.

Now that I’m here and meeting people, interacting with our faculty, interacting with our staff, it's such a joy to actually see that my prior perception matches the reality. It takes a team to fight cancer and make sure we provide hope for our patients.

WM: What do you see in the near- and long-term future for cancer care, and how will Emory University School of Medicine be part of that and contribute to that?

I know this gets said a lot in terms of how we will be able to personalize cancer care instead of a “one-size-fits-none” model. We're learning more and more about cancer and how to get a better understanding of each individual's cancer to better target and tailor therapies.

We have a lot of untapped potential in terms of digital health and other technologies. I also think it’s about understanding what our patients really want. Balancing quality of life, quantity of life and how we take care of the entire patient.

WM: What sorts of partnership opportunities do you foresee for Winship to create among the medical school, the nursing school and the public health school, to build synergy among Emory's various components?

That is exactly our opportunity, to really pull all of the key stakeholders together to advance the cancer care of patients and to advance our discoveries around cancer. I think it’s all there. There’s probably not a single person at Winship that I’ve talked to who isn’t so excited about that opportunity and really thinking about how much better we can do if we work together better.

WM: You’re a surgical oncologist. What led you to choose that specialty?

We take care of patients one at a time—cancer has always been compelling to me because we work for the sometimes elusive cure for patients. Sometimes that’s possible and sometimes it’s not, but there is always a patient in front of you who needs to get taken care of. The patients are an inspiration to me. Also, being an oncologist really spoke to me in terms of how much I really value teams in medicine. And that was a hook for me—the best cancer care takes great teamwork.