Academics & Research
Physicians and researchers partnering to improve patient care in East Tennessee
Overview
The University of Tennessee Medical Center, in Knoxville, Tennessee, partners with the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine to form the region’s academic medical center. Together, we have a national reputation in education and in building research programs of national merit.
Advantages of an Academic Medical Center
Most hospitals treat the patients that come through the door, filling a vital need in the community. An academic medical center also treats patients, but it does so much more.
At The University of Tennessee Medical Center, we’re the region’s academic medical center. Through our three-fold mission of healing, education and discovery, we strive to provide the best possible care to our patients.
When you come here, you can be confident that your doctors aren’t just using the latest medical technologies — they’re also developing them.
Over the last 60 years, our physicians and scientists have participated in many important discoveries, including:
- A strengthened collaboration with Siemens imaging groups that led to the development of new technology and tools that enhanced PET/CT and PET/MRI imaging technology and improved detection of cancer and other diseases. Â
- Development of a free-to-use web-based breast cancer recurrence prediction tool.
- Identification of two novel immunotherapy agents (antibodies) for the treatment of systemic light chain amyloidosis that resulted in international clinical trials.
- Identification of human papillomavirus in oral cancer, previously thought to only be pathogenic in oropharyngeal cancer.
- Performance of the first-in-man evaluation, using PET/CT imaging, of the antibody 11-1F4 for the detection of amyloid deposits, which has never before been achieved.
- Discovery of ODAM, a previously undiscovered protein that has been shown to be an indicator of metastatic disease in patients with breast cancer and melanoma.
- Studies that identified the complex role of aspirin as an anti-coagulant.
- Identification and characterization of new disease mechanisms that underlie the pathology of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.
- Development of a biostatistics resource that resulted in an exponential increase in the academic productivity of faculty and residents.
And our research programs include:
- Amyloidosis and Cancer Theranostics Program
- Anesthesiology Research Division
- NeuroNet
- Molecular Imaging and Translational Research Program
- Preclinical Diagnostic and Molecular Imaging Laboratory
- Regenerative Medicine
- Vascular Research Laboratory
- Oral Surgery Research Laboratory
- Trauma Critical Care Research Laboratory
- Cancer Community of Scholars
Learn more about what it means to be an academic medical center.
Academics: Training Tomorrow's Physicians, Today
Our academic partner, the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine is a growing enterprise of faculty and research. It offers programs in medicine and dentistry with:
- 224 residents
- 430 faculty (both full-time and volunteer)
- 11 residency programs
- 10 fellowship programs
Our faculty and residents are some of the nation’s finest. Educational and research opportunities are available with the main University of Tennessee campus, the University of Tennessee School of Veterinary Medicine and Oak Ridge National Laboratories.
Our campus prides itself that our faculty practice medicine and dentistry as well as teach. We strongly believe that patient care is still a priority, and that being a practicing doctor is essential to being a good educator.
Learn MoreResearch: Advancing the Frontiers of Medicine
The University of Tennessee Medical Center operates under a three-fold mission of healing, education and discovery. We work with the UT Graduate School of Medicine to build research programs of national merit. Together, we sponsor extensive research in both the clinical and laboratory settings.
In that endeavor, we partner with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, UT College of Veterinary Medicine, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and other research institutions to seek answers to complex medical problems. We train students, physicians and scientists to become the researchers of the future and approach health care with the curiosity that will lead to improvement in the lives of our patients.
Learn MoreResearchers Develop Tool to Predict Breast Cancer Recurrence Test Results
Researchers at The University of Tennessee Medical Center developed a tool that helps women who had breast cancer learn how likely it is to recur, without taking an expensive test.
Learn MoreSubscribe to Frontiers
Every quarter, The University of Tennessee Medical Center and UT Graduate School of Medicine publish Frontiers. This online magazine focuses on stories of fulfilling our mission of healing, education and discovery in East Tennessee and beyond.
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