Curiosity, collaboration and care: Welcoming a new academic year

The start of a new academic year always brings with it a sense of promise — fresh opportunities for discovery, renewed energy across our classrooms, labs and hospitals, and the chance to build on all that we have achieved together. I love this season for the way it combines reflection on where we have been with anticipation for the coming year.

In the months ahead, we will enter the next phase of our academic planning process, offering the draft of the self-study for review and comment. This is an important opportunity to help shape the priorities that will guide Temerty Medicine for years to come.

We continue to work on the launch of the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health with partners at U of T Scarborough, the Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing and the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, and with key support from the Scarborough Health Network and Michael Garron Hospital. SAMIH will open next fall, with the Physical Therapy and Physician Assistant programs beginning in the 2026/27 academic year, followed by the launch of the MD program — Temerty Medicine’s fifth medical academy — the following year. We couldn’t be more excited to be part of this transformational step in expanding medical education and health care in one of Toronto’s most vibrant communities.

With these long-term initiatives, there is also much to celebrate in the immediate future. Next week, I look forward to sharing our 2025 Dean’s Report with you, which highlights the fifth anniversary and impact to date of the historic $250-million gift from James and Louise Temerty and the Temerty Foundation. I also hope to see you on Monday, September 29 for a special in-person celebration to mark this milestone. The outdoor community event runs from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the King’s College Circle entrance to the Medical Sciences Building Courtyard, with short remarks, music, sweet treats and a photo booth. (In case of rain, the event will be held in MSB’s C. David Naylor Student Commons.) Please make sure to RSVP so we can anticipate attendance.

As we mark the milestone of the Temertys’ extraordinary gift and look to the year ahead, I want to recognize that it is your contributions — in teaching, research, innovation and care — that make our progress possible. Thank you for your dedication to our learners, colleagues and patients and to the faculty’s mission.

Here’s to a year filled with curiosity, collaboration and impact, and to the many opportunities this new year promises to bring.

Lisa Robinson
Dean, Temerty Faculty of Medicine
Vice Provost, Relations with Health-Care Institutions, University of Toronto