WSU School of Medicine Dean John Crissman has appointed Charles Shanley, M.D., chief of the WSU Division of Vascular Surgery. Dr. Shanley, an alumnus of the medical school, also will lead clinical vascular surgery programs at the Detroit Medical Center.
"Like the rest of the school's faculty, Dr. Shanley is one of those unique physicians who possesses both a passion for research and expertise in clinical practice," Dr. Crissman said. "I am looking forward to working with him to grow our vascular surgery program and to create a first-rate multidisciplinary center that will set the standard for quality patient care."
Dr. Shanley, a native Detroiter who completed residency and fellowship training at the University of Michigan, previously served as associate chairman of the Department of Surgery at William Beaumont Hospital, in Royal Oak. He also served as assistant professor of surgery for the University of Michigan Medical School.
"This really is an opportunity to be immersed in a research culture," Dr. Shanley said. "Whatever modest success I've had is clearly based on the educational foundation I received at Wayne State. This is a way for me to give something back."
Part of Dr. Shanley's vision for the program includes creating a multidisciplinary approach to vascular disease management. During the past several years in the medical field at large, overlapping skill sets among several medical specialists have led to competitive business practices that may not be beneficial to quality patient care, he said.
Through the school's academic mission, Dr. Shanley would like to work to create a cohesive strategy for managing cardiovascular disease that could serve as a model for quality vascular care.
"Clearly, the care of patients with vascular disease is an interdependent reality involving a multitude of specialists with varying skills and aptitudes. In addition, medical device and drug development is so expensive that if we're really going to be able to afford it and if the majority of patients are to benefit from it, we must find a way to work as efficiently as possible," Dr. Shanley said. "The way to do that is to align physicians' interests and skills - in short, to help them play to their strengths."
Dr. Shanley also intends to continue his work as chairman of the Michigan Electronic Medical Record Initiative (MEMRI), a nationally recognized not-for-profit effort to improve the quality and lower the cost of health care by linking together proliferating, disparate, computerized patient record systems at Michigan health-care institutions. The ultimate goal of MEMRI is to create for Michigan citizens a lifelong electronic health record that they themselves control.
In moving to the DMC, Dr. Shanley will be joining MEMRI co-founder David Ellis who was recently appointed as the corporate director of planning and future studies. With the support and encouragement of Dr. Crissman, DMC CEO Mike Duggan and Chief Administrative Officer Rick Cole combined with more than $1 million dollars worth of hardware, software and technical support donated by Sun Microsystems, AccessPt. Inc., and i33 communications, MEMRI will be much closer to implementation for the benefit of Michigan's citizens.
In his research relating to the improvement of vascular surgery, Dr. Shanley is working to better understand the biological mechanisms that lead to restenosis or intimal hyperplasia, essentially an excess accumulation of scar tissue that may lead to failure of about one-third of vascular stents and bypass grafts. In addition to understanding the basic science behind these conditions, Dr. Shanley is also collaborating with industry as well as with scientists at the University of Michigan to develop stents and grafts that release biologically active molecules in order to prevent clotting and restenosis.