ASU and community officials announced the location of the forthcoming School of Medicine and Advanced Medical Engineering in Phoenix on Monday.
The new ASU building will be constructed at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Fillmore Street in downtown Phoenix, replacing a gravel lot. The site is located within the Phoenix Bioscience Core district.
"It's central to everything," ASU President Michael Crow said. "It's going to be the brain and an innovation center."
The medical school will be at the center of ASU Health, a new effort meant to expand innovation in health fields.
READ MORE: New ASU medical school to be built on Downtown Phoenix campus
Sherine Gabriel, the executive vice president of ASU Health, said the effort intends to apply the diverse knowledge and immense resources present at the University to improve health outcomes. The Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation and the College of Health Solutions are two preexisting arms of ASU Health.
The medical school will be accompanied by the new School of Technology for Public Health and several other initiatives, including a health observatory and a health literacy program on Arizona PBS.
The effort is supported by the City of Phoenix, the Arizona Board of Regents and private partners. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego spoke at the announcement event.
"We want to make sure that the clinical partnerships benefit our residents, particularly those who don't have access to health care," Gallego said.
Cecilia Mata, the chair of ABOR, said the University's approach to health education allows students to use emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and data science.
"By really finding what is possible in health care, they are building a future, pioneering solutions and are meeting the real-world challenges," Mata said.
Todd LaPorte, the CEO of HonorHealth, said he hopes students who attend will be enthusiastic about integrating technology into health care.
"The HonorHealth medical staff and interdisciplinary teams are looking forward to working closely with the ASU faculty and students as a key clinical partner," LaPorte said.
The nonprofit organization is also contributing financially.
"The goal is to create a different kind of health professional, not just create more," Gabriel said.
Gallego said ASU graduates will be prepared "in a way no other medical school's alumni" are. The University announced the creation of a medical school in 2023 to fulfill a request by ABOR that all three state universities help expand health coverage for Arizonans.
Speakers at the event also discussed the health scarcities and disparities facing Arizona communities.
LaPorte said the growth of the Valley compounds upon the existing shortage of medical professionals the University seeks to alleviate.
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Gallego said when she gave birth to her son, he was eligible for additional medical services because of his Latino heritage and home in South Phoenix.
"I had been a mom for a few hours and someone was already telling me that his ZIP code might determine his health status," Gallego said. "ASU Health will help us make sure that ZIP code does not determine your health outcome."
Crow pointed to both the uneven distribution of health coverage and the high cost of care compared to other industrialized countries. He said the University is uniquely positioned to solve those problems.
"We're trying to take the assets of the most innovative university that the United States has had and apply them to this new class of problems," Crow said. "This, right here on this gravel pile, will be the headquarters of all of that."
Edited by Senna James, Sophia Ramirez
Reach the reporter at coyer1@asu.edu and follow @carstenoyer on X.
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Carsten is a freshman studying journalism and mass communication. This is his first semester with The State Press. He also worked as his high school's newspaper editor-in-chief.
