A Message from President Riley
By Office of the President | Dec 2, 2025
Reflecting with gratitude, we look ahead with hope and purpose
Dear Downstate Community,
As we enter this season of light and reflection and look forward to the new year with anticipation, I am grateful for the opportunity to gather as a community and celebrate our shared traditions. This month, we will officially open The Commons and welcome the holidays with the joyous spirit of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, including Downstate’s first-ever Christmas Tree Lighting. These moments allow us to pause, reconnect, and take pride in the strength and resilience that define our campus.
I extend a special thank you to everyone who contributed to the Hurricane Melissa relief efforts in Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean. Your generosity reflects Downstate at its best, rooted in service, empathy, and global citizenship. Acts of kindness like these remind us that our mission extends beyond our walls and into communities near and far.
Throughout 2025, we advanced our work with purpose and a deep commitment to Brooklyn. Across our academic programs, clinical settings, and research enterprise, Downstate continued to serve as the borough’s only academic medical center, educating a diverse and culturally responsive workforce; conducting research that addresses real-world health disparities; and caring for residents throughout Central Brooklyn. Our faculty, students, trainees, and staff continue to embody the very best of who we are.
As we look toward 2026, I am especially proud of how our #KeepCareClose campaign has strengthened our connection with the community. This initiative has reminded residents that high-quality, compassionate care is available right here at home, delivered by clinicians who understand the cultural and social contexts that shape healthcare in Central Brooklyn. As University Hospital at Downstate (UHD) moves into its historic transformation, we will continue to anchor our work in this premise, ensuring that modernized spaces, expanded services, and new clinical environments reflect the needs and voices of our neighbors.
The state’s unprecedented investment of more than $1 billion dedicated to modernizing UHD represents a new era for healthcare in Brooklyn. This multi-year transformation reflects the Downstate Community Advisory Board’s pillars that guide our direction: Leadership, Operations, and Collaboration; Hospital Reinvestment; Effective Marketing and Fundraising; and Primary and Preventive Care. Each pillar is essential to rebuilding trust, strengthening performance, and improving the health of Central Brooklyn.
We also saw meaningful progress in our academic and research missions. Enrollment expanded across our five colleges and schools. Our students learned with, from, and about one another through interdisciplinary training that mirrors modern healthcare practice. Faculty and research teams advanced discovery across chronic disease, maternal health, neuroscience, genomics, infectious disease, and AI-supported population health, strengthening our scientific footprint and delivering insights that matter for the communities we serve.
Clinically, our teams at UHD continued to provide respectful, high-quality care to some of the most medically vulnerable populations in New York City. The #KeepCareClose message amplified this work, reinforcing our commitment to ensuring that Brooklyn residents can access excellent care in their own neighborhoods. It remains a powerful expression of who we are and why we exist.
As we close out 2025, I hope each of you finds moments of peace, joy, and connection. I remain grateful for your dedication and the spirit of service you bring to Downstate every day. Together, we have accomplished an extraordinary amount this year, and together, we step into 2026 with optimism and resolve.
Warm wishes to you and yours for a wonderful holiday season, and a healthy, hopeful, and inspiring start to the new year.
The President's Bulletin will resume immediately after the new year. Happy Holidays!