A Senior Vice President for Tulane University, Dean of the School of Medicine, and the James R. Doty Distinguished Professor and Chair, Dr. L. Lee Hamm leads an impressive coalition of medical professionals as Tulane Medicine continues their long history as a destination Academic Medical Center through their new partnership with LCMC Health.
“When my tenure began as Senior Vice President & Dean of the School of Medicine, our vision was for a medical school that better aligned with the needs of the university and community,” says Hamm. “The team saw a need to continue our preeminent education mission while also improving research operations and our clinical delivery of care. We have been able to achieve that while continuing to grow bigger and better.”
An expert in Nephrology, the study of kidney disease, Hamm got his start at Tulane in 1992 after attending medical school at the University of Alabama and serving his residency at UT Southwestern and on the faculty of Washington University in St. Louis. Hamm previously served as Co-Director of the Tulane Hypertension and Renal Center of Excellence and chair of the American Heart Association Council on the Kidney and Cardiovascular Disease before taking the role of Senior Vice President & Dean with a focus on improving research, operations, and opportunities for Tulane in the Greater New Orleans area.
“When my tenure began as Senior Vice President & Dean of the School of Medicine, I had a vision for a medical school that better aligned with the needs of the university and community.”
In January of 2024, Tulane University formally implemented a partnership with LCMC Health designed to expand access to its medical care throughout Southeast Louisiana, including a move of many clinical operations into East Jefferson General Hospital (EJ) while retaining a footprint in Downtown New Orleans. This growth of offerings to our community represents a substantive step toward medical parity for individuals of all economic and geographic demographics.
As a clinician-scientist himself, Hamm is excited about the possibilities that the LCMC Health partnership offers to both develop the future of medicine and deliver leading-edge care. The move to EJ allows Tulane Medicine to have a more robust academic medical center in state-of-the-art clinical facilities while opening up much-needed space on the downtown academic campus for advanced research, patient care, and cutting-edge educational opportunities for students and residents alike.
“The former Tulane Medical Center downtown will become the home of our new Tulane Nursing Program and expand available space for clinical and basic medical research,” says Hamm. “It allows us to update and co-locate our simulation centers and standardized patient programs, vital components for medical education. It is physical proof that we are continuing our trajectory of investment and growth downtown, which will ultimately increase the impact Tulane Medicine has on the health and wellbeing of the citizens of, as well as the economic impact of the biotech sector for, New Orleans and the broader Gulf South region.”
By combining the influence and resources of a leading academic institution like Tulane Medicine with one of the finest community-based healthcare systems in the nation in LCMC Health, Hamm is “confident that an even better future is ahead for New Orleans and all those who call the city home.”
L. Lee Hamm, MD | Tulane University School of Medicine | TulaneDoctors.com