University of Illinois President Robert Easter on Wednesday endorsed a new medical school at the Urbana-Champaign campus, the most significant signal yet that the project will go forward.

The idea of an engineering-based medical school has been championed for a year by campus Chancellor Phyllis Wise, who has called it a "game-changer" and one that is necessary for the university to compete in fields such as biomedicine. The new school would be separate from the university's existing College of Medicine, which is overseen by the University of Illinois at Chicago campus.

"I truly believe we are on the cusp of transformational changes in health care and health care delivery," Easter said at a board of trustees' committee meeting Wednesday afternoon. "The University of Illinois has an opportunity to gain a position of national leadership in this new era."

Easter recommended that the board approve the campus' proposal at its meeting Thursday. Board approval would mean that the campus could begin steps to open the school, including entering into a contract with partner Carle Health System. The first class of medical students could begin as soon as fall 2017.

The proposal calls for a small, specialized engineering-based medical college with up to 50 students per class. The college would draw on the university's strengths in engineering and technology to graduate physician-scientists and engineers who may work in clinical practice but also would have the skills and inclination to develop new medical equipment and innovations.

"When we think about health care, it is going to be all about new sensors, new materials, new robotics, new imaging, new uses of big data put to application in the field of medicine. We have a unique capacity to do this," Wise said in an interview with the Tribune. "When I think about the next 150 years and how the College of Medicine will add to our ability to have a huge impact, it is a game-changer."

As proposed, the new school would not rely on state funding. It would be supported in part through a partnership with Carle Health System. The health system has pledged $100 million over the first 10 years. Other revenue would come from tuition, donors, grants and contracts, patient fees and the commercialization of medical technology. Wise said the goal is to secure $135 million from donors in the first 10 years, and that one donor has committed $10 million.

Wise has said that without a medical school, the state's flagship public campus is at risk of falling behind its peers, as it can't compete for certain grants or attract and retain researchers and scientists whose work relies on a medical school.

Trustees at Wednesday's meeting seemed poised to approve the plan, though some wanted assurance that a new medical school would not drain financial resources from other academic programs. Easter said that the plan to partner with a private entity could serve as a model for future programs as state funding declines. He also said he was initially "skeptical" of the financial feasibility of the plan but has come around.

"For me, the financial risk makes sense, the need makes sense and we need to make sure the two colleges are working in full unison to the extent they can to make both enterprises better," said Patrick Fitzgerald, a trustee.

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U. of I. president endorses new medical school at Urbana-Champaign