Dean Kim B. Clark has announced the formation of a faculty initiative in health care, with HBS professor of management practice Richard G. Hamermesh serving as chair.

Technology strategy, the design of care delivery, consumer-driven health care, team learning and organizational change, and venture capital and innovation are among the topics related to health care for which case and course materials are now being developed, Clark noted, adding that the student-run HBS Healthcare Club and the Health Industry Alumni Association are two additional forces that will be associated with the initiative.

“For many years, a significant number of people at the School have pursued a range of activities in this arena,” Clark wrote in a memo addressed to the HBS community last fall. “Richard, working closely with a faculty advisory group and the HBS community, will seek ways to leverage our existing activities and to facilitate new work that will enhance our understanding of this important field.”

“Our main goal is to increase our critical mass in this field by fostering a community of faculty, researchers, students, and alumni that will have an impact on creating leaders across the health-care industry,” said Hamermesh. One immediate outcome of the initiative’s activities, he noted, will be an increase in the number of summer internships in the health-care industry offered to MBA students. “This is a huge opportunity for us to bring together HBS students and alumni in a rapidly changing field that demands innovative business leadership.”