In 2003, a group of world-renowned scientists, as well as local business and political leaders, explored potential opportunities to promote regional economic development in the Inland Northwest. This collection of influential leaders, including Dr. Leroy Hood, the Founder and President of the Institute of Systems Biology, identified an immediate opportunity based upon the strengths within our region and the evolving global trends in science and medicine. Over the past three years, discussions and research led the aforementioned group of leaders to promote the development of a world-class scientific institution, the Institute for Systems Medicine (ISM).

The conceptualization and planning of the ISM to date has been supported by several potential partner organizations including, but not limited to, Avista Corporation, Spokane County, the State of Washington, the Institute for Systems Biology, Washington State University, Gonzaga University, Providence Health Care, and Empire Health Services. These organizations have provided support, served on a diverse Steering Committee consisting of local leadership from multiple sectors, and provided approximately $3.0M of planning funds.

In late 2005, the Steering Committee formed the Institute for Systems Medicine Planning Authority (ISMPA), a not-for-profit organization tasked to coordinate the multiple initiatives around this planning process. Over the past several months, the ISMPA has continued to involve more and more constituencies in the state of Washington and elsewhere to discuss the vision of the ISM and to collect input on its design. Spokane and the Eastern Washington community have been very supportive of the ISMPA's endeavors. These outreach and consensus building efforts have proven essential to defining the vision and mission for the ISM. Moreover, such focused involvement inspired key regional leaders to make the ISM a top priority and resulted in a meeting with the state's legislature where research, academic, and business representatives declared support for the endeavor. Such regional support secured additional planning funds, engaged potential world-class scientific candidates in recruitment discussions and supporting fundraising initiatives, and advanced the planning process.