Letter from the Dean

October 2024

Since joining the University of Colorado School of Medicine as Dean in July, I have had the pleasure of welcoming hundreds of new students, meeting exceptional clinicians and scientists on our faculty, developing strong working relationships with our hospital partners, and building connections with the community of supporters who have invested in our work. 

It has been a whirlwind, and I am excited to turn all that energy into action! 

The School of Medicine is vital to our community, the state of Colorado, and our university, and we have a responsibility to ensure that we are serving all who trust us with their care, education, and resources. 

My goal is to make us Top 10 in 10 years. We start strong. Earlier this summer, U.S. News named our school to its list of top tier research institutions. Still, we have peer institutions also looking to claim a spot in the top 10, and we won’t get better by staying the same. Our focus must be on innovating. 

We must invest in the programming that supports our exceptional clinicians and scientists in advancing the quality of care for everyone. I am fortunate to be joining CU just months after $50 million in Anschutz Acceleration Awards were announced to support campus researchers who have health care breakthroughs that are poised to have direct patient impact within three to five years. 

We must reward the entrepreneurs on our campus who are turning their discoveries into successful business ventures. CU Innovations is our campus’s go-to resource for biomedical technology commercialization, and it is helping our faculty turn knowledge into market strength. We also have an amazing opportunity to seed growth in the Fitzsimons Innovation Community, a hub for health care companies next to the Anschutz Medical Campus. 

We must ensure that our trainees have opportunities to become agents of change for our profession. Our medical school is the first in the nation to include clerkships in which all students select a panel of patients to follow for a full year, establishing a patient-centered focus while also giving our medical students the skills and knowledge they need to become exceptional physicians. That program is described in more detail in this issue of the magazine. 

Our training programs must invite those who have not been included into our laboratories and clinics. This summer, our school had the distinction of three graduate students receiving Gilliam Fellowships from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute – more than any other university. These student-adviser pairs are recognized for outstanding research and commitments to advancing equity and inclusion in science. You can also read about our awardees in this issue. 

Our School of Medicine has built a strong platform that gives us an opportunity to rise to the next level. We have assembled remarkable talent, we have a young campus with room to grow, and we have tremendous support from our community. We are grateful to all those who believe in us, and we are committed to serving them with excellence. Let’s get to work! 

With warm regards,