Dean's Weekly Message

February 9, 2026

Dear Colleague: 

Four Faculty Members to be Elected to AAP
The work of our outstanding faculty continues to lead us to the Top 10, and we have good news to share about a major professional honor bestowed on four of our colleagues. The Association of American Physicians (AAP) has notified four School of Medicine faculty members that they have been elected and will join this prestigious group this spring. Our newly elected colleagues are:

• Terry Fry, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, Hematology, and Immunology; Charles C. Gates Endowed Chair in Regenerative Medicine; and Executive Director of the Gates Institute

• Thomas Jansson, MD, PhD, Florence Crozier Cobb Endowed Professor; Chief, Division of Reproductive Sciences; and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

• Lilia Cervantes, MD, MSCS, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine

• Neill Epperson, MD, Robert Freedman Endowed Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry

Election to the AAP is an honor extended to physicians with outstanding credentials in basic or translational biomedical research and is limited to 70 persons per year. The AAP includes over 1,900 active members and 755 emeritus and honorary members.

Founded in 1885, AAP is an elected society for leading physician-scientists who exemplify the pinnacle of pioneering and enduring, impactful contributions to improve health. Today, the association continues to serve as a repository of the best medical minds and as a forum to promote friendship, to create and disseminate knowledge, and to provide role models for upcoming generations of physicians and medical scientists.

Congratulations to our newly elected colleagues on this impressive achievement.

Many thanks to David Schwartz, MD, Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Immunology and Associate Dean for Translational Sciences, and his committee members for their work in navigating faculty through the application process.

Faculty Updates
Dan Pollyea, MD, Professor of Medicine, has been named Head of the Division of Hematology, effective February 15. Dr. Pollyea has served as the interim division head for the past 15 months. Dr. Pollyea has been at the University of Colorado Anschutz for 15 years, serving as the Clinical Director of Leukemia Services at UCHealth since his arrival, and progressing in both rank and additional leadership roles within the Division of Hematology. He was named interim chief in 2025 and has made significant strides in managing the division and helping support our new clinical funds flow model. Dr. Pollyea is an internationally recognized expert in leukemia, currently serves as Chair of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Guidelines for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and sits on several national committees and boards focused on AML.

Patrick Guffey, MD, Professor of Anesthesiology and Chief Medical Information Officer at Children’s Hospital Colorado, has been named UCHealth’s inaugural Chief Informatics and Outcomes Officer, effective March 2. Dr. Guffey currently leads enterprise informatics strategy at Children’s Hospital Colorado, where he has built and advanced clinical decision support, data governance, AI‑assisted workflows and EHR‑enabled safety initiatives. His work has strengthened clinical reliability, improved patient outcomes, and streamlined clinical practice across pediatric and academic environments. In his new role, he will lead UCHealth’s informatics, quality, and clinical intelligence strategy, including decision support, EHR optimization, quality measurement, and improvement. Dr. Guffey joined the School of Medicine faculty in 2010 after completing a pediatric anesthesia fellowship at Children’s Hospital Colorado.

Elizabeth Kovacs, PhD, Professor and Vice Chair of Research of Surgery, has been named a 2026 Distinguished Fellow of the American Association of Immunologists (AAI). This honor is awarded to long‑standing AAI members who have demonstrated exceptional scientific achievement, impactful leadership, and dedicated service to the immunology community. Dr. Kovacs’s career exemplifies these qualities, reflecting decades of influential research, mentorship, and commitment to advancing the field.

Mentorship Grant to Improve Care
Cristina Sarmiento, MD, Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and an investigator with the Adult and Child Center for Outcomes Research and Delivery Science (ACCORDS), has been awarded an NIH grant to develop the Cerebral Palsy Clinic to You health tool.

Adults with cerebral palsy are at high risk for declines in function, changes in their muscle tone, falls, pain, and mental health challenges. Dr. Sarmiento is developing this new tool to help bring better care to adults with cerebral palsy, even if they don’t have access to an institution that provides such care.

Dr. Sarmiento’s work will adapt the Down Syndrome Clinic to You, which brings health and wellness information about Down syndrome to caregivers and primary care physicians around the world. That tool was developed by an investigator at Massachusetts General Hospital.

This work is an excellent example of how the mentorship and mutual support that our faculty provide leads to improved care.

Dr. Sarmiento is a former fellow in the ACCORDS Scholars in Clinical Outcomes Research program. In her work for this new NIH grant, she will be mentored by a nationally recognized team of mentors from our campus: Megan Morris, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine (disability equity research and qualitative methodology); James Feinstein, MD, MPH, Professor of Pediatrics, (complex primary care research and pragmatic clinical trials); Daniel Matlock, MD, Professor of Medicine (human-centered intervention design and implementation); and Kathryn Colborn, PhD, MSPH, Associate Professor of Medicine (biostatistics).

Read more about Dr. Sarmiento’s project in this article in the ACCORDS newsroom.

Recent Publications
Christopher R. Gignoux, PhD, Professor of Biomedical Informatics, and Nikita Pozdeyev, MD, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics, are corresponding authors of an article, “Global multi-ancestry genome-wide analyses identify genes and biological pathways associated with thyroid cancer and benign thyroid diseases,” published February 5 by Nature Genetics. Multiple authors are from our campus.

Calies Menard-Katcher, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, is co-senior author of an original research article, “Histologic Response Is Associated With Improved Esophageal Distensibility and Symptom Burden in Pediatric Eosinophilic Esophagitis,” published in the February 2026 issue of Gastroenterology. Four colleagues from our campus are co-authors, including Glenn T. Furuta, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, and Laura Quinn, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics.

Marisa G. Stahl, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, and Edwin Liu, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, are co-authors of a commentary, “Mass Screening of Celiac Disease: A Crossing Point Between Secondary and Primary Prevention?” published in the February issue of Gastroenterology.

Mitchell J. Cohen, MD, Professor of Surgery, is co-author of an invited commentary, “To Sleep, Perchance to Heal? Postoperative Sleep Disruption According to Surgical Risk,” published February 4 by JAMA Surgery.

Adit A. Ginde, MD, MPH, Professor of Emergency Medicine, is a co-author of an original investigation, “Estimated Effectiveness of 2024-2025 COVID-19 Vaccination Against Severe COVID-19,” published February 3 by JAMA Network Open.

Hillary Western, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, is corresponding author of an original research article, “Double trouble: a propensity-matched cohort study evaluating the associations between duplicate medical records and patient outcomes,” published February 3 by BMJ Quality & Safety. Three colleagues from our campus are co-authors.
 
Lilia Cervantes, MD, MSCS, Professor of Medicine, is corresponding author of an article, “Engaging in Advocacy to Promote Policy Change: Incorporating Advocacy-Informed Research and Applying the PRISM Implementation Science Model,” published January 23 by the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Three co-authors are from our school.

Monika Dzieciatkowska, PhD, Senior Instructor; Daniel Stephenson, PhD, Senior Research Associate; and Angelo D’Alessandro, PhD, Professor, all in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, are co-authors of an article, “Choice of lipid supplementation for in vitro erythroid cell culture impacts reticulocyte yield and characteristics,” published January 29 by Scientific Reports.

Rochelle L. Cason-Wilkerson, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, is co-author of a comment, “Early life nutrition and growth: missed opportunities to build a foundation for lifelong health and development,” published January 30 by Pediatric Research.

Shikha S. Sundaram, MD, MSCI, Professor of Pediatrics, is corresponding author of an article, “Resolution of Biochemical and Histologic Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) in Adolescents with Severe Obesity after Metabolic Bariatric Surgery,” published in the April issue of The Journal of Pediatrics. Six co-authors are from our campus.

Michele M. Loi, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, is corresponding author of an article, “Reducing Hospital-Acquired Conditions in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit With a High-Risk Rounding Process,” published February 1 by Critical Care Nurse. Eight co-authors are from our campus.

Rafael Malgor, MD, Professor of Surgery, is corresponding author of an article, “Variability in care and outcomes in type B aortic dissection: A systematic review and meta-analysis of gender disparities and a preliminary assessment of ethnic disparities,” published in the January issue of Current Problems in Surgery.

Dean's Distinguished Speaker
Lora Hooper, PhD, Professor and Chair of Immunology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, will deliver the Dean’s Distinguished Seminar lecture, “How the microbiome harnesses vitamin A to shape gut immunity,” at 3 p.m. Tuesday, February 10, in Hensel Phelps West Auditorium. A reception in the first-floor atrium will occur after the lecture. The Dean’s Distinguished Seminar Series brings notable scholars to campus to discuss their work. All are invited. You can find more information about upcoming events on the campus events calendar. You can also sign up for event notifications.

IHQSE Call for Applications
The Institute for Healthcare Quality, Safety and Efficiency (IHQSE) invites applications for its Certificate Training Program (CTP) and the Clinical Effectiveness & Patient Safety (CEPS) Grant Program. CTP is a year-long professional development program combining classroom sessions, coaching, and mentorship of leadership teams charged with improving performance of care delivery systems. CEPS provides awards up to $25,000 for quality improvement initiatives aimed at improving health care value, implementing innovative process changes, and putting evidence into practice. Applications are due March 27. Email questions to [email protected].

Well-being Innovation Day
CU Thrive: Office for Well-being will host a celebration of Health Workforce Well-Being Day on March 24, featuring presentations, posters, networking, and recognition of impactful work in well-being and belonging. Details and registration are on the Office for Well-being webpage. Faculty, trainees, students, and staff are invited to present. The deadline for submitting presentations is February 13. A highlight of the day will be an opening keynote by Tait Shanafelt, MD, Chief Wellness Officer for Stanford Medicine. The National Academy of Medicine established Health Workforce Well-Being Day, officially held on March 18, to raise awareness of the clinician burnout crisis and mobilize collective action.

Spark Tank: The Med Ed Pitch Event
Faculty, students, and academic innovators are invited to attend Spark Tank: The Med Ed Pitch Event on Thursday, February 12, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Anschutz Health Sciences Building, Room P12-210. Spark Tank is a fast-paced, high-energy event where participants pitch their boldest ideas to a panel of expert judges. Teams take the stage to showcase their concept, whether it’s a new teaching tool, curriculum model, assessment method, or digital platform, all with the goal of securing institutional funding to bring their vision to life. Register to attend.

Remediation in Medical Education Events
The Academy of Medical Educators is hosting two events focused on remediation in medical education on February 26. Both events will feature Calvin Chou, MD, PhD, Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco and Senior Faculty Advisor for External Education with the Academy of Communication in Healthcare.

• The Fundamentals of Remediation workshop will be held 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. in the Nighthorse Campbell Native Health Building, Room 100.
• A special Education Grand Rounds session, “How to Prevent — Not Avoid — Remediation in Medical Education,” will be held noon to 1 p.m. in the same location or via Zoom.

Have a good week, 

John H. Sampson, MD, PhD, MBA
Richard D. Krugman Endowed Chair
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and
Dean, University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine