Dean's Weekly Message

October 12, 2026

Two CU Anschutz Researchers Receive NIH Director’s New Innovator Awards

Congratulations to Alessandra Brambati, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, and Rowan Karvas, PhD, Assistant Professor of Reproductive Sciences in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, who received a 2026 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award.

The award, worth $475,000 per year over a period of five years, supports exceptionally innovative, high-risk, high-reward research with the potential for broad impact on biomedical science. Dr. Brambati will investigate how neurons repair damaged DNA, work that could ultimately reveal new therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Karvas will study early placental development to better understand the origins of preeclampsia and other pregnancy complications.

Their projects are among just 42 selected nationally for this year’s New Innovator Awards. Read more in the School of Medicine newsroom.

Dreamers Never Quit Campaign Highlights School of Medicine Faculty

CU Anschutz has launched Dreamers Never Quit, a new campaign highlighting the people and ideas pushing the boundaries of medicine, science, and discovery across our campus.

School of Medicine faculty are featured prominently in the campaign, including Daniel Kramer, MD, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery; Christopher Lieu, MD, Professor of Medicine; and Rachel Davis, MD, Professor of Psychiatry and Division Head of Adult Psychiatry. Their work represents groundbreaking advances in research and patient care taking place across our school.

Celebrating Our Shared Impact: Pediatrics Shares 2025–26 At a Glance Report

The Department of Pediatrics has released its 2025–26 At a Glance report, highlighting the collective impact of its faculty, staff, trainees, and researchers across patient care, research, education, and community partnerships.

“As you read through the report, I hope you see yourself in its pages,” said Stephen R. Daniels, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics. “Every advancement in patient care, research discovery, educational accomplishment, and community partnership represented here is possible because of the collective efforts of our faculty, staff, trainees, and researchers.”

Kudos to all our colleagues within the department on another banner year advancing the health of children and families in our Colorado communities and beyond.

Ruzas Named Medical Director of Patient Flow & Capacity Management

Children’s Hospital Colorado has appointed Chris Ruzas, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Medical Director of the PICU, as its first Medical Director of Patient Flow & Capacity Management following a competitive selection process.

In this new systemwide leadership role, Dr. Ruzas will partner with Andrea Burrell, Director of Patient Care Services, Patient Flow & Capacity Management, to oversee patient throughput, capacity management, and OneCall patient placement strategies across Children’s Colorado’s four-hospital system. Together, they will work with clinical and operational leaders to improve patient-centered workflows from admission through discharge, helping ensure timely access to care and sufficient capacity for patients across the organization.

School of Medicine and UCHealth Town Hall

I’m hosting Tom Gronow, EdD, MHA, President and CEO of UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital. Our discussion will center around our partnership, including an update on the funds flow model in supporting school priorities across all missions.

We welcome all to register for this online event and to submit questions in advance.

During the town hall, Dr. Gronow and I will share an update on the Partners in Health initiative, including new co-branded CU Anschutz and UCHealth white coats. Eligible faculty attendees will have the first opportunity to access the ordering site for co-branded white coats and North Face pullovers.

Dean's Distinguished Speaker

Noémie Elhadad, PhD, Chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics and Vice Dean for AI Initiatives at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, will deliver the Dean’s Distinguished Seminar lecture, “Reducing Diagnostic Delay Through Early Disease Detection: Endometriosis as a Case Study” at 3 p.m. Tuesday, October 13, in Hensel Phelps West Auditorium.

A reception in the first-floor atrium will follow the lecture. The Dean’s Distinguished Seminar Series brings notable scholars to campus to discuss their work. All are invited.

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Featured News

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Faculty, Fellow, and Staff Updates

Congratulations to Peter Fecci, MD, PhD, Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, who was named by Becker’s Spine Review to its 2026 list of “15 Neurosurgeons to Know.” The publication highlighted Dr. Fecci’s leadership in neurosurgery and his work in brain tumor immunology and immunotherapy, including research on glioblastoma, novel immunotherapeutic approaches, and clinical trials for primary and metastatic brain tumors.

Congratulations to Melanie Cree, MD, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics-Endocrinology and Director of the Multi-Disciplinary PMOS Clinic at Children’s Colorado, who received a 2026 INSPIRE Award from the American Medical Women’s Association. The award recognizes women physicians for exemplary leadership, mentorship, and a deep commitment to changing the culture of medicine.

Keren Eyal, MD, MPH, a fellow in Emergency Medicine-Pediatrics, was awarded the Best Quality Improvement or Program Abstract Award by the Council on Immigrant Child and Family Health at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition 2026 for her poster “Implementing Standardized Medical Screening and Care for Newcomer Populations.”

The Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame’s Great Colorado Women documentary series will feature Patricia Gabow, MD, Professor Emerita and former CEO of Denver Health, in its episode, “Champion for Health.” The episode will air on Rocky Mountain PBS at 7 p.m. on October 15.

Congratulations to Andrew H. Nguyen, a class of 2029 MD candidate, whose research project has been selected as a semifinalist in the American Medical Association Research Challenge. Andrew’s project was among 65 selected nationally, representing the top 5% of submissions from medical schools and residency programs. Congratulations, Andrew, on your hard work representing our school on the national stage.

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Featured Events

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Recent Publications

Richard J. Johnson, MD, Professor Emeritus of Medicine, is corresponding author of an article, “Inhibiting fructose metabolism to treat fatty liver,” published October 7 by Nature Metabolism. Miguel A. Lanaspa, PhD, Associate Research Professor of Medicine, is a co-author.

Randi K. Johnson, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics, is corresponding author of an article, “Genetic Susceptibility in Relative Maternal Protection From Type 1 Diabetes,” published October 1 in Diabetes Care. Six co-authors are from our campus.

Lia Gore, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, Section Head and Chief, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/Bone Marrow Transplant and The Ergen Family Endowed Chair in Pediatric Oncology, is co-author of a position article, “Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) clinical practice guideline on immunotherapy for the treatment of acute leukemia, version 2.0,” published September 21 in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer.

Harriet Dashnow, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics, is corresponding author of an article, “A comprehensive assessment of tandem repeat genotyping methods for Nanopore long-read genomes,” published August 4 in Genome Biology. Two co-authors are from our campus.

Kathleen C. Woulfe, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, and Bruce E. Kirkpatrick, a student in the Medical Scientist Training Program, are co-authors of an article, “Multi-omics insight into cardiac myofibril remodeling in post-prandial Burmese pythons,” published September 30 by Communications Biology.

Marcy E. Yonker, MD, Professor of Clinical Practice, Pediatrics Neurology, is co-author of a protocol, “Responding with Evidence and Access for Childhood Headaches (REACH) study: A comparative effectiveness trial of cognitive behavioral therapy monotherapy versus combined cognitive behavioral therapy–pharmacotherapy with amitriptyline for the prevention of childhood migraine—The study protocol,” published September 8 in Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain.

Warren Binford, JD, EdM, Professor of Pediatrics; W.H. Lea for Justice Endowed Chair in Pediatric Law, Ethics & Policy; and Director for Pediatric Law, Ethics & Policy at the Kempe Center, is co-author of a research article, “Exploring educators' awareness of and preparedness to respond to image-based sexual abuse and exploitation of children: A qualitative study,” published in October in Child Abuse & Neglect.

Zachary Corey, MD, a resident in the Department of Pathology, is first author of an original article, “Molecular Characterization of Sclerosing Nevi With Pseudomelanomatous Features,” published September 30 in the Journal of Cutaneous Pathology.

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Announcements

Positive Changes to the Distinguished Foreign Teaching License Program

Effective October 15, the Colorado Medical Board has modified rules for qualified distinguished foreign teaching licensees to apply for full licensure. Minimum qualifications include two years of service as a distinguished foreign teacher and that the applicant is free and clear of malpractice judgments, has not been under investigation, and has not had an adverse action taken against them by the medical staff office.

Faculty interested in applying or with questions about eligibility may contact Cheryl Welch, MPA, Director of Faculty Affairs, at [email protected].

Funding Opportunities from PAPSTR

The School of Medicine’s Program to Advance Physician Scientists and Translational Research (PAPSTR) has announced requests for applications for three funding opportunities:

• The Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Surgery are recruiting for the Residency Research StARR program (Stimulating Access to Research in Residency). Eligible applicants include Medicine, Medicine-Pediatrics, and Pediatrics residents starting PGY-2 or PGY-3, as well as surgery residents 6–12 months before their research training. Benefits include up to $50,000 annually in NIH loan repayment and $20,000 per scholar for research development, workshops, conferences, and career development. StARR applications must be submitted online by Friday, November 6.

• The Translational Research Scholars Program (TRSP) provides $75,000 annually for up to four years to early-career faculty who are pursuing new lines of exploration. TRSP Letters of Intent are due Sunday, November 1.

• CU Anschutz SOM Programmatic Incubator for Research (CU ASPIRE) Program: The goal of the CU ASPIRE program is to increase submission and success of large multi-PI grants (more than $750,000 in direct funds per year), including program projects, center proposals, NCI SPOREs, multi-project team science programs, and multiple-PI grants on campus supporting milestone-driven collaborations between investigators across campus. Funding will be awarded up to $50,000 per year for one to two years for an “incubation period,” during which the team collects preliminary data and prepares the grant application. If the proposal is successful and funded, the team will receive an additional $100,000 upon receipt of the notice of award (NOA) from the external funding agency. CU ASPIRE Letters of Intent are due Monday, November 9.

Learn more about PAPSTR and current funding opportunities.

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Social Spotlight

Dreamers Never Quit, the newest chapter of the CU Anschutz Where Dreams Live campaign, features the work of Daniel Kramer, MD, and the CU Anschutz Department of Neurosurgery. The campaign highlights the researchers, doctors, and patients whose persistence pushes us forward. Watch the video on LinkedIn.

Follow CU Anschutz School of Medicine on Social Media

Have a good week, 

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