Dean's Weekly Message

Dear colleague: 

Victor Spitzer, PhD, professor of cell and developmental biology and director of the Center for Human Simulation, is featured in the CU on the Air Podcast.  The focus of the conversation is Susan Potter, a body donor who was featured in a National Geographic article earlier this year, and the Virtual Human. Potter donated her body so that Vic could section and image it and create a digital anatomy. It’s a remarkable story that Vic shares with CU Vice President of Communications Ken McConnellogue. 

UCHealth has named Chief Strategy Officer Michael Cancro as president of the UCHealth Integrated Network, where he will work to engage a broad partnership of providers and payers to enhance care coordination, manage costs, and improve the quality of care for patients. Michael will work with Anne Docimo, UCHealth Integrated Network interim chief medical officer, to grow the network, add new value-based programs, strengthen strategic partnerships with payers, and use innovative tools. In announcing the news, UCHealth CEO Elizabeth Concordia thanked Michael for taking on the additional role. 

Kelly Bookman, MD, vice chair of operations for the Department of Emergency Medicine and chief medical officer of UCHealth Broomfield Hospital, has been named the interim president of the hospital while UCHealth conducts a search for a successor to Derek Rushing, who announced his plans to resign.  Derek joined University of Colorado Hospital in 2007. 

The Denver Health Foundation NightShine Gala was Saturday, March 30, to raise money to support Denver Health. The event featured the Ernest E. Moore Shock Trauma Center, which has one of the highest survival rates in the country with trauma surgeons who are recognized leaders in the field. Each year more than 18,000 trauma patients receive care there. Funds raised at the NightShine Gala support research and education at the center, including scholarships for training and academic advancement for students, residents, and post-doctoral fellows. The entertainment for the event was Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats. 

The leadership of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, CU School of Medicine, and Children’s Hospital Colorado last fall convened a process to review the structure of research related to child health on campus. For an update on the process, check out the Child Health Research Enterprise March newsletter. 

The School of Medicine is hosting a recognition ceremony this evening, April 1, at the Colorado Springs Branch for community physicians who teach our medical students there. The event is co-hosted with the El Paso County Medical Society Powered by ProPractice. We appreciate the dedication of those who help instruct and inspire the next generation of physicians. 

Cyclists who want to buy a CU Medicine kit can place an order at the team store through Wednesday, April 10. The available gear includes jerseys, shorts, bibs, and hoodies. Delivery would be by the end of May, in time for prime riding season. Thanks to Jonathan Radin, MBA, director of clinical strategy and program development for the Department of Surgery, for coordinating this effort. For those with questions or who would like to try on sizing samples before ordering, contact Jonathan at Jonathan.Radin@ucdenver.edu. Jonathan also has invited anyone interested to join the CU Medicine Cycling Club. 

Condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Peter W. Shaughnessy, PhD, former longtime director of the School of Medicine’s Center for Health Services Research, who died March 15. Pete was the center's director for nearly 30 years until his retirement and his research and graduate-level teaching interests were in health services research, health policy formation, post-acute care, long-term care, and home health care. He believed strongly in interdisciplinary teams conducting large-scale national studies to shape the development of sound public policy. In home health care, he led a major national program to develop measures of patient outcomes and test ways in which home health agencies could effectively use the information in their quality improvement programs. Many of the findings were incorporated by Medicare and are now used by Medicare-certified home health agencies nationally. His funeral was on March 22.

Have a good week,

John J. Reilly, Jr., MD
Richard D. Krugman Endowed Chair
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and
Dean, School of Medicine