Kathleen Barnes, PhD, professor of medicine and director of the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine, and Kristen Nadeau, MD, MS, professor of pediatrics, have been selected as fellows in the 25th anniversary class of the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program. ELAM is a one-year program dedicated to developing the professional and personal skills required to lead and manage in a complex health care environment, with special attention to the unique challenges facing women in leadership positions. There are more than 1,000 ELAM alumnae at institutions around the world and we are fortunate to count 21 currently on our faculty. I would like to thank our ELAM alums for serving on the selection committee that recommended Kathleen and Kristen for this prestigious program. 

Daniel Goldberg, JD, PhD, associate professor of family medicine and faculty in the Center for Bioethics and Humanities, has been named a fellow of The Mayday Pain & Society Fellowship. Daniel is one of 12 experts selected to participate in a three-day intensive workshop in Washington, D.C., learning skills to communicate and advocate for translation of scientific research and evidence-based best practices in pain care and management. 

Ronald J. Sokol, MD, professor of pediatrics and director of the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, and Igal Kam, MD, professor of surgery, have been named the Peak of Excellence recipients by the Rocky Mountain Division of the American Liver Foundation. The award honors them for dedication and commitment to the American Liver Foundation through advocacy, education, and fundraising and for leadership in the fight against liver disease. 

Gregory P. Downey, MD, professor of medicine and immunology and microbiology, associate dean, and executive vice president of academic affairs at National Jewish Health, has been elected secretary-treasurer of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) for 2019-2020. Greg will serve on the ATS executive committee for five years, including as the society’s president in 2022-2023. The American Thoracic Society improves global health by advancing research, patient care, and public health in pulmonary disease, critical illness, and sleep disorders. Founded in 1905 to combat TB, the ATS has grown to tackle asthma, COPD, lung cancer, sepsis, acute respiratory distress, and sleep apnea, among other diseases. 

John Carroll, MD, professor of medicine, is one of the authors of a study published last week by The New England Journal of Medicine that evaluates patient outcome data for transcatheter aortic-valve replacement (TAVR) procedures. The goal of the study was to get a better understanding of the relationship between hospital volume of TAVR procedures and patient outcomes. The research team reviewed 113,662 TAVR procedures performed at 555 hospitals between Jan. 1, 2015, and Dec. 31, 2017. TAVR was approved in 2011 in the United States and, as a condition of reimbursement, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services required TAVR programs to perform a minimum of 20 TAVR procedures per year. The basic conclusion of the study is that mortality at 30 days was higher and more variable at hospitals with a low procedural volume than at hospitals with a high procedural volume. 

Have a good week,

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