Dean's Weekly Message

Dear colleague: 

The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus hosted a luncheon on Wednesday, March 6, to express gratitude to Nancy and Robert Allen, MD, for their generous support that has led to the creation of four endowed chairs at the School of Medicine. Bob is the former head of the Division of Hematology, who was recruited to the school in 1977. He is well known for his work in B12 transport and metabolism. In 1978, he invented a more accurate method for measuring vitamin B12 in blood. Nancy was the clinical coordinator of the human studies with the new B12 assay. Their contributions to medical research have led to improvements in care for people throughout the world. Bob’s inventions and co-inventions are protected by 16 U.S. patents. 

At the luncheon, we celebrated the appointment of two deserving faculty members who have been named to chairs endowed by the Allens. Dan Pollyea, MD, associate professor of medicine, was named to the Robert H. Allen, MD, Endowed Chair in Hematology Research, and Eric Pietras, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, was named to the Cleo Meador and George R. Scott Chair of Medicine in Hematology. The Allens will also be honored with the University Medal in May, which recognizes distinguished individuals for their achievements and contributions to the University. We are fortunate to have the Allens as members of the CU community, as researchers, colleagues, benefactors, and friends. 

On Monday, March 4, Alexis Leal, MD, assistant professor of medicine, was awarded the Gina Guy Endowed Professorship in Pancreatic Cancer Research, which was made possible by a gift from the Patten-Davis Foundation. Alexis is the inaugural recipient of the professorship, which was established by the foundation in gratitude of the care she provided to Gina. The Patten-Davis Foundation has generously supported cancer and diabetes research at CU Anschutz for decades. In total, the foundation has created five endowed chairs and one endowed professorship that support School programs including the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes and the CU Cancer Center. 

Physician surveys for the U.S. News and World Report hospital rankings are now open to those who have registered with Doximity, a social network for health care professionals. To be eligible to vote, physicians must have registered with Doximity prior to Dec. 1, 2018. Physicians are surveyed in specific categories matching their specialty. While U.S. News considers multiple factors in ranking hospitals, the reputation surveys carry significant influence, so I encourage you to complete the survey. If you practice at Children’s Hospital Colorado and have questions, contact Ani Ermoyan at USNews@childrenscolorado.org. 

Voting for 5280 magazine’s Top Doctors ballot closes on Friday, March 15. The ballot is available online at vote5280.com. Every eligible physician living/practicing in the metro area (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson counties) can log in to vote with his or her full first name, last name, physician license number, and a valid email address. The results of the voting will be published in the magazine this summer. Each year, about half of the physicians named on the list are School of Medicine faculty. I encourage you to take a few moments to participate. 

The current student members of the University of Colorado School of Medicine’s chapter of Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA), the national medical honor society, met recently to elect members of the junior medical school class.  After evaluating academic performance, community service, scholarship, and leadership for each eligible applicant, seven students in the Class of 2020 were selected for AOA membership. The names of current junior and senior members are posted on the AOA website.  An induction ceremony is scheduled for May 7. Questions can be addressed to the AOA Councilor, James M. Beck, MD, professor of medicine, james.beck@ucdenver.edu. 

Match Day is Friday, March 15. In keeping with recent tradition, the School of Medicine is offering a livestream of the festivities for those who would like watch the events but are unable to attend.vvvvvvvvv

Have a good week,

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