Dear Colleague: 

Celebrating the Jones Family
We gathered last Friday evening in the Anschutz Health Sciences Building to thank M. Douglas Jones, Jr., MD, Ann Jones, PhD, and their children, Monica Federico, MD, and Tobin Jones, for their generosity in establishing the Jones Family Endowed Chair in Medical Education.

The Jones Family Endowed Chair in Medical Education is the first fully endowed chair in our school that is dedicated specifically for the support of medical educators. Resources from the fund will support the faculty chair holder and will assist students and trainees, research priorities, conference participation, curriculum development, and other activities that elevate the study and practice of medical education.

The Jones family has long-standing ties to our school. Doug was senior associate dean for clinical affairs in 2015 when I joined our school as Dean. He is a former chair of pediatrics. Monica is an associate professor of pediatrics. The gift ensures that their impact will endure through the future contributions of members of our school community.

Tai Mara Lockspeiser, MD, professor of pediatrics and assistant dean of medical education and director of assessment, evaluations, and outcomes, is the well-deserving inaugural holder of the Jones Family Endowed Chair in Medical Education.

Faculty Updates
Aimee Gardner, PhD, associate dean for faculty development and director of the Academy of Medical Educators, has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award for the 2024-2025 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Aimee will be working this fall with colleagues at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland’s Institute of Leadership and Center for Positive Health Sciences on the creation of experiential-based leadership development programs. This work will inform leadership development programs for our faculty here. Over 800 individuals teach or conduct research abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program annually and the roster of previous Fulbrighters is impressive and includes Nobel Laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, MacArthur Fellows, heads of state or government, and leaders across the private, public, and non-profit sectors.

Christian Mosimann, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics, is corresponding author of a research article published June 5 by Science Advances that describes a new state-of-the-art in creating transgenic zebrafish for biomedical research. Robert L. Lalonde, PhD, postdoctoral fellow in Christian’s lab, is first author, and Alexa Burger, PhD, research associate professor of pediatrics, is an expert in zebrafish genome editing contributing to this decade-spanning effort. Four colleagues from our school are co-authors. The lab contributed the cover art for the issue.

Neel M. Butala, MD, assistant professor of medicine, is co-author of a research article published June 5 by Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions that is the largest study to date to assess the impact of cerebral embolic protection devices (EPD) for patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement. The authors report that EPD use is associated with a small, borderline significant reduction in stroke associated with death or a discharge to a non-home location.

Halden F. Scott, MD, MSCS, associate professor of pediatrics, and Justin M. Lockwood, MD, MSCS, assistant professor of pediatrics, are co-authors of an original investigation published June 5 by JAMA Network Open that describes findings indicating long delays in antibiotic therapy are associated with increased risk of mortality among children with sepsis. The cohort study included 19,515 pediatric patients at 51 U.S. children’s hospitals from Jan. 1, 2017, through Dec. 31, 2021.

Nicolle F. Dyess, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics, is corresponding author of research published June 6 by BMC Medical Education that identifies knowledge gaps in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine (NPM) fellows’ understanding of how to find, prepare for, and negotiate their first post-training job. The authors conclude that these knowledge gaps are not unique to NPM fellows and that all graduate medical education trainees would benefit from an easy-to-implement, no-cost job search series like the one they created for NPM fellows during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Stephen R. Daniels, MD, PhD, MPH, chair of pediatrics, is corresponding author of a commentary published June 3 in Pediatrics on a study that reinforces the clinical utility of body mass index, particularly in identifying increased adiposity in the obesity range of 8- to 19-year-olds. Jaime M. Moore, MD, MPH, assistant professor of pediatrics, is co-author.

Allison Kempe, MD, MPH, professor of pediatrics and the founding director of the Adult and Child Center for Outcomes Research and Delivery Science (ACCORDS), has been selected for the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award in Child Health Services Research by the AcademyHealth Child Health Services Research Interest Group Advisory Committee. Ally will accept the award during the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting in Baltimore next month.

Training Opportunities
The Office for Faculty Development (OFD) is soliciting applications to be our School of Medicine’s nominee for the AAMC’s 2024-2025 Mid-Career Women Faculty Leadership Development Seminar on Dec. 2-5, 2024, in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico. Registration and travel will be funded by the OFD. The three-day seminar is designed to provide mid-career women faculty with the knowledge and skills necessary to support their continued progress along the path to leadership in academic medicine and science. Physicians and scientists who have held the rank of associate professor at CU for at least two years and are actively seeking full professorship or advanced leadership positions are eligible. Applications must include a CV, letter of support from department chair or division/section head, and essay responses. Details are online. Applications are due Monday, July 22. For questions, contact judy.sherman@cuanschutz.edu.

The Office for Faculty Development (OFD) is soliciting applications for our School of Medicine’s nominee for the 2025-2026 Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Fellowship .  Registration and travel will be funded by the OFD. This esteemed program is a year-long part-time fellowship for women faculty dedicated to developing the professional and personal skills required to lead and manage in the academic medical center environment. Applicants must have held the rank of associate professor at CU for at least five years and have experience in personnel and budget management. The most competitive applicants are those who hold major leadership roles within the school and have engaged in prior leadership development programs, locally or nationally. To apply, please submit CV, chair’s letter of support, one published work, and essay responses by Monday, July 22. Details are online. For questions, contact judy.sherman@cuanschutz.edu.

Our School of Medicine’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is inviting applications for the Mid-Career Minority Faculty Leadership Seminar to be held October 16-18 in Washington, D.C. The seminar is sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges. The office will fund registration and travel expenses for up to two applicants selected by a group of campus DEI leaders. To apply, send a current CV, a one-page statement from you describing your personal and career goals and qualifications, and a letter of support from a department chair or division head to amira.delpino-jones@cuanschutz.edu no later than Thursday, June 27.

Bike to Work Day
Bike to Work Day is Wednesday, June 26. Ride your bike to work and be treated to coffee and breakfast at the breakfast station that will be set up in Bonfils Court in front of the Fitzsimons Building. Sign up to ride at https://biketoworkday.co/#pledgeToRide and make sure to choose CU Anschutz as your organization. Details are available in the announcement on the campus events calendar. To receive calendar announcements, you can sign up for event notifications.

Digital Accessibility Law
A state law that requires the university to meet digital accessibility standards for all information technology – both external- and internal-facing – takes effect July 1. HB21-1110 makes it a state civil rights violation for a government agency to exclude people with disabilities from receiving services or benefits because of lack of accessibility. Any Colorado government entity that fails to meet the state’s web accessibility standards could be subject to fines. The campus has posted an FAQ page about the law and a webpage about web accessibility standards. Questions about the law should be directed to digitalaccessibility@cuanschutz.edu.

Have a good week,

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