Dear Colleague:  

The University of Colorado system announced last week that faculty across the university attracted $1.7 billion in sponsored research funding and gifts supporting research, a new record total. Each of the four CU campuses also attained new records for sponsored research funding and gifts supporting research.

In the announcement, the system office said the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus received $910 million total in sponsored research funding and gifts supporting research. CU Boulder received $742 million, CU Denver received $31.7 million, and University of Colorado Colorado Springs received $19.3 million.

The systemwide figure reached in the 2023-24 fiscal year is 7% higher than the previous year’s total. This marks the eighth consecutive year CU has topped the $1 billion mark.

“Our extraordinary faculty are changing life as we know it and creating new possibilities for our future. The importance of their research is reflected in part by the level of funding they continue to attract each year,” said CU President Todd Saliman. “This latest milestone speaks to the real-world impact of the discoveries and innovations the CU community is generating.”

Bravo to all!

Honoring Our Exceptional Educators
Our School of Medicine held the Foothills Faculty Appreciation and Awards Dinner on September 19 to honor 52 health care professionals for their contributions to teaching our medical students through our longitudinal integrated clerkship programs.

“Tonight is about a celebration of our LIC curriculum and about gratitude,” said Jennifer Adams, MD, assistant dean of medical education and a professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine. “Each one of you is part of one of our 16 LICs, which are spread across the entire state of Colorado, supporting one of our 197 medical students. We are so thankful to all of you for your contribution and your support of our students.” 

Our curriculum for medical students is exceptional in combining the development of excellent clinical skills with an approach that creates empathetic, patient-centered physicians.

“I truly believe that this is the best model to educate the future physicians and to prepare them to be amazing doctors,” said ​Shanta Zimmer, MD, senior associate dean for education and professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases. “The whole purpose of the LIC is for the students to really feel like they are the doctor, and you all make that happen.”

The full list of honorees and an overview of the event is in this article. These awardees are teachers, champions, and specialists beyond compare. Congratulations!

National APP Week
This past week, our School of Medicine, UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, and Children’s Hospital Colorado celebrated National APP Week, recognizing the remarkable contributions of Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) across our health care system. APPs play an essential role in patient care, and this week was dedicated to honoring their impact, leadership, and commitment.

The celebration began on Monday with a waffles and pancakes breakfast, where APPs across our school and partner hospitals gathered to enjoy the opening of National APP Week, co-hosted with UT Southwestern. Tuesday included successful hands-on workshops, including EKG interpretation, radiology, and point of care ultrasonography, which received enthusiastic participation and feedback.

Throughout the week, we sponsored free coffee and bagels for APPs as a token of appreciation, creating opportunities for APPs to connect with colleagues and reflect on the meaningful contributions they make daily.

The week culminated with the Annual APP Conference, featuring renowned national leaders Jennifer Orozco, PA, and April Kapu, NP. The event also included an executive leadership panel with leaders from our School of Medicine, UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, and Children’s Hospital Colorado, followed by legislative updates. The day concluded with the Office of Advanced Practice APP Awards and a social hour in the Anschutz Health Sciences Building.

Award Recipients

• Clinical Collaboration and Team Award: Cancer CARE Clinic
• Community Service Award: Denise Smith, PhD, CNM, assistant professor in the CU College of Nursing
• Excellence in Clinical Practice Award: Stephanie Schneider, PA-C, instructor of surgery
• Excellence in Leadership Award: Colleen McIlvennan, PhD, DNP, associate professor of medicine
• Excellence in Professional Advocacy Award: Serena Younes, MMSc, instructor of anesthesiology
• Preceptor of the Year Award: Emily Benton, PhD, NP, assistant professor of medicine
• Rising Star Award: Taylor Rasmussen, NP, instructor of surgery
• Margi Morse CARE Award: Stephanie Petersburg, PA-C, senior instructor of pediatrics
• Stacey Wall Advanced Practice Leadership Award: Suzanne Paul, DNP, FNP-C, assistant professor of pediatrics

In addition, eight APPs who were recognized by the Pediatrics Instructor Recognition committee. We are deeply grateful for the collaborative effort across our school and partner hospitals to celebrate of the incredible work APPs do every day.

Alumni Celebration
Last Friday, we inducted the Class of 1974 into the 1883 Society, which is named after the year of our school’s founding. The purpose of the 1883 Society is to foster camaraderie among alumni and to encourage a lifetime of involvement with our school.
What a spectacular event! More than 20 alumni joined us in person to be inducted into the 1883 Society and I had the privilege of thanking all for their outstanding commitment to our school and to celebrate their lifetime of achievements. Thanks to the attendees and the team in the office of alumni relations for organizing alumni reunion events last week.

Faculty Updates
Nancy Krebs, MD, professor of pediatrics, has been named a 2024 Goalkeepers Champion by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The award honors 10 people who have made contributions toward fulfilling goals that were agreed upon by 193 world leaders in 2015. The goals range from ending extreme poverty and hunger to improving healthy living, education, gender equality, access to clean water, and sanitation. Nancy is honored for her team’s work observing the negative impact of exposure to extreme heat on pregnant women and their infants’ health. The work was the first trial that demonstrated that better nutrition could mitigate the effects of extreme heat. Read more about Nancy’s work in this article in the Department of Pediatrics newsroom.

Angelo D’Alessandro, PhD, professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics, is a co-author of a research article published September 25 in Science Translational Medicine that identifies a potential therapeutic approach to prevent relapse in patients with acute myeloid leukemia. Two colleagues from our Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Julie A. Reisz, PhD, and Rachel Culp-Hill, PhD, are co-authors.

Thomas Finger, PhD, professor of cell and developmental biology, is quoted in a news article published September 26 by Nature about a fish known as the northern sea robin that uses its limbs to stroll the ocean floor to taste for buried prey. Tom is an expert on the chemical senses.

Allison Shapiro, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of pediatrics, and Melanie Cree, MD, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics, are quoted in a news feature, “Why do obesity drugs seem to treat so many other ailments?” published September 25 by Nature. Allison describes how the drugs affect neural pathways, and Melanie discusses findings of a clinical trial treating girls and young women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Ian H. Stanley, PhD, assistant research professor of emergency medicine, is corresponding author of an editorial published September 25 by JAMA Psychiatry that discusses using artificial intelligence to improve suicide prevention for military servicemembers. Vikhyat S. Bebarta, MD, professor of emergency medicine, is a co-author. Vik is director and Ian is psychological health lead for the Center for Combat Medicine and Research.

Stacey Simon, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics, has received the Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine’s Outstanding Mid-Career BSM Advocate Award. The honor recognizes contribution to research and public education to increase awareness and impact of behavioral sleep medicine. The society’s annual meeting was in Chicago earlier this month.

Dean's Distinguished Seminar
Nevan Krogan, PhD, professor of bioengineering and therapeutic sciences at University of California, San Francisco, will deliver the Dean’s Distinguished Seminar lecture, “Using Systems Approaches to Understand Mechanisms in Infectious Diseases,” at 3 p.m. Tuesday, October 8, in Hensel Phelps West Auditorium. A reception in the first-floor atrium will occur after the lecture. The Dean’s Distinguished Seminar Series brings notable scholars to campus to discuss their work. All are invited. You can find more information about this and other events on the  campus events calendar, where you can also sign up for event notifications.

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