Dear Colleague: 

I am pleased to announce that Peter E. Fecci, MD, PhD, Professor of Neurosurgery at Duke University School of Medicine and Director of the Duke Center for Brain and Spine Metastasis, will be joining the University of Colorado School of Medicine as Chair of Neurosurgery, effective July 1, 2025. 

Dr. Fecci is a highly accomplished surgeon, investigator, and scholar who brings an impressive body of work to our school. Dr. Fecci joined the Duke faculty in 2014, after completing internships, residency training, and postdoctoral research at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He earned his MD and PhD degrees at Duke University School of Medicine in 2007. He graduated from Cornell University in 1999 with a BS in Neurobiology and Behavior.

Dr. Fecci’s research focuses on brain tumor immunology and immunotherapy, often highlighting T cell dysfunction in glioblastoma and other intracranial cancers. His work further encompasses clinical trial design for primary and metastatic brain tumors, novel immunotherapeutic targets and modalities, laser-induced interstitial thermal therapy (LITT), and translatable nanotechnologies. Dr. Fecci is Principal Investigator on multiple extramural grants, the author of more than 130 articles in refereed high-impact journals, including Nature Medicine, Nature Communications, Nature Cancer, Nature Reviews Cancer, Nature Biotechnology, Science, and Immunity, and a frequently invited speaker at national and international symposia.

In his clinical practice, Dr. Fecci focuses on both primary and metastatic brain tumors. He founded the Duke Center for Brain and Spine Metastasis in 2017, which he currently directs. He is also Director of the Duke Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Program, Director of Surgical Neuro-oncology, Vice Chair for Academic Neurosurgery, and Deputy Director of the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke. He holds several patents related to his work.

I am truly excited that Dr. Fecci will be joining the University of Colorado and I am confident that he will make valuable contributions, building programs of excellence in clinical care, research, and education for the school and for our hospital partners. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Fecci to the Anschutz Medical Campus.
 
I would like to thank Kevin Lillehei, MD, Chair of Neurosurgery, for his dedicated service to our campus and for extending his time as Chair while we completed the search for his successor. I would also like to thank all members of the search committee and Naresh Mandava, MD, Chair of Ophthalmology, who chaired the search committee, for their service and expertise in conducting the search.

LCME Site Visit
Many thanks to Shanta Zimmer, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Education, and to Bonnie Kaplan, MD, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and LCME Faculty Lead, and Kristen Hyden, Projects Manager, for their tireless work and outstanding effort to prepare us for last week’s accreditation site visit by the Liaison Committee for Medical Education.

Preparing for the visit is a massive undertaking, requiring thousands of hours of data collection, gathering school leaders into dozens of committees, and then writing, editing and reviewing a 400+ page document for the accrediting team. In addition, there were multiple rounds of practice for the multiday inquiry by the LCME team.

The accreditation team asked many questions that allowed us to highlight our innovative curriculum that prepares highly skilled and deeply compassionate physicians who will be leaders in their communities. We also discussed the strengths of our partnerships as we provide programs of excellence in education, clinical care and research. For everyone who contributed to preparing us for this site visit: THANK YOU!

Assistant Dean Job Posting
The Office of Medical Education seeks an Assistant Dean of Medical Education overseeing the Longitudinally Integrated Clinical Clerkships (LIC). Reporting to Jennifer Adams, MD, Professor of Medicine in her role as Associate Dean of Medical Education, the new assistant dean will lead the LICs into the next phase of innovation. This will allow Dean Adams to focus on oversight and enhancement of the clinical curriculum and clerkships including workforce development programs, the creation of pilots focused on the UME-GME transition, accelerated tracks, faculty support and development, and outcomes. David Ecker, MD, Associate Dean of Medical Education, will chair the search committee. Additional information is available in the job posting.

Match Day
Match Day 2025 is Friday, March 21. We will be celebrating with the Class of 2025 beginning at 9 a.m. in the Marcy and Bruce Benson Atrium of the Anschutz Health and Sciences Building. Check the Match Day 2025 webpage for updates, student profiles, and a link to the livestream.

Faculty Updates
Nanette Santoro, MD, Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology, has been elected President of the of the Endocrine Society for 2026-2027. She will serve as President-Elect for a year beginning in June 2025 before her term as President begins in June 2026. The Endocrine Society is a global community of 18,000 working to understand hormone disorders to care for patients and cure disease.

Steven A. Edmundowicz, MD, Professor of Medicine, has been named a recipient of a 2025 Distinguished Service Award from the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. He will be recognized in May at the ASGE Foundation’s Crystal Awards Gala at Digestive Disease Week in San Diego.

Recent Publications
Tamara Oser, MD, Professor of Family Medicine, Founder and Director of the Primary Care Diabetes Lab, and Associate Director of the Practice Innovation Program, is a co-author of an original investigation, “Automated Insulin Delivery in Adults With Type 2 Diabetes,” published February 14 by JAMA Network Open.

Joseph Walker Keach, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Medical Director of Hospital Flow at Denver Health, is corresponding author and Thomas MacKenzie, MD, MSPH, Professor of Medicine, is senior author of an original article published in February by The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety that details Denver Health’s impressive journey and methodology of improving their hospital flow and length of stay. Two co-authors are from our school.

Lauren S. Hughes, MD, MPH, MSc, MHCDS, State Policy Director for the Farley Health Policy Center and Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Stephanie Gold, MD, Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Scholar at the Farley Health Policy Center, served on a national committee that authored a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine consensus report, “Improving Primary Care Valuation Processes to Inform the Physician Fee Schedule,” published February 28.

Vineet Chopra, MD, MSc, Chair of Medicine, is corresponding author of a JAMA Insights article, “Selecting a Venous Catheter for Medium- to Long-Term Use,” published February 12 by JAMA. 

Adele Meron, MD, Associate Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, is a co-author of  an original research article, “Recommendations for use of extracorporeal shockwave therapy in sports medicine: an international modified Delphi study,” in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, published March 3.

Bradley R. Corr, MD, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, is corresponding author of a clinical review, “Advances in the management of endometrial cancer,” published March 5 by The BMJ. The review describes advances in understanding and treating endometrial cancer with a focus on people at risk, molecular classification, and modern therapeutic strategies.

J. Matthew Taliaferro, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, is corresponding author of an article published March 24 by Nucleic Acids Research that describes a pioneering method for probing the sub-cellular localization of gene transcripts (mRNAs) in cells and for the first time also in live model organisms. The work is a collaborative, NIH-supported endeavor by three research labs and their trainees across three departments on campus. Co-authors are the labs of Christian Mosimann, PhD, Johnson Chair and Associate Professor of Pediatrics, and Chad Pearson, PhD, Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology. Eleven co-authors are from our campus.

Dean's Distinguished Speaker
Helen Mayberg, MD, Professor of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, Neuroscience, and AI & Human Health, and Director of Center of Advanced Circuit Therapeutics at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, will deliver the Dean’s Distinguished Seminar lecture, “Thoughts on the Origins of Virulence,” at 3 p.m. Tuesday, March 11, 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 and 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.

Administrative Showcase
The School of Medicine is hosting a showcase on May 1 from 8 a.m. to noon for administrative staff to share best practices and innovative solutions that have streamlined their work and enhanced operational efficiency. Administrators at all levels are invited to respond to a call for submissions of presentations on best practices, process improvements, and smart hacks that make our work more efficient and enjoyable. Submissions are due Tuesday, April 1. The showcase will be in Education 2 South Auditorium (L28-1102). Register to attend. For questions, contact jillian.quinn@cuanschutz.edu.

Tattered Cover Talk
Victoria Chang and Kristen Schuster, PhD candidates in the Neuroscience PhD Program, will present “Exploring New Dimensions: The Transformative Power of Virtual Reality in Neuroscience,” at the Tattered Cover Book Store, 2526 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, on Tuesday, March 18, at 6 p.m. They will highlight innovative applications of virtual reality in neuroscience. For more information, see the Tattered Cover website.

Injunction Blocks NIH Spending Caps
A federal judge last Wednesday issued an injunction blocking the National Institutes of Health from slashing and capping the funding received by research institutions to cover the costs of facilities and administration. The NIH had issued policy guidance on Friday night, Feb. 7, 2025, slashing and capping previously negotiated indirect cost rates on all existing and future grant awards for biomedical research. 

The cuts would have been devastating, impacting thousands of grants, totaling billions of dollars across all 50 states. Our campus estimated we would lose $74 million in funding if slash-and-cap remained in place. Chancellor Don Elliman explained in a news report that such a cut would have a “catastrophic impact.”

It is a tremendous relief that the court issued a nationwide injunction last Wednesday and explained how harmful these cuts are to everyone:

“Existing NIH-funded clinical trials represent not only significant capital investments in research equipment and animal specimens, but also an incalculable commitment to patients, who by the very nature of their condition have nowhere else to turn. Human safety and scientific integrity are immeasurably compromised by NIH’s slash-and-cap approach. The Court is hard pressed to think of a loss more irreparable than the loss of a life, let alone the thousands of people who are counting on clinical trials as their last hope. There is no question, ‘there can be no do over and no redress.’”

We thank the legal and finance teams for gathering the evidence needed to make a strong case. We thank our university leadership for joining with other institutions in the case. According to the ruling, the parties bringing the case represented more than 1,400 medical institutions across all 50 states and territories, including Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. NIH issues nearly 60,000 grants, involving 300,000 researchers at 2,500 universities, medical schools, and research institutions.

The judge explained how the harm caused by the proposed cuts was immediate, profound, and long-lasting: “The cut undermines the universities’ and institutions’ ability to drive medical breakthrough that benefits public health and contributes to national advancement in science. Once that is lost, it can almost certainly never be regained. No dollar amount can be placed on the value of the United States remaining the world leader in research and medical advancement.”

While the ruling is welcome, it likely is not the final word on the matter. An appeal of the judge’s decision is expected, so uncertainty will linger. That, however, is not a reason to pause your work. It’s an opportunity to continue to show how important it is. Keep your projects going and know the university’s leadership is continuing all effort to protect those opportunities for you.

The CU Office of Government Relations has posted a Federal Transitions Updates webpage that is a useful resource. The team covered the injunction and several other matters in its update letter. Check it for the most recent information. The campus also has an updates webpage. Stay informed, stay connected, and trust that together, we'll continue advancing our academic, research, clinical, and public service missions.

Have a good week,

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