Dear Colleague: 

As we all know, the disruptions at the NIH and other federal agencies are causing mounting problems for research institutions across the country. The cuts and delays in D.C. have prompted some of our peers to take steps that are counterproductive to our collective mission of building programs of excellence to improve human health.

While we are extremely concerned about the moves in D.C. to curtail vital research funding, we are also working proactively to protect our research mission here at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Some examples:

I remain committed to existing funding programs that support investigators. These include the Bridge Funding program for principal investigators while reapplying for grants.  It also includes the Strategic Investment for Research Committee’s Across the Finish Line grants that allow faculty to generate data to be used for grant submissions in promising new areas of inquiry.

I have committed that school funds will be available to enroll a full cohort of graduate students into our bioscience PhD programs. These students are the promise of a brighter future, and they are essential contributors to our current research programs. We made this commitment even as some of our peer institutions have rescinded acceptances or cut the number of their graduate students.

We have also worked with department leaders to set up a centralized emergency fund to help investigators who face financial hardships due to disruptions and funding delays at NIH and other federal agencies. This fund will offer short-term relief for qualified investigators as we navigate the current storms coming from D.C.

The fund will be available to investigators with a critical immediate need to protect their research programs. The funding won’t replace every missing dollar of federal grant support, but we want it to be substantial enough to buy time for investigators to protect their programs and their trainees and staff, to evaluate options, and to seek other solutions if necessary. We will be prioritizing project and center grants, while also supporting training grants and individual projects.

Each department of our school is contributing to the fund – a remarkable demonstration that we all consider our research mission a shared responsibility. In the face of this threat to our programs, we are working together to help one another. I want to thank our chairs for their commitment to this effort. We are expecting all members of our community to do their part as well. When a program or investigator has reserves, those will be used prior to qualifying for support from the emergency fund.

We have convened a committee of leaders who will determine priorities for funding and the guidelines that will apply to requests. We will keep you updated and hope to have this program in place by April 1.

I encourage you to keep in touch with your colleagues and encourage one another. We will get through these stressful times by helping one another. The CU Office of Government Relations has posted a Federal Transitions Updates webpage that is a useful resource on the university’s efforts on our behalf. The team posted an update letter last week. The Anschutz Medical Campus also has an updates webpage.

Match Day
The University of Colorado School of Medicine’s Match Day Celebration will take place on Friday, March 21, from 9 a.m.-11:30 a.m., in the Marcy and Bruce Benson Atrium of the Anschutz Health Sciences Building. You can find a livestream link and student profiles on our Match Day website. For questions about Match Day, email SOM.StudentAffairs@ucdenver.edu. 

Call for Awards Nominations
Nominate your exceptional clinicians for the 2nd Annual Distinguished Clinician Awards.  The Distinguished Clinician Awards aim to recognize exceptional clinicians who promote a patient-centered culture, while the Distinguished Faculty Professionalism Awards honor faculty members who embody professionalism and readily contribute to academic and institutional citizenship. The deadline for nominations is Wednesday, April 30.

Nominate your faculty members for the 18th Annual Distinguished Faculty Professionalism Awards. The award recognizes faculty members who consistently demonstrate exemplary professional behaviors, including being courteous, respectful, empathic, and altruistic, providing service to the community, demonstrating dedication to lifelong learning, and who contribute to the teaching, service, and administrative activities of their department and the CU School of Medicine. The deadline for nominations is Wednesday, April 30.

Recent Publications
Marisha Burden, MD, MBA, Professor of Medicine and Head of the Division of Hospital Medicine, and Lotte Dyrbye, MD, MHPE, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty, Chief Well-being Officer, and Professor of Medicine, are co-authors of a Perspective article, “Evidence-Based Work Design – Bridging the Divide,” published March 8 by The New England Journal of Medicine. Their work highlights how organizational decisions related to work structures, processes, and environments can contribute to high rates of burnout, moral injury, and the erosion of safety culture. They add that these challenges are largely preventable though evidence-based work design.

Kyla Ost, PhD, Assistant Professor of Immunology and Microbiology, is a co-author of a research article, “Neonatal fungi promote lifelong metabolic health through macrophage-dependent β cell development,” published March 7 by Science.

Lilia Cervantes, MD, Professor of Medicine, is corresponding author of a comment, “The role of implementation science in advancing equity in kidney health,” published March 11 by Nature Reviews Nephrology. Russell E. Glasgow, PhD, Research Professor of Family Medicine and Director of the Dissemination and Implementation Program of the Adult and Child Center for Outcomes Research and Delivery Science, is a co-author.

Luisa Mestroni, MD, Professor of Medicine, is a co-author of a research article, “Y chromosome–linked UTY modulates sex differences in valvular fibroblast methylation in response to nanoscale extracellular matrix cues,” published March 12 by Science Advances. One co-author is from our campus and two are from CU Boulder.

Natalie R. Davidson, PhD, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Casey S. Greene, PhD, Chair of Biomedical Informatics, are co-authors of a research article, “Genomic Characterization of High-Grade Serous Ovarian Carcinoma Reveals Distinct Somatic Features in Black Individuals,” published March 10 by Cancer Research.

Risha Gidwani, DrPH, Associate Professor of Medicine, is a co-author of an original article published February 24 by Annals of Surgery  that studies whether high-deductible health plans are associated with complicated disease and hospitalization costs for children with appendicitis.

Daniel W. Sherbenou, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, is corresponding author of a research article, “Ribosome Profiling Reveals Translational Reprogramming via mTOR Activation in Omacetaxine Resistant Multiple Myeloma,”  published March 6 by Molecular Cancer Research. Eight co-authors are from our campus.

Faculty and Staff Updates
Jay Lemery, MD, Professor of Emergency Medicine and Co-Director of the Climate and Health Program, has been named to the Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space, which is appointed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The committee provides an independent, authoritative forum for identifying and discussing issues in space life and physical sciences between the research community, the federal government, and the interested public. Dr. Lemery was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2021.

Julie Venci, MD, Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Residency Program Director, and Von Samedi, MD, PhD, Pathology-Anatomic & Clinical Residency Program Director, have been named recipients of the inaugural 2025 University of Colorado GME Program Director Excellence Award. This award is given to Program Directors of ACGME-accredited programs who demonstrate exemplary leadership in their role as Program Directors, including finding innovative ways to teach residents and fellows while being role models of excellence at the bedside themselves.

Chloe Finke, C-TAGME, Program Coordinator for the University of Colorado Family Medicine Residency, and Kelly Rico, Program Coordinator for the Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship, have been named recipients of the 2025 University of Colorado School of Medicine GME Program Coordinator Excellence Award. This award is given annually to program coordinators of ACGME-accredited programs in recognition of the recipients’ in-depth understanding of the accreditation process, excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and projects to improve graduate medical education programs.

Call for Faculty Judges
The School of Medicine is seeking faculty judges for the Mentored Scholarly Activity capstone presentations by Class of 2025 medical students. Judges are needed to score the quality of posters and student presentations on Monday, April 7, at the Strauss Health Sciences Library. There are three one-hour sessions beginning at 1 p.m. Please sign up through this link to judge one, two, or all sessions. To learn more about the MSA program, visit the website. Email questions to som.msa@cuanschutz.edu.

Free Coffee for Faculty
The Dean’s Office and the Offices for the Faculty Experience are sponsoring a free bagel and coffee for all School of Medicine faculty physicians and scientists in recognition of National Doctors’ Day (March 30) and National Scientists’ Day (March 14). Beginning March 24, faculty physicians and scientists may go to the Woodgrain Bagels, Tstreet Cafe, and Dazbog Coffee (UCH Outpatient locations) on the Anschutz Medical Campus for a bagel and a medium coffee, or other offerings up to a $7 value. One offer per faculty member, redeemable at the register. Faculty must bring a printed or electronic copy of the flyer that will be emailed to them prior to the event. Offer ends March 28, or when 1,000 faculty redeem the offer, whichever comes first. 

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