Dear Colleague: 

As we monitor the impact of cuts to federal agencies supporting health sciences, I want to reiterate the importance of being thoughtful and intentional about our spending. In March, Chancellor Don Elliman announced steps to bolster resources amid the mounting challenges. Among those steps, he said the campus would be restricting university-sponsored travel and he directed unit leaders to review future trips.

In the spirit of walking the talk and modeling fiscal stewardship, the Dean’s Office is reducing its expenses associated with the annual meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges, to be held in San Antonio in November. In recent years, we have been well-represented at the meeting, including hosting an open reception. However, mindful of our budget priorities, our executive leadership team has decided to limit travel to this year’s meeting, supporting attendance for presenters only and forgoing sponsorship of a reception.

While we know the meeting is popular, we have a greater responsibility to be prudent stewards of the school’s resources. At a time of heightened uncertainty, it is essential that we prioritize investments in our programs here on our campus for the benefit of our patients and learners.

I encourage you to keep up-to-date on the impacts of changes by visiting the CU System Federal Transitions Update page for communications and federal memos. Our campus leadership and the CU System’s Federal Relations and General Counsel teams are actively monitoring developments and are committed to keeping you informed. In this time of change, all that you do and will continue to do for CU means more than ever.

Save the Date
Please mark your calendar for the School of Medicine’s inaugural town hall on Thursday, May 29, at 8 a.m. I will be hosting a panel of our newly appointed executive leaders to discuss our common vision to drive the school’s commitment to excellence in clinical care, research, and education. Watch your email for an invitation to submit questions for our new executive vice and senior associate deans and plan to tune in online.

FIPI Celebrates Anniversary
The Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative (FIPI) released its second annual report last week and it’s full of significant accomplishments:

• The initiative’s researchers authored 51 peer-reviewed articles and were awarded $11.4 million for work on firearm-related harms of all types with populations across the lifespan.

• The team collectively delivered 158 presentations to campus, local, state, and national audiences, and provided training and technical assistance to 67 organizations.

• The group launched two new programs to make our communities safer:

• The Firearm Injury Prevention Leadership Engagement and Development program, designed to give leaders the knowledge and confidence to bring evidence-based, collaborative firearm injury prevention to their organizations.

SafeHomesCO, which works with home-visiting programs as part of county services to integrate firearm safety messaging into standard home visit practices and procedures.

Congratulations to FIPI Founding Director Emmy Betz, MD, MPH, Professor of Emergency Medicine, and the rest of the FIPI team for getting the initiative off to such an impressive start.

Recent Publications
Anip Bansal, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, and Avisek Ghimire, Research Instructor in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, are co-authors of an original investigation, “Intravenous Magnesium and Cisplatin-Associate Acute Kidney Injury,” published April 24 by JAMA Oncology.

Sean T. O’Leary, MD, MPH, Professor of Pediatrics and investigator with Adult and Child Center for Outcomes Research and Delivery Science, is a co-author of an original investigation, “Tiered Clinician Vaccine Communications Strategy to Improve Childhood Vaccine Uptake,” published April 30 by JAMA Network Open. Four co-authors are from campus.

Risha Gidwani, DrPH, Associate Professor of Medicine, is corresponding author of an original investigation, “High-Deductible Health Plans and Receipt of Guideline-Concordant Care for Adults With Chronic Illness,” published April 30 by JAMA Network Open.

Jesse D. Schold, PhD, Professor of Surgery, is a co-author of a research letter, “Development of Common Data Elements for Organ Transplantation,” published April 28 by JAMA Network Open.

Ahmad Hider, MD, first-year resident in the Department of Surgery, is the first author of a viewpoint article, “Carbon Emissions and Bundled Payments – Expanding the Reach of Value-Based Care,” published April 25 by JAMA Health Forum. An article in the Department of Surgery newsroom provides details.

Fabrice Dabertrand, PhD, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Pharmacology, is corresponding author of a research article, “Increased luminal pressure in brain capillaries drives TRPC3-dependent depolarization and constriction of transitional pericytes,” published April 29 in Science Signaling. Three co-authors are from our Department of Anesthesiology.

Alexander Cherches, MD, PGY1 in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, is a co-author of an original investigation, “Global Barriers to Otolaryngology Care,” published April 24 by JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

Rosemary Rochford, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Immunology and Microbiology, is corresponding author of an article, “Sustained activation induced cytidine deaminase (AID) expression in B cells following Plasmodium falciparum malaria infection in Kenyan children,” published March 14 by The Journal of Immunology. A news release by the American Association of Immunologists offers additional details.

Pavika Varma, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, is corresponding author of an article, “Demographic and clinical predictors and inter-center variability of tube feeding in preterm NICU patients,” published April 24 by the Journal of Perinatology. Three co-authors are from our Department of Pediatrics.

Faculty Updates
Jamie L. Studts, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Co-leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, has received the 2025 Elliot J. Coups Improving Health Through Behavioral Medicine Award, sponsored by the Society of Behavioral Medicine, for his longstanding research on implementing lung cancer screening in Kentucky and other states. An article in the Cancer Center newsroom provides additional details.

Nicole Christian, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery, has been named a 2025 AΩA Richard L. Byyny Fellow in Leadership from the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. Recipients are awarded funds to develop leadership skills through a specific yearlong project. AΩA Fellow in Leadership awards are presented annually to mid-career physicians who are demonstrating outstanding leadership within their organizations.

Help Wanted
The Office of Undergraduate Medical Education is seeking candidates for the Assistant Dean for Medical Education – Clinical Clerkships position. Reporting to Jennifer Adams, MD, Associate Dean of Medical Education, the assistant will lead the longitudinally integrated clerkships into the next phase of innovation. David Ecker, MD, Associate Dean of Medical Education, will chair the search committee. Additional information is available in the job posting.

The Office of Graduate Medical Education is seeking candidates for the Director of Education and Innovation position to provide leadership, oversight, and strategic direction for the institution’s residency and fellowship training programs. The director will assist the Designated Institutional Official in ensuring compliance with Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requirements while fostering an environment of continuous educational innovation through faculty development; resident and fellow curricular development; and improvement in feedback, evaluation, and assessment of mastery. Additional information is available in the job posting.

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