Dear Colleague: 

Focus and Finish
As we enter the fourth quarter of the year, many of us feel the need to add more to our to-do lists, as if we are sprinting toward the finish line, trying to fit in as much as we can. However, the real power of this season often lies in doing the opposite: pausing to reflect, revisiting what matters most, and doubling down on priorities that make the greatest impact.  

In the book The 4 Disciplines of Execution, one of the core ideas is the importance of focusing on your “wildly important goals,” the few things that matter most, rather than trying to do everything at once. Think back to what you set out to accomplish this year. Which goals would make you proud to say, “I accomplished this,” as we close out the calendar year? While starting new initiatives can be exciting, consider what it would look like to push your most important goal across the line in these next three months. What fulfillment would you carry with you into the New Year? 
 
With the turning of the leaves, fall is a fitting season for reflection. Nature reminds us of change, transition, and preparation. The months ahead layer in holidays and family commitments onto already full work schedules, which leads to a season that feels especially full. This makes it all the more important to be intentional: to focus our energy on the goals that matter most, and to give ourselves permission to adjust the importance of other tasks so they support, rather than compete, with your top priorities.  
 
I’ll admit, I’m ambitious and like to undertake a lot of things all at once. So, I am taking my own advice here and narrowing my scope to ensure that the things I really want to see come to fruition this year will have all my (and my team’s) energy and attention. Other things may still get done, but I am dialed in to my true priorities.  
 
If you’re not sure of your team’s top priorities, I encourage you to talk with your manager and colleagues. Often clarity comes from conversation, and alignment comes from asking the right questions together. 
 
I hope you enter this season with focus and steadiness, and I encourage you to finish well, doing the most important things with purpose and excellence. 

CU Anschutz Mental Health Collaborative
Chancellor Don Elliman last week announced the launch of the CU Anschutz Campus Mental Health Collaborative, made possible by a remarkable challenge gift of up to $50 million from The Anschutz Foundation. This investment lays the foundation for a $200 million initiative to advance mental health research, innovation, and care across our campus in partnership with our hospital affiliates.

Building on this remarkable generosity, our campus is launching an ambitious effort to raise an additional $150 million to bring the CU Anschutz Campus Mental Health Collaborative to its fullest potential. Together, with Children’s Hospital Colorado and UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, we will begin engaging supporters to usher in a new era of mental health discovery and care.

Mental health is a longtime priority for this campus, and this gift positions us to deepen our impact. The collaborative will draw on our strengths, connecting expertise and resources campuswide to expand access and improve outcomes across the age spectrum. Focus areas will include workforce development, crisis response, integrated care and targeted interventions in schools, workplaces, and communities. 

I am grateful to The Anschutz Foundation for its philanthropic partnership and continued support. I also want to thank our campus advancement team and hospital partners for working together to bring this vision to life.

Denver Health Chief Academic Affairs Officer
Welcome to Yael Schenker, MD, MAS, who is joining Denver Health as Chief Academic Officer in January.

Dr. Schenker serves as Professor of Medicine and Director of the Palliative Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh, as well as Associate Director for Education and Training at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. She earned her undergraduate degree from Harvard University and her medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She completed her residency and fellowship in research at UCSF, including time at San Francisco General Hospital.

Dr. Schenker is a practicing palliative care physician, and plans to continue seeing patients at Denver Health and while overseeing research and training efforts through her leadership of the strong teams already in place at Denver Health's Office of Education and Sponsored Programs and Research Office (SPARO).

In announcing Dr. Schenker’s new role last week, Denver Health CEO Donna Lynne, DrPH, wrote: “Denver Health remains committed to educating the next generation of health care professionals serving our community and engaging in research to better meet the health needs of our patients. I look forward to seeing Dr. Schenker advance these areas of our mission.”

Watch Your Inbox: Well-Being Survey
The School of Medicine is conducting a survey of faculty, residents, and fellows to evaluate our work environment and to develop efforts to improve our professional well-being. Your responses to this survey are important so that we can measure the effectiveness of our programs. To ensure candid responses, the survey is conducted by an independent company. No personally identifiable information will be shared with school leadership or your department.

To encourage participation, the school is offering incentives. Individuals who complete the survey can choose to be entered into a drawing for Amazon gift cards. Departments with the highest response rates will receive $25 per respondent to support departmental efforts for well-being programming. Tomorrow and in the weeks ahead, faculty members who are 0.5 FTE or greater and who started before July 31, 2025, along with residents and fellows, should watch their email for a message that links to the survey. Please take 10-15 minutes to fill it out.

Visit the Well-Being Survey website for

• Survey details and timeline
• Actions taken since the last survey
• A list of departmental well-being leaders

Your voice matters. Together, we can build a thriving community — and advance our school toward our Top 10 in 10 vision.

Recent Publications
Mark Earnest, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Division Head of General Internal Medicine, is author of a perspective article, “Dr. Kolhouse and the Cowboy,” published September 20 by The New England Journal of Medicine.

Jeffrey L. Bennett, MD, PhD, Professor of Neurology and Ophthalmology, is co-author of a comment, “Shedding new light on the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis,” published in the October 2025 edition of The Lancet Neurology.

Beth A. Jirón Tamburini, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, is corresponding author of an article, “A specific gene expression program underlies antigen archiving by lymphatic endothelial cells in mammalian lymph nodes,” published September 25 by Nature Communications. Thirteen co-authors are from our campus.

Joaquin M. Espinosa, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology and Executive Director of the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome, and Matthew D. Galbraith, PhD, Associate Research Professor of Pharmacology and researcher with the Crnic Institute, are corresponding authors of an article, “An integrated multi-omic natural history study of human development, sexual dimorphism, and the effects of trisomy 21,” published September 24 by Nature Communications. Five co-authors are from our campus.

Amiran Baduashvili, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, is corresponding author of an article, “Developing Point-of-Care Ultrasound Curricula for Internal Medicine Residency Programs: Consensus-Based Recommendations on Skills, Teaching Methods, and Evaluation Strategies,” published September 23 in Annals of Internal Medicine. Five co-authors are from our school.

Kevin D. Deane, MD, Professor of Medicine, is a corresponding author of a research article, “Progression to rheumatoid arthritis in at-risk individuals is defined by systemic inflammation and by T and B cell dysregulation,” published September 24 by Science Translational Medicine. Twenty co-authors are from our campus.

Sunah Hwang, MD, PhD, MPH, Professor of Pediatrics, is corresponding author of a commentary, “The Need to Continue to Invest in Public Health Surveillance Systems to Reduce Infant Mortality,” published September 22 by Pediatrics.

Nanette Santoro, MD, Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Mary D. Sammel, ScD, Professor Biostatistics and Informatics at the Colorado School of Public Health and Associate Director of the Center for Innovative Design and Analysis, are co-authors of an article, “Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Sleep Disturbance in Postmenopausal Women: Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation,” published September 25 by The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Joseph A. Simonetti, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine, Director of Mentorship and Education at the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative, and investigator in the Injury and Violence Prevention Center at the Colorado School of Public Health, is corresponding author of a research article, “Behavioral responses to the threat of firearm violence among Colorado adults,” published September 23 by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Katja M. Gist, DO, MSc, Visiting Professor of Clinical Practice of Pediatrics, is a co-author of a clinical research article, “Urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin predicts kidney support therapy duration and liberation in critically ill children,” published September 19 by Pediatric Research.

Nicolle Fernández Dyess, MD, MEd, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, is a co-author of a comment, “Mentoring the future of neonatology: program director advice for fellowship applicants and their advisors,” published September 20 by Journal of Perinatology.

Elizabeth F. Redente, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine and a Cell Biology Professor focused on pulmonary fibrosis at National Jewish Health, is a co-author of an original article, “Distinct lung functional, histological and cell senescence signatures in the single and repetitive bleomycin mouse models of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis,” published September 23 by Physiological Reports.

Faculty Updates
Lori Sussel, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics and Cell and Developmental Biology and Associate Vice Chancellor for Basic Research, has received notice of award for the CU Diabetes Research Center for $3.96 million over a three-year period. The grant supports core facilities, a pilot and feasibility program, and enrichment activities for about 100 diabetes researchers from CU Anschutz, CU Denver, CU Boulder, and the Colorado School of Mines.

Wells Messersmith, MD, Professor of Medicine and Head of the Division of Medical Oncology, has been named inaugural chair holder of the Emily Coe Atherton Endowed Chair in Pancreatic Cancer Research, established with gifts totaling $2 million. The chair was established by the LGA Family Foundation and Frank Atherton, director of the foundation.

Lotte Dyrbye, MD, MHPE, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Well-Being and Chief Well-Being Officer (CWO), will lead a strengthened, integrated approach to workplace well-being at our school in a new leadership role as Executive Director of the newly established Office for Well-Being and the Center for Workplace Well-Being Research, known as CU THRIVE.

Education Team Updates
As we strive to reach our goals as a destination for medical education innovation, I’m pleased to announce that our school is supporting an expanded team will for initiatives around competency-based medical education, accelerated training pathways, precision medical education, and use of AI in teaching and learning. Many thanks to Executive Vice Dean for Education Shanta Zimmer, MD, and all who supported the search committees selecting these key leaders. The expanded team:

• Tyler Coyle, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, has been named Assistant Dean of Admissions. Dr. Coyle serves as Co-Director of the Division of Addiction Science and as Program Director of the Preventive Medicine Residency.

• Anna Neumeier, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, has been named Assistant Dean for Medical Education in the Post-Clerkship Phase. In addition to her role as Director of the Trek basecamps course, Dr. Neumeier serves as Associate Program Director for the Pulmonary Fellowship and Associate Director of the Denver Health Medical Intensive Care Unit.

• Kate Adkins, MD, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, has been named Assistant Dean for Medical Education in the Clerkship Phase. Dr. Adkins is the Director of the Denver Health Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship focused on Public and Population Health and the Associate Chair of Obstetrics at Denver Health.

• Brandy Deffenbacher, MD, Associate Professor of Family Medicine, has been named Director of the Longitudinal Clinical Pillar. Dr. Deffenbacher directs our Developing Our Clinical Skills (DOCS) curriculum and serves as the Family Medicine Clinical Content Director. 

• Maurice (Scotty) Scott, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, has expanded his role supporting medical students and pathway students as Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Assistant Dean for the Office of Health Opportunities and Professional Experiences (HOPE). 

Patrick J. Hu, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at Vanderbilt University, has been named Associate Dean of Medical Education and Director of the Medical Scientist Training Program. At Vanderbilt, Dr. Hu also serves as Assistant Dean for Physician-Researcher Training and as Director of the Office for Medical Student Research. Dr. Hu is an oncologist and physician-scientist who is the current medicine PSTP director at Vanderbilt and co-director of their NIH-funded StARR (Stimulating Access to Research in Residency R38) program. Our current students know him well from his interactions with them at the national MD/PhD conference that they organize.

Academy Membership Applications Open
The School of Medicine's Academy of Medical Educators is now accepting applications for membership. Joining the Academy connects you with a vibrant community of educators, exclusive academic resources, professional development opportunities, and recognition for your contributions in medical education. Choose the track and level that best aligns with your career goals and apply today to become part of this esteemed community. To learn more and apply, go to the Academy Membership webpage.

2026 Education & Innovation Symposium
The Academy of Medical Educators is now accepting abstracts, panel discussions, and workshop proposals for the annual Education & Innovation Symposium. This event brings together the CU community to share scholarship, spark dialogue, and showcase innovations in medical education. Don’t miss the chance to present your work, connect with colleagues, and contribute to advancing the field. Proposals are due by December 15. Learn more and submit.

Governmental Updates
The federal government faces a potential shutdown this week, with government funding set to expire on Tuesday, September 30, at midnight ET. Brett Roude, Assistant Vice President of Federal Relations and Health Policy, has been keeping campus leadership updated on Congressional action to avoid a shutdown. As of last week, the path to avoid a shutdown remained unclear.

During a shutdown, most federal employees would be furloughed, with only a limited number of essential staff working. They will not be permitted to check email or respond to messages during the shutdown. Funds that were obligated to an existing grantee or contractor before a shutdown occurs would continue to be awarded as planned for the current year. However, agencies would be prohibited from awarding new grants or contracts during a shutdown.

There are many potential consequences of a shutdown, so I highly recommend that you keep up on governmental news affecting our school by checking the CU System Federal Updates and Actions webpage and the CU Anschutz Federal Updates webpage.

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 Anschutz School of Medicine

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