Dear colleague: 

Our soon-to-graduate medical students in the Class of 2018 gathered Friday morning with friends, family, faculty and staff at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Denver to find out where they will go for their residencies. Match Day is a nerve-wracking, highly anticipated, exciting next step in the professional journey of our students and those across the country. At the Match Day festivities, there were cheers as members of the class opened envelopes notifying them of their destinations. Some are heading to Seattle and Los Angeles, others to Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Chicago and New York. While many are heading out of state, nearly 60 members of the Class of 2018 are staying in Colorado. Also, 62 members of the 156 class members in the Match will be conducting residencies in primary care fields. We offer our congratulations to all on achieving so much already and we look forward to their continuing contributions to the health and well-being of patients and communities across the country. A summary of our Match Day events including excerpts of remarks by Nichole Zehnder, MD, assistant dean for admissions, is posted on our website. 

On Monday, March 5, I joined Jena Hausmann, president and chief executive officer of Children’s Hospital Colorado, in hosting a child health research town hall to review 2017 accomplishments and share 2018 priorities. Working together this year, we expect to establish a joint governance committee for a virtual child health research enterprise serving the hospital and the Anschutz Medical Campus. We aim to recruit and appoint transition leaders, launch a strategic plan, implement the OnCore clinical trial management system, and continue to build efficiencies in contracting, budgeting, regulatory services and other operations. Thanks to all who attended the town hall meeting. For those who could not attend, a video and a copy of the presentation is posted online. Thank you to all our dedicated faculty and staff who are always working to improve the quality of care through research. 

Congratulations to Lynn Barbour, MD, professor of medicine and obstetrics and gynecology, who will receive the Norbert Freinkel Award at this year’s American Diabetes Association 78th Scientific Sessions in Orlando in June. The award recognizes Lynn for outstanding contributions, including scientific publications and presentations, to the understanding and treatment of diabetes and pregnancy. Lynn’s research aims to understand how excess nutrients in mothers who are obese or have had gestational diabetes might program obesity in the newborn. She has published over 50 manuscripts, book chapters, and guidelines in the area of obstetric medicine and is a co-editor of the textbook “Medical Care of the Pregnant Patient.” She was recently profiled in an article in CU Medicine Today magazine for her work with Teri Hernandez, PhD, RN, associate professor of medicine and nursing. 

Thomas Beresford, MD, professor of psychiatry and physician at the Denver VA, edited a special edition on alcohol and liver transplantation of the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism this month. The issue covers topics ranging from health systems to the effects of anti-immune medications on patients. Contributors include Amanda Wieland, MD, assistant professor of medicine, and Gregory T. Everson, MD, professor of medicine, who wrote a report on hepatitis C in liver transplant. Tom, who directs the Laboratory for Clinical and Translational Research in Psychiatry at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, is an internationally recognized authority on psychiatric evaluation of alcoholic patients prior to liver transplant. With his VA colleagues, he co-authored a report in the issue on the effect of immunosuppressants on alcohol use, molecular research growing from clinical observations.  

Jorge DiPaola, MD, professor of pediatrics, has been elected to a two-year term as vice president of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology Oncology (ASPHO) and will become the group’s president in 2020. ASPHO, with 2,000-plus members, is the only organization dedicated solely to the professional development and interests of subspecialists in pediatric hematology/oncology. 

The International Symposium on Pediatric Neuro-Oncology will be holding its biennial global meeting in Denver from June 30 to July 3. This meeting is expected to bring more than 1,000 attendees, representing a multi-disciplinary international community of professionals involved in the scientific research, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation of infants, children and young people with central nervous system tumors. This high-profile meeting alternates between locales in Europe, Asia, and North America and it attracts the top practitioners and researchers in the field. For this year’s meeting, there were more than 750 abstracts from 43 countries. Nicholas Foreman, MD, professor of pediatrics, and Michael Handler, MD, professor of neurosurgery, are serving as hosts for this international meeting. Rajeev Vibhakar, MD, PhD, MPH, associate professor of pediatrics, and Adam Green, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics, are serving as co-chairs for the symposium’s scientific meeting. Kathleen Dorris, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics, is the education day committee chair, Jean Mulcahy Levy, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics, and Todd Hankinson, MD, associate professor of neurosurgery, are the co-chairs for the meeting’s sunrise session, and Jennifer Raybin, NP, associate professor of pediatrics, is the nursing meeting co-chair. 

Denver Medical Study Group will feature Glenn D. Steele, MD, PhD, chairman of xG Health Solutions and former president and chief executive officer of Geisinger Health System, at its meeting on Wednesday, April 4, at Children’s Hospital Colorado conference center from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. He will address “Value-Based Healthcare: What it Looks Like, What it is, How to Achieve.” Registration is required to attend and the cost is $50. Geisinger serves more than 3 million residents throughout 45 counties in central, south-central and northeastern Pennsylvania and in southern New Jersey. The physician-led system is comprised of approximately 30,000 employees, including 1,600 employed physicians. Denver Medical Study Group was formed in 2008 to discuss issues, trends, and innovation in the healthcare industry that have an impact on the way healthcare is delivered in Colorado. 

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s traveling exhibition, “Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race,” opens at the Fulginiti Pavilion for Bioethics and Humanities at 5 p.m. Thursday, March 22, with a reception followed by a 6 p.m. special presentation “How Healers Became Killers” by Matthew Wynia, MD, MPH, director of the University of Colorado Center for Bioethics and Humanities. The Deadly Medicine exhibit examines how the Nazi leadership, in collaboration with individuals in professions traditionally charged with healing and the public good, used science to help legitimize persecution, murder and genocide. The exhibit is free and open to the public, and will be on display weekdays through May 22. Volunteer docent trainings are available beginning March 21. For more information, contact Meleah.himber@ucdenver.edu. 

Students, staff, and faculty are invited to join the Denver March for Science on Saturday, April 14, at Civic Center Park from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The March for Science is a grassroots, volunteer-organized event, meant as a celebration of passion for science. Those who would like to speak at the rally have until 23 March to apply. Our campus was well represented at last year’s march. Details at http://marchforsciencedenver.org/ 

Have a good week, 

John J. Reilly, Jr., MD
Richard D. Krugman Endowed Chair
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and
Dean, School of Medicine