Dear colleague:

I am writing this message while sitting at home waiting for what may turn out to be one of the most-watched soccer matches in memory. With most games scheduled mid-day mid-week, a game at almost prime time on a Sunday is an opportunity not to be missed. Among the 200,000 or so Americans in Manaus (a place with awfully humid playing conditions) this weekend was Bob Contiguglia, MD, clinical professor of medicine at our School, who has been involved with the U.S. Soccer Federation for most of his adult life. I looked for him in the crowd, but must have missed him. The game was amazing, the comeback by the U.S. fabulous, and the tie tough to watch (although the cross and the header were spectacular). 

This past week was very busy.  We had two semi-finalists for the chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology in town and in between their visits, I travelled to Princeton, NJ, to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, where my colleagues on the Clinical Scholars Program Advisory Committee and I selected the last cohort of clinical scholars who will begin their training in July 2015. Congratulations to Dowin Boatright, MD, second-year resident in emergency medicine, who was matched to the Yale clinical scholars program. 

Thursday morning I welcomed the new interns who begin their graduate medical education training here today. The energy in the room was high. Many of them got their diplomas here last month, but the majority of our residents come from other schools. It was only 46 years ago today that I began as an intern in pediatrics in the University of Colorado pediatrics program. It is a terrific year of learning. 

There will be a reception to thank Barry Shur, PhD, for his service to the Graduate School as Dean on Wednesday, June 25, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Tri-Visible Room in Research 2. We wish Barry well in his retirement. Terry Potter, PhD, professor of immunology, has been named interim dean of the Graduate School as the search continues to replace Barry. Terry has been a member of the Department of Immunology at National Jewish Health and the School of Medicine since 1988. 

The Department of Physiology bid a happy farewell last Friday to Bill Betz, PhD, professor of physiology and biophysics, with the Synaptic Transmission Symposium. The event honored Bill’s contributions and attracted several distinguished lecturers, including two Nobel laureates. Bill joined the School of Medicine faculty in 1971 and has won many awards during his tenure. He was the first chair I appointed in 1993 when he became chair of physiology. The event was a well-deserved tribute to a distinguished career. Angie Ribera, PhD, was approved to be chair of physiology by the Executive Committee at its meeting last Tuesday.  

Paul A. Bunn, Jr., MD, distinguished professor of the University and founding director of the CU Cancer Center, was named one of the 2014 Giants of Cancer Care at a ceremony in on May 30 in Chicago. The Giants of Cancer Care program honors oncology specialists whose work has helped save, prolong or improve the lives of patients with cancer. The awards are presented by OncLive. Congratulations. 

The inaugural International Extreme Sports Medicine Congress, organized by Omer Mei-Dan, MD, assistant professor of orthopedics, attracted experts from around the world to Boulder on June 13-14 to discuss injuries and treatments for extreme-sports athletes. The topics ranged from surfer lacerations to cyclists with fractured clavicles. Others noted that skiing injuries have decreased with advances in equipment. Omer, who has done his own daring activities as an extreme athlete, told Colorado Public Radio, that he hopes the conference will define a new field within sports medicine. 

A reminder:  Your June pay is deposited on July 1, rather than on the last day of the month as is usually the case. The pay-date shift is a legacy of state budget hoop-jumping from early in the century when lawmakers moved the June payday into a subsequent fiscal year. Now the cost to go back is too large to undo it. Beware automatic transfers that can lead to your being overdrawn. 

There will be a month-long construction disruption on Montview Boulevard beginning Wednesday, June 25. The road will be closed between Victor Street and Fitzsimons Parkway until July 25 as part of the VA Hospital construction project, effectively shutting down any eastbound exit from the campus. University Facilities Management has identified two alternative routes for those who want to avoid Colfax Avenue. 

Have a good week,

Richard D. Krugman, MD
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and
Dean, School of Medicine

"What’s Going On Here" is an email news bulletin from Richard Krugman, MD, Dean of the CU School of Medicine, that is distributed to inform University of Colorado School of Medicine faculty members about issues pertaining to the School’s mission of education, research, clinical care and community service. See the UCH-Insider →

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