Dear Colleague, 

I am sitting here on Sunday afternoon at 4:45 p.m. watching as the sun is just emerging from behind the clouds. Thank goodness. The day nearly went down as one of those rare days of no sunshine here; we have only 65 or so of those a year.  On the other hand, my lawn has greatly appreciated the rain soaking the past week.  The sunshine arrived as the Rockies snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat and the US won the CONCACAF Gold Cup. 

Last Monday I had another open forum to discuss the proposed reorganization of the basic sciences in the School.  This second session, like the first session the previous week, was a good opportunity to hear from several people about their concerns or questions. This coming week, I will be meeting with members of the Immunology and the Cell and Developmental Biology departments to hear their perspectives.  If you have questions or comments, you can leave them here. 

The External Advisory Committee of the Colorado Clinical Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI) was on campus last Thursday and Friday reviewing the new five-year grant. The members were very complimentary about the new organization and approach of CCTSI and provided, as they have for the previous five years, good feedback on how to make further improvements.  The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is likely to send a Notice of Grant Award sometime in the next month.  Congratulations to Ron Sokol, MD, and his whole team for competing so well for this very important NIH grant. 

The University of Colorado School of Medicine is looking to increase the participation of practicing and faculty physicians in the selection of our next incoming medical school class matriculating in 2014. Physicians interested in interviewing outstanding Colorado residents and out-of-state applicants are encouraged to contact Assistant Dean of Admissions Oswaldo Grenardo, MD, at ozzie.a.grenardo@ucdenver.edu or call him 303-241-7112.

Two School of Medicine faculty members and an administrator were recently appointed to leadership positions within the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).  Kevin Lillehei, MD, professor and chair of neurosurgery, and Pamela Peterson, MD, associate professor of medicine in the cardiology division, will become charter members of the AAMC’s Council of Faculty and Academic Societies. This council is charged with identifying critical issues facing medical school faculty and providing a strong voice for faculty within the AAMC leadership structure.  Additionally, Cheryl Welch, director of faculty affairs, was recently appointed to the Research Project Development Subcommittee of the AAMC’s Group on Faculty Affairs.  This subcommittee will engage in strategic planning and will oversee collaborative and scholarly projects pertaining to faculty evaluation, faculty development, promotion and tenure and other faculty matters.  

The 15th Genetics and Ethics Conference, held in Estes Park on July 18-19, explored the ethical, legal and social implications of biological explanations of addiction for personal responsibility. More than 70 attendees joined legal, public policy, genetics, medical and neurobiology experts, as well as those in recovery from addiction, in discussing the topic. Speaker presentations are available on the Center for Bioethics and Humanities website. 

Finally, last Friday morning, Lilly Marks, executive vice chancellor of the Anschutz Medical Campus, and I had the opportunity to welcome 20 or so of our faculty to an impromptu leadership conference organized by Robin Deterding, MD, professor of pediatrics. Robin, who was part of the ELAM (Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine) program in 2009, was joined by four of her “Elums” from Calgary, Salt Lake City and Albuquerque.  The five of them have an annual reunion at one of their schools where they put on this type of program. During the conversation following one of the sessions, a junior faculty member thanked me for writing these weekly emails and wondered aloud how I had the time to do it. It was nice to know that there is actually readership of this email, which I have made time for every Sunday since 2004, in part because I think it is important in a place that has grown as quickly as we have to try to stay in touch with our more than 4,000 faculty, staff and students, but also because it is therapeutic.

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 →

If you would like to receive these emails directly, please contact Cheryl.Welch@ucdenver.edu. 

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