Dear colleague: 

Last week, I announced the Transformational Research Funding initiative to encourage collaboration among School of Medicine faculty and issued a call for applications. This is an opportunity for our School to take a leading role in the medical and scientific issues of our time and I am encouraged by the enthusiastic response we have received so far. At the request of those interested in applying, we are extending the deadline for Letters of Intent to Monday, Oct. 5. We have posted answers to Frequently Asked Questions and will add answers as needed.

The Transformational Research Funding initiative is intended to support the creation of multidisciplinary programs that will identify gaps in our current research capabilities and support the recruitment of talent to facilitate research of high impact. The School plans to support no more than 4 proposals and the budget for each initiative should be between $10 million and $20 million. All programs should have as a goal the future solicitation of extramural research support, particularly multi-investigator, multi-project awards, such as program project or center grants. 

The Letters of Intent will allow us to assemble the appropriate external reviewers to consider the proposals we receive. Each Letter of Intent should be a brief, one-paragraph description of the scientific focus of the proposal and a listing of potential faculty applicants. A detailed description is not required in the Letter of Intent. The more detailed proposal is due on Monday, Dec. 7, at 5 p.m.

A video about interprofessional education that was produced for all 700-plus incoming health professions students is worth a viewing by all of us on campus because it is a reminder that working together is a smart way to provide better care. As Mark Earnest, MD, PhD, director of interprofessional education, says in the video: “People think intuitively about teamwork and don’t really question it. If you ask most people, they’ll say they’re great at teamwork but the reality is that most of us aren’t. We have a set of defaults that we use and yet teamwork is really the key to quality and safety in health care. We’ve taken the approach that teamwork requires skill, it requires practice, and it requires knowledge.”

Earlier this month, the boards of University Physicians, Inc., (UPI) and Colorado Health Medical Group (CHMG) held a retreat to discuss the opportunities ahead of us. The success of our partner, UCHealth, depends on the high-quality care and productivity of the physicians who are part of UPI and CHMG.  Many of our faculty presented at the meeting and we outlined a vision for the continued growth, with discussions on aligning quality benchmarks and productivity measures and with a presentation on the UCHealth branding efforts.

A special issue of the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, published earlier this month, features original articles and commentaries by members of the School of Medicine faculty about integrating behavioral health into primary care. “These practices are leading what is now a movement toward proper, whole-person care, where there is not artificial distinction between mental and physical health,” said Larry Green, MD, professor of family medicine and director of Advancing Care Together (ACT), a program sponsored by the Colorado Health Foundation and the Department of Family Medicine.

The Center for Women’s Health Research is hosting Janine Clayton, MD, director of the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Research and Women’s Health for the center’s 8th Annual Women’s Health Research Day on Friday, Oct. 9. Clayton’s keynote address, “The NIH Policy to Balance Sex in Cell and Animal Studies,” will be at 10 a.m. in Hensel Phelps West Auditorium with a poster session and reception to follow.

Russell Poole, chief information officer and associate vice chancellor of the University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus Office of Information Technology, will address the Anschutz campus on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 11:30 a.m. in the Ed2 Community Bridge. His town hall-style address will cover progress on the governance committee’s strategic priorities and defining digital strategy and will include a Q&A from the audience.

The Health Sciences Library’s third floor gallery will be hosting an exhibit, “Human Topography,” beginning Thursday, Oct. 1, and running through Saturday, Oct. 31. A reception to meet the artist, Penny Oliver, will be 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 22.

Have a good week,

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