Department of Medicine at the
University of
Colorado Denver
Third Quarter 2008 News
RICK JOHNSON, M.D., NEW HEAD, DIVISION OF RENAL DISEASES AND HYPERTENSION-Richard "Rick" Johnson will assume the position as the Temple Hoyne Buell/National Kidney Foundation Endowed Professor and Head, Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension within the Department effective 1 October 2008. Dr. Johnson has been the J. Robert Cade Endowed Professor and Head of the Renal Division at the University of Florida for the past five years. Dr. Johnson is widely regarded as one of the preeminent academic nephrologists in the United States and is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation. Dr. Johnson has been an invited speaker and named lecturer at numerous prestigious universities/medical centers both within the United States and abroad. Dr. Johnson is clinically very active and has an exceptionally well-funded and productive research program that studies the mechanisms of hypertension and the pathophysiology of chronic kidney diseases and Dr. Johnson has published over 350 articles in excellent peer-reviewed journals. Friends and colleagues know Rick as gregarious, affable, energetic collaborator and Rick has already established effective lines of communication and collaboration not only with members of our Renal Division but also with other faculty leaders on campus.
CTSI-The Health Science Center’s CTSI grant was awarded at 76.2 $ million (15.2 $ million/year for five years) and began effective 1 May 2008. This represents about a 4 $ million increment over the ongoing programs the CTSI replaces (Adult and Pediatric GCRCs, K 12 program etc). Many of the Department of Medicine’s faculty have been major contributor’s to this CTSI application/program with four of the five sections being lead by members of the Department (Marc Moss, Pulmonary, Education/Training; Andy Kramer, Health Care Policy and Research, Community Engagement and Translation; Bob Eckel, Endocrinology, Clinical Translation; and Mark Geraci, Pulmonary, Technology).
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT RANKINGS -Once again, National Jewish is ranked first in Lung/Pulmonary. Four of the Department’s Divisions were ranked in the top 25 nationally including: Lung/Pulmonary-11th, Renal-15th, Endocrinology/Metabolism-20th and Rheumatology-25th.
INCREASING CLINICAL REVENUES-the Department closed the 2007-08 fiscal year with total clinical collections and clinical contract income of more than 41 $ million. This represents an approximate 14% increase over last year and continues the Department’s five year pattern of setting a new, historic benchmark high annually. This represents tremendous effort on the part of our clinically active faculty to build and maintain the Department’s clinical enterprise.
Kudos-some Departmental members that have received special recognition in the past few months include:
Wells Messersmith (Medical Oncology) was the PI on a successful Aptium GI Cancer Consortium Award which will bring funding and opportunities for clinical trials participation to the School.
John Rumsfeld (Cardiology/VA) was recently named to Chair the Management Board of the American College of Cardiology National Cardiovascular Data Registries. In this position, Dr. Rumsfeld will oversee a large bank of extensive registries which involves 70 FTE and an annual operating budget of 20 $ million.
Mike Glode (Medical Oncology) received an American Society of Clinical Oncology Statesman Award for 2008 and was selected to Chair the Internet Services Committee of the Society.
Jeanette Guerrasio (General Internal Medicine) and Jennifer Dorosz (Cardiology) have been selected to participate in the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine Teaching Scholars Program for 2008-09.
Alex Wiseman (Renal) is our new Medical Director of Renal Transplantation effective 1 July 2008. We are exceptionally pleased to have Alex in this role. Please also extend your congratulations and sincere appreciation to Larry Chan (Renal) who, over the past 30 years, has worked exceptionally hard and well to develop our Renal Transplant Program and who is our new Director of Renal Transplantation Research and Development.
Steve Ross and Lisa Schilling (General Internal Medicine) have received a one-year Task Order from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to assess the factors associated with primary care practices participating in electronic Health Information Exchange (HIE) within their communities.
Mike Holers (Head, Rheumatology) will receive the 2008 American College of Rheumatology’s Distinguished Basic Scientist Award that will be presented at the College’s annual meeting in October, 2008. This is the highest research award given by the American College of Rheumatology and one award is given each year. This award reflects very positively on Mike’s many years of outstanding research contributions, many of which deal with the pathophysiologic role of complement.
Suzanne Brandenburg (General Internal Medicine; Director Housestaff Training Program), has been chosen as the recipient of the second annual School of Medicine’s Professionalism Award. This award will be presented at the School of Medicine’s Matriculation Ceremony on 14 August 2008 and is given annually to a School of Medicine faculty member. The award is given in recognition of Suzanne’s exemplary academic and institutional citizenship, consistent personal example of the highest standards of professionalism and emphasis on professionalism across all levels of the residency program.
Jeff Glasheen (General Internal Medicine; Head Hospitalist Program) is the Editor of The Hospitalist, the monthly publication of The Society of Hospital Medicine. Each edition contains a thoughtful editorial by Jeff. The July, 2008 edition also contains a nice review of how to reduce urinary catheter use and complications by Kristin Furfari (Hospital Medicine Fellow) and Heidi Wald (General Internal Medicine).
Judy Zerzan (General Internal Medicine) has been selected as a 2008-2009 Health and Aging Policy Fellow. This program has a goal of providing a cadre of geriatric and gerontology professionals who can contribute to the health care policy arena in the geriatrics field. The fellowship provides financial and educational support as well as a leadership development program for one year and is administered by the Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene Inc. /Columbia University. The Program is funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies.
Two areas, palliative care and integrative medicine, are difficult to get funded by the NIH mechanism and have a shortage of randomized controlled trials. Jean Kutner (Head, General Internal Medicine) will have an article entitled "Massage Therapy vs. Simple Touch to Improve Pain and Mood in Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Randomized Trial" in an upcoming issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. This trial was funded by an R01 from the NCCAM.
