Dear Colleagues,
We announced last week the sad and untimely passing of Dr. Hugo Rosen who served as our head of the Division of GI and Hepatology for more than a decade. He is being remembered by colleagues from our academic community for his kindness, generous spirit, mentorship and visionary leadership. At this time, Dr. Rosen’s family is remembering his life privately, but there will be a memorial at a later date. Until then, the family wishes to compile stories and memories of Dr. Rosen on a Google form. I encourage you to share your memories of Dr. Rosen and his enduring legacy, and read his family’s memoriam.
This week has been among the most challenging of the pandemic in terms of our COVID volumes in the hospital. The omicron variant has led to a surge in hospitalizations nationally, and our health system and the state of Colorado are no exceptions. We have almost 130 patients currently hospitalized and our inpatient census has doubled in a short time. I am grateful to all of you – those on the frontlines but also those keeping our research and educational missions running smoothly. I know the disruptions to bench work and to our scientific interests are tremendous and the pressure and isolation are challenging. I sincerely hope that this will be the beginning of the end of COVID, as many are predicting, and that 2022 is the year we move back to normalcy in our lives.
Speaking of COVID, please join me and an impressive line-up of nationally and internationally renowned panelists for our COVID Expert Forum on January 18 at 5pm. I’ll be moderating a lively discussion with Krutika Kuppalli, MD, FIDSA, World Health Organization – Geneva, Switzerland; Megan Ranney, MD, MPH, Brown University School of Public Health; and Carlos del Rio, MD, Emory University School of Medicine. While our focus will be on omicron, we’ll dig deeper into other timely issues and what we can expect in the future. Please register for the event and share with your colleagues. If you are unable to attend, it will be recorded and distributed.
Finally, I’d like to end this week’s message on three high notes.
# 1: I think we can all use some good news and celebrate the successes of our colleagues. Please join me in congratulating Drs. Wani and DeCamp on recent grant awards announced this week:
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Sachin Wani, MD, FASGE, AGAF, professor of medicine in the Division of GI and Hepatology and medical director of the Esophageal and Gastric Center, and colleagues received a grant for the SWAT BE Study- A Multicenter Randomized Trial of Seattle Biopsy Protocol Versus Wide-Area Transepithelial Sampling in Patients with Barrett's Esophagus Undergoing Surveillance. The approval for funding this multicenter randomized controlled trial through CDx includes $10.8M over four years. In addition to addressing the primary question of appropriate sampling in patients with Barrett's esophagus, the SWAT BE research infrastructure will also lay the foundation for future biomarker and AI research and will be used for future grant applications.
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CO-PI’s Matthew DeCamp, MD, PhD, associate professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine and the Center for Bioethics and Humanities; Donald Nease, MD, professor of medicine in the Department of Family Medicine; and Spero Manson, PhD, distinguished professor in the Colorado School of Public Health received a $1.1M NIH grant to study the social, ethical, and behavioral implications of COVID testing in five Colorado communities over the next two years.
#2: I hosted the first Coffee with Vineet session this week with faculty. Although we intended to have these sessions in person, we had to modify to Zoom. Nevertheless, even virtually, it was lovely to meet and interact with faculty in a non-formal way and was the highlight of my week. I look forward to meeting more of you (virtually and in-person) this year so please sign up for more sessions.
#3: I continue to receive, each day, copies of Recognition of Excellence in the education of medical students from the Office of Professional Excellence. These brief blurbs from students and residents highlight just how special you all are. In the words of one of the recent summaries, “Dr. X embodies all of the reasons I chose to become a doctor. This is why CU is so special – because they are not the exception but the rule. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to learn from them.” I could not have said it better.
Onward,
Vineet
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Vineet Chopra, MD, MSc
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