Monthly Update from the Dean's Office - March 2007
This monthly update highlights women leaders who play a central role in the College of Medicine. Some of these individuals have their primary appointment in the college, some have strong affiliations, and all are committed to excellence for our enterprise. The newest appointment to announce is Dr. Magdalene (Maggie) So, who is joining us as the Head of a new University-wide Microbial Pathogenesis Program. As many of you know, we have been in discussions for over two years with Maggie. Maggie is a superb microbiologist as well as a visionary leader. She has been Head of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at Oregon Health Sciences University for the last fifteen years and has built that department into arguably the best basic science department at OHSU. Her primary appointment will be in the Department of Immunobiology in the College of Medicine. The University-wide Microbial Pathogenesis Program will be under auspices of BIO5; Maggie's laboratory will be in the BIO5 building. Commitments have been made to Maggie from the College of Medicine, BIO5, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and from the College of Science to recruit faculty into this interdisciplinary program. She is extremely excited about coming to a university with the broad range of interdisciplinary opportunities available at the U of A. She and her laboratory group will move to the University of Arizona over the next several months. One of the more important linkages for Maggie will be with the new Head of Immunobiology, given her desire to have a strong linkage between the Microbial Pathogenesis program and investigators with an immunologic focus. Similarly, she wants to strengthen the relationship between Infectious Diseases (adult and pediatric) and the microbiology community. It next gives me great pleasure to announce that Dr. Ana Maria Lopez, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine and Clinical Pathology, has been appointed to the newly created position of Associate Dean for Outreach and Multicultural Affairs. In this role Ana Maria will have two overarching responsibilities. The first is to ensure that our efforts related to diversity and multicultural affairs are well coordinated. There are a large range of programs, all of which will retain their autonomy, but which can be included in broad terms under this umbrella. Most obviously impacted are the Office of Minority Affairs, the Hispanic Center of Excellence, and the Aspiring Docs Program, for which Ana Maria will have very direct involvement. Many other programs, including Indians into Medicine (INMED), Native American Cancer Research Partnership (NACRP), Native American Research and Training Center (NARTC), Native American Indian Research Center for Health (AIRCH), and the Area Health Education Centers (AHEC), will benefit from having Ana Maria as a point person for College of Medicine efforts in outreach and multicultural affairs. As federal funding for many title VII programs has been eliminated, there has been increasing pressure on our College and on all Colleges of Medicine around the country to fund these activities through discretionary sources of funds. As we consolidate our efforts, it has become even more important than previously was the case to insure that we minimize duplication, maximize our prioritization, and integrate our efforts. I am extremely indebted to Linda Don, Head of the Office of Minority Affairs, and Dr. Francisco Garcia, Head of the Hispanic Center of Excellence and the Women's Center of Excellence, for their enthusiastic embrace of this new model. We need to retain the identity of each of these programs, and at the same time ensure that their efforts are coordinated under one organizational structure. Ana Maria will also be charged with coordinating our efforts in Tucson and Phoenix and will have a primary role in ensuring that our efforts are integrated with the University of Arizona more broadly, by interfacing with other colleges and with main campus programs. The second major component of Ana Maria's new responsibilities is an expansion of her current role as the Medical Director of the Arizona Telemedicine Program. With the creation of the Institute of Telemedicine and Telehealth (T-Health Institute), under Dr. Ron Weinstein's leadership, there is the opportunity to link even more strongly our telemedicine and telehealth efforts with our multicultural and outreach focus. Ana Maria is ideally positioned to conduct those activities. Ron has graciously agreed to support her broadened role in the Institute of Telemedicine and Telehealth, in her capacity as Associate Dean for Outreach and Multicultural Affairs. It is common knowledge that creating new associate dean positions can be viewed with concern, especially as related to financial commitments. As outlined in the financial update from earlier this month and again briefly at the end of this monthly update, we are absorbing all budget cuts required by the university in our central college administration. Creating this new position takes account of and is incorporated into that process and is a budget neutral decision. As many of you know, discussions have been underway for several months about fusing the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy in the College of Medicine and the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology within the College of Science. Although still under discussion, we are hopeful that Dr. Kate Dixon, Professor and Head of Molecular and Cellular Biology, will assume the role of Department Head for a fused department. This notion is strongly embraced by Joaquin Ruiz, Dean, College of Science and myself, and has a myriad of obvious positive ramifications. In the context of this monthly update, one advantage is that we will have another woman department head. Now let me briefly acknowledge some other major contributors. This could be viewed as inadvisable, because I cannot mention everyone, but here goes anyway, with particular focus initially on three individuals who have most recently taken on new roles. Dr. Carol Gregorio, Director of the Molecular Cardiovascular Research Program, has been an absolute master at creating the interdisciplinary linkages which are so important for our research success. She and Dr. Gordon Ewy, Director of the Sarver Heart Center, have been a spectacular team in pushing forward the cardiovascular research initiatives; my heartfelt thanks to Gordon for his support in the most meaningful of ways. It is also important in the context of the proposed fusion of the Cell Biology Departments to acknowledge how effectively that Carol and Kate Dixon have worked together in the joint recruitment process. Dr. Mindy Fain, Director of the Arizona Reynolds Program of Applied Geriatrics, and Co-Director of the Center on Aging, has done a phenomenal job in implementing the aims of the Reynolds award, which is structured to train faculty leaders in geriatric medicine, and to embed that learning throughout the College of Medicine. At today's Medical Student Conference on Aging, 1st and 2nd year medical students, along with faculty leaders, filled Kiewit to capacity. The guest speaker, John Burton, who heads the Johns Hopkins Geriatric Education Center, said he did not think that any other medical school in the country had that demonstrated level of interest in aging and geriatric medicine among medical students. Dr. Leslie Boyer has come on board with incredible enthusiasm and drive to coordinate the administration of the University of Arizona component of the Clinical and Translational Science Award application. She works effectively with her counterparts at ASU and TGen and is a tireless advocate for our efforts. Drs. Tammie Bassford, and Kathy Reed, as Department Heads of Family and Community Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology, respectively, bring an impressive commitment to equity, fairness, and humanism into the programs that they lead or have championed. Although Dr. Vicki Chandler is not a member of the College of Medicine, she functions as one. She is always available, always upbeat, and always supportive of creating linkages between the College and BIO5. Finally, it is essential to point out the incredible contributions and strong leadership in our central administration from women. Pat St. Germain, Dr. Anne Cress, Ann Libecap, Dr. Jacqueline Chadwick, Beth Schermer, Dr. Nancy Koff, Dr. Anne Wright, Dr. Carol Galper, Dr. Gail Barker, Sarah Hiteman and all of those who I didn't have the opportunity to mention deserve our thanks and congratulations. Keith A. Joiner, MD, MPH
Vice Provost for Medical Affairs
Dean, College of Medicine
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