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Message
from the Dean: A progress report on clinical
integration
Associate
Dean Cunningham steps down, Dr. Fryer named Interim
Dr.
Jacoby is new Director of MD/PhD program
Faculty
Feedback: Tenure policy question
Faculty
survey results posted
Recap:
State-of-the-School, Great Debate, real-time polling
Update:
Pay equity study
Debut
of new web-based tool for posting internships
Why
serve on a School committee?
OHSU
media coverage for 2007
AAMC
Nickens awards - Deadline May 2
"Achieving
New Heights in Academic Medicine" workshop
Clarification
Dr.
Trunkey wins award
OHSU
Cancer Institute receives $5 million
Dr.
Storrs receives AAD Gold Medal
Dr.
Sahni named to federal advisory committee
Dr.
Keller honored
Welcome
New Faculty |
February 2008
Message from Dean Richardson: A progress report on
clinical integration
 Greetings and welcome to the February newsletter.
In October, I wrote to you about our goal of
integrating the OHSU Medical Group with the School of
Medicine and the rationale underlying this transition.
Shortly after that, I met with faculty in all clinical
departments to gather input on this topic. Since that
time, I am pleased to report that substantial progress
has been made on clinical integration.
Five
faculty task forces convened by OHSUMG leadership in
early December have worked diligently over the last two
months to explore the legal and tactical details related
to governance, operations, funds flow, compensation and
retirement plans, and to develop recommendations on all
these topics. The task forces presented their
recommendations to the OHSU Executive Leadership Team
(ELT) on February 12.
The task force work
proceeded from three integration priorities defined
early on by President Robertson and the ELT. These were:
1) Faculty will be employed solely by OHSU for
their clinical and academic activity;
2)
Clinical revenues will be billed for the account of, and
will belong to, the clinical units within the OHSU
Schools, and;
3) Oversight of the Clinical
Practice will reside with the Dean and the Clinical
Chairs, or their designees.
As reported by the
Legal Task Force, a key initial question was to evaluate
different organizational models. As examples, the Legal Task Force
focused on:
1) the "Vanderbilt" model
which involved dissolution of OHSUMG and creation of a
faculty practice within clinical departments; and 2) the
"Colorado" model which would retain OHSUMG as an entity
but modify its governance structure to transfer control
to the university, including a transfer of clinical
oversight to the School of Medicine Dean and the
Clinical Chairs.
After investigating the pros
and cons, the Legal Task Force's conclusions pointed to a separate
501-C3 organization similar to that at the University of Colorado.
Requisite changes to OHSUMG can be achieved by
modifying the existing bylaws (with input from faculty
and the approval of the OHSUMG Board).
As the
Legal Task Force was evaluating an organizational model,
the other task forces were working on derivative
concerns, including recommendations on the details of
transferring compensation and pension plans to the
university. However, due to the compressed time frame
and the parallel evaluation of the legal model, not all
of the recommendations are mutually workable.
Consequently, additional effort is now underway to knit
together the various recommendations into a workable
whole, and details will be forthcoming. To view
individual task force reports on the OZONE, click
here.
Discussions about how and when to
change the OHSUMG bylaws are beginning now. Clinical
faculty members should look for additional information
about this process soon. This coming month, I will hold
a leadership planning session with the Clinical Chairs
to outline our collective expectations and goals for the
integrated practice. As we move forward, I don't expect
that individual faculty members will experience
noticeable changes associated with integration on a
day-to-day basis. Rather, any changes will be
incremental and intended to help balance mission goals
most effectively and efficiently – for individuals and
for the institution.
This has been a good
process. Clinical faculty members and OHSUMG leaders
worked together to develop recommendations under a
challenging time frame. Now, as we move into the
transition phase, we will continue to work together with
equal diligence. My thanks to everyone involved.
Best regards,
Mark
Richardson
Dean
Associate Dean Chris Cunningham steps down, Allison
Fryer, PhD, named Interim
 Chris Cunningham, PhD, will step down from his
position as Associate Dean for Graduate Studies,
effective immediately. Dean Mark Richardson has
appointed Allison Fryer, PhD, as Interim Associate Dean
for Graduate Studies.
"Chris has provided
enormous leadership and wisdom in his position as
Associate Dean. Under his watchful eye and careful
management, the graduate studies program has made
significant strides. He will be greatly missed," said
Dean Richardson.
Dr. Cunningham, a Professor in
the Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, is also
affiliated with the Neuroscience Graduate Program. He
will continue in these responsibilities with a renewed
focus on research. "My plan is to spend more time
working with the students in my lab and to focus on a
backlog of yet-to-be-written research papers," said Dr.
Cunningham. His research interests include the
neurobiological and genetic mechanisms of drug reward,
animal models of relapse and Pavlovian conditioning.
Dr. Cunningham has been Associate Dean for
Graduate Studies since 2003. During his tenure, he
oversaw a major revision of the curriculum and was
instrumental in developing bylaws for the innovative
integrated Program in Molecular and Cellular Biosciences
(PMCB). Dr. Cunningham directed several reviews of the
graduate studies program's policies and procedures,
which resulted in enhancements to the bylaws and program
operations. He helped the Portland chapter of the
Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Foundation
(ARCS) establish a program that has since provided
scholarships for more than 30 OHSU graduate students
over the last three years. He has also been very
successful in strengthening and stabilizing funding for
the graduate studies program.
Dr. Fryer is a
Professor in the Department of Physiology and
Pharmacology, and since 2006, has served as the PMCB
Director. She received her PhD from the University of
London in 1986, was a postdoctoral fellow at the
University of California, San Francisco and the
University of Maryland, Baltimore. In 1990, she joined
Johns Hopkins University where she rose to the rank of
Professor before joining OHSU in 2003. Dr. Fryer's
research is focused on how interactions between
inflammatory cells and peripheral nerves cause the
airway hyperreactivity characteristic of
asthma.
Dr. Fryer is a Fellow of the British
Pharmacological Society and a permanent member of the
Lung Cellular, Molecular, and Immunobiology Study
Section at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She
has trained over 20 graduate and postdoctoral students,
many of whom are now in faculty positions. As PMCB
Director she initiated "speed dating" to match students
and mentors at the PMCB Retreat and created the
Director's Award given annually to a first-year student.
"Allison is well-prepared for this leadership
position in the School of Medicine. I look forward to
her contributions to the graduate studies program, and
appreciate her willingness to step into this role," said
Dean Richardson.
"I love being director of PMCB
and will miss the personal interactions with those
students," said Dr. Fryer. "But I also feel very
fortunate to be stepping into a position that has been
so well developed under Chris's leadership."
Among other goals, Dr. Fryer plans to continue
building databases that support training grants, further
develop the level of collaboration among programs,
facilitate recruitment of students, including
underrepresented populations, into graduate programs and
developing mechanisms to track and reward individual
faculty contributions to teaching.
David Jacoby, MD, named Director of MD/PhD
program
 David Jacoby, MD, has been appointed Director of the
School of Medicine's MD/PhD Program. Dr. Jacoby is
Professor of Medicine, Physiology and Pharmacology, and
Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Chief of
Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, the Edwards
Professor of Pulmonary Medicine and the Vice-Chair for
Research in the Department of Medicine. He is also a
Deputy Director of the Oregon Clinical and Translational
Research Institute (OCTRI).
Dr. Jacoby's
appointment follows a search process chaired by
Associate Dean for Medical Education Edward Keenan, PhD,
with significant involvement from current MD/PhD
students.
"David brings an extraordinarily
multi-faceted expertise and experience to this
leadership position. His involvement with OCTRI will
support unique collaborative opportunities for our
students, which will undoubtedly enrich their future as
the national emphasis on clinician-scientists continues
to grow," said Dean Mark Richardson.
Dr. Jacoby
received his MD from New York Medical College and
completed a medical residency and chief residency at
Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia. He was a
pulmonary fellow at the University of California, San
Francisco. From 1988 to 1990, he was on faculty at the
University of Maryland, Baltimore. From 1990 to 2003, he
was a faculty member at Johns Hopkins University, where
he became a Professor, served as Research Director of
the Pulmonary Division, and was a member of the "Firm
Faculty," an appointment made in recognition of his
efforts in teaching house staff. He joined the OHSU
faculty in 2003, where he has continued to be recognized
for his involvement with house staff teaching. His
research focuses on viral infections of the lungs and
how they cause asthma attacks.
Dr. Jacoby is
very excited about directing this program. "We have
outstanding students, really the best, and this year's
applicants continue that tradition. The laboratory
experiences OHSU offers are as good as any I've seen. On
top of that, the clinical and translational research
opportunities presented through OCTRI and elsewhere at
OHSU make this an exciting time to expand the scope of
MD/PhD student research. I'm very lucky and honored to
work with the students and faculty of the MD/PhD
program."
Faculty Feedback: Will changes in the School of
Medicine affect tenure policy or existing agreements?
The short answer: No. Tenure policy and current
agreements will not be affected by the transitions
underway in the School of Medicine. These transitions
are for purposes of better aligning ourselves to meet
Vision 2020 goals and to address the financial impact of
the tort cap decision; they do not impact tenure policy.
Click
here to view the current tenure policy on the OZONE.
As with all formal policies in the School of Medicine,
any change to the current tenure policy would follow a
prescribed process involving the review of the Faculty
Council and the University Policy Advisory Committee.
Please contact Nicole Lockart, Assistant Dean of Faculty
Affairs & Administration, at lockartn@ohsu.edu, with
your specific questions or concerns.
Faculty survey results posted on School Web
site
 A letter from Associate Dean Patricia Hurn about
the 2007 survey
Dear Colleagues:
A
recommendation of the School's 2007 Faculty Engagement
Committee was to improve the metrics by which we
evaluate faculty satisfaction and engagement. One goal
was to improve the language and content of our faculty
survey questions. We accomplished that in the latest
survey which included questions on faculty demographics,
departmental affiliations, and queries about university
leadership, communication with chairs and division
chiefs and equity in faculty life. My thanks to the
faculty committee and colleagues from Human Resources
for their careful work in creating this survey tool.
In October 2007, we launched the revamped Second
Annual Faculty Satisfaction Survey. The results are
summarized and posted on the School's strategic planning
web page. To view the results: click
here. In addition, detailed sub-reports for each
department were provided to all chairs in January. I
encourage faculty to contact their Chairs and "drill
into" satisfaction metrics at the departmental
level.
My thanks to the approximately 400 faculty
members who completed the two-part survey. The
respondents were men and women in equal proportions,
largely Assistant Professors (31 percent) and Professors
(30 percent). One of the areas consistently identified
as important to faculty satisfaction was quality of our
colleagues and students. Please peruse the data for
areas in which we can all improve faculty engagement
within the missions of OHSU.
I believe that we
need multiple measures of our quality of faculty life,
and the annual survey is only one of them. We will
continue to improve this tool but we must also at least
double the faculty response rate next year. I urge you
to take a moment to complete the survey when it pops up
in your email box next fall. Speak your
mind!
Patricia D. Hurn, PhD
Associate Dean,
Faculty Development and Faculty Affairs
Recap: State-of-the-School, Great Debate, real-time
polling
Results show majority do not favor adoption of
clinical faculty series
On Valentine's Day,
Dean Mark Richardson convened the annual all-faculty
meeting with a brief "State-of-the-School" presentation.
The Dean focused on the tremendous accomplishments of
the faculty in the past year in all mission areas. He
also discussed the challenges ahead due to the "quiet
revolution" in our external environment – factors such
as health care reform, shifting external funding
priorities, the tort cap decision and workforce
shortages.
At the meeting, Drs. Lynn Loriaux
(pro) and Scott Fields (con) debated the adoption of a
new clinical faculty series – one part of a new faculty
promotion and tenure (PT) policy. Recently approved by
the Provost's office and Faculty Senate, the new policy
creates uniformity of faculty appointments and PT
processes across higher education institutions in
Oregon. The School of Medicine has some flexibility in
deciding how to reconcile its existing policy with this
new one – in particular, to determine if it should be
aligned with the new clinical series. The clinical
series would provide an alternative avenue for PT of
faculty with strengths in the clinical mission rather
than research and teaching. Click
here here for the Dean's presentation slides and an
audio file of the "Great Debate."
Following the
debate, faculty members were asked a series of questions
to gauge their views on the debate and appointment
policy. A real-time electronic polling system which
supports anonymous responses and immediately compiles
the data for visual display was successfully debuted at
the meeting for this purpose. The poll results indicated
a majority of those present do NOT favor adoption of the
clinical series.
Additional faculty input on
this issue is now requested. Do you favor the adoption
of clinical faculty series? Click
here to review the draft policy and poll results,
and provide your feedback to Nicole Lockart, Assistant
Dean of Faculty Affairs & Administration, at
lockartn@ohsu.edu.
Update: School of Medicine pay equity study
OHSU engaged a nationally recognized consultant last
year to assist the School of Medicine in conducting a
confidential review and analysis of issues concerning
pay equity between faculty members. The review focused
on potential compensation differentials based on gender
and ethnicity.
The Office of the Dean has
appointed a small task force to review the consultant's
report and to work on next steps. This work is now
underway. Our plan at this time is to address any
significant disparities, if found, on a one-on-one basis
with individual faculty and to construct a process for
monitoring and ensuring equity in future compensation
decisions and reviews. For reasons related to the
privacy of individual faculty members as well as the
interests of the University, the report is not intended
for broad dissemination.
Debut of new web-based tool for posting internships
Faculty and staff involved in outreach and mentoring
programs now have an additional web-based tool to help
broaden their reach into high school, undergraduate and
post-undergraduate audiences. A Web page was launched
this month as part of the new Outreach section of OHSU's
Web site: click
here.
Spearheaded by the Office of the Dean,
the public facing Web page allows students to search for
internship opportunities in a centralized manner,
without having to contact each lab or clinic
individually. Similarly, it allows audiences that don't
know who to call or who don't have established contacts
at OHSU to become newly engaged with our faculty and
staff. As a result, this tool broadens outreach and
supports equitable access to information and
opportunities.
The Web page provides information
about programs that enroll students in formal courses of
study or mentorship. A second component features non
program-based, informal internships and volunteer
opportunities available at OHSU, including – but not
limited to – those based in research lab settings.
Over time, the site will be self-supporting --
meaning faculty and staff will have access to post their
own information. During this initial phase, however,
send your internship information for posting to Mark
Kemball at kemballm@ohsu.edu. Administrative guidance is
also available for those offering an internship slot for
the first time.
Why serve on a School of Medicine committee?
The Committee on Committees meets on Friday, March 7,
to review nominations and propose members for the School
of Medicine's committees. Following is a Q&A with
Susan Hayflick, MD, Professor, Molecular and Medical
Genetics, and Chair of the Committee on Committees,
about the role of committees in the School's governance
structure.
Q: How does the Committee on
Committees support the School's governance?
A:
The Committee on Committees plays a pivotal role in
making sure that a wide variety of faculty voices and
opinions are represented on the School's 11 volunteer
committees. Our charter requires us to be active in
seeking out candidates who bring a breadth of
experience, background and thought to committee work. We
collect names of faculty to serve on School committees
and make recommendations to the Dean, who appoints
members.
Q: How do the various committees
support the School's mission?
A: These committees
serve as the "brain trust" for specific areas of the
School's mission, driving the ongoing work in their
field, setting the course for innovation and responding
to internal and external environmental changes.
Q: Why should faculty members become
involved?
A: Committee service is one way for
faculty members to expand their awareness of the
School's activities, as well as to educate fellow
committee members about the work being done within their
own department or area. Serving on a committee sometimes
brings a fresh perspective to a faculty member's
thinking on a subject and creates a personal network
whose benefits extend far outside the work of the
committee. Committee service is also one of the things
that the Promotion and Tenure Committee
consider.
Q: What should faculty members know
about selection?
A: The hardest part for me as
Chair is being unable to find a place for everyone who
is nominated or volunteers. If I had to choose one thing
for faculty to know, it would be to keep volunteering
because you will eventually be asked to serve.
Q: How can I find out more about the various
committees?
A: The School's website contains
information about the current committees and their
charters: click
here. If there is a particular committee whose work
interests you, I encourage you to discuss its work with
the committee chair. To volunteer or nominate, contact
Vera Lewis at lewisve@ohsu.edu.
OHSU media tracking expands to internet coverage
OHSU had more than 8,700 known media mentions in
2007, appearing in the media an average of 24 times a
day. Beginning in June, OHSU began tracking Internet
media coverage, including blogs. Since June, 37 percent
of media coverage was online, and almost 80 percent of
that coverage was on news Web sites. Newspapers
accounted for 30 percent of media coverage and TV news
accounted for almost 20 percent of media coverage. Half
of OHSU media coverage was in the Portland metropolitan
area. News about OHSU research accounted for 27 percent
of media coverage; news about clinical care and
innovations, including patient stories, accounted for 25
percent; the business of OHSU covered 21 percent; our
experts were quoted in 13 percent; and the remaining was
spread out over multiple smaller categories. Excluding
internet-only coverage, media coverage in 2007 was about
the same amount as 2006.
AAMC Nickens awards - Deadline May 2
The AAMC is soliciting nominations for the annual
Herbert W. Nickens award, fellowship and scholarships.
The Nickens Award recognizes contributions that promote
justice in medical education and health care. The
Nickens Faculty Fellowship recognizes a junior faculty
member who has demonstrated leadership in addressing
inequities in medical education and health care. The
Nickens Medical Student Scholarships are for entering
third-year students who have demonstrated leadership in
addressing the educational, societal, and health care
needs of minorities. For more information: click
here.
Workshop: "Achieving New Heights in Academic
Medicine"
Open to both OHSU and external faculty, this career
enhancement workshop is organized by John Ma, MD, Chair
of the Department of Emergency Medicine, in
collaboration with the Office of the Dean. The workshop
is for those with an interest in pursuing future
leadership opportunities at the department chair,
medical school dean, or senior hospital administration
level.
Date: July 18
Fee (includes CME
credit): OHSU faculty $50; non-OHSU faculty $200
For
more information: Brian Secrest, 503-494-6055,
secrestb@ohsu.edu
Clarification
The January issue of this newsletter indicated that
research in the School of Nursing would be integrated
into the School of Medicine. This has not been decided
and there are no current plans to do this. Rather,
discussions and evaluations are ongoing throughout OHSU
to develop plans for how basic science facilities and/or
units could best be organized to support basic science
research.
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