UVA School of Medicine

Medical Alumni Association and Medical School Foundation Executive Director Associate Dean for Medical Alumni Affairs Barry J. Collins Associate Director Linda Weldon Executive Assistant Harsha Solanki Associate Director for Marketing and Communications Liz C. Taylor Director for Constituent Relations Sarah Brown Rothschild Associate Director for Constituent Relations Hillary B. Cocke Associate Director for Constituent Relations Wendy D. Baldwin Constituent Relations Associates Andrea Wasiewski Iris Hosey Luck Vitals Managing Editor Liz C. Taylor Contributors Josh Barney, Linda J. Kobert, Brian Murphy Photography Dan Addison, Jackson Smith, Coe Sweet, UVA Health System Marketing, UVA Medical Alumni Association Cover Jackson Smith Volunteer Editor Leah Gibbs Design © Anne Hilton Vitals is produced twice annually, in the spring and fall, by the University of Virginia Medical Alumni Association and Medical School Foundation. Deadline for submissions for the Fall 2019 issue is August 15, 2019. The MAA/MSF reserves the right to edit all submissions for length and content. Please send submissions and other correspondence to: Managing Editor Vitals University of Virginia Medical Alumni Association and Medical School Foundation PO Box 800776 Charlottesville, VA 22908-0776 434-924-1734 medalum @ virginia.edu UVAMedAlum.org ©2019 University of Virginia Medical Alumni Association Medical School Foundation On the Cover Cameron Simmons and Jack Weiller; Back row: Coach Brian O'Connor, Bobby Chhabra, MD '95, Res '01, Winston Gwathmey, MD, Res '12, and Brian McGuire. Photo by Jackson Smith fromthedean What would you say if i told you we were on the cusp of transforming the way we do research here at UVa and across the Commonwealth? itHRiV—the integrated translational Health Research institute of Virginia—is a collabora- tion of public and private institutions across the Commonwealth of Virginia that promotes shared resources and best practices for health research, team science, community engage- ment, and innovation. it includes the University of Virginia, inova Health system, Virginia tech, and Carilion Clinic as partners, with the Center for Open science and UVa's licensing & Ven- tures Group as affiliates. i am proud to tell you that itHRiV has been awarded a five-year grant of nearly $23 million from the National institutes of Health to advance innovative ideas from the point of discovery to implementation in clinical practice and population health. What is truly exciting is the opportunity that a Clinical and translational science awards (Ctsa) designation provides our researchers and partners. the Ctsa is an elite network of about 60 translational research teams across the country and we now have access to funding opportunities and resources available only to Ctsa-designated organizations. additionally, it provides wonderful training opportunities for our faculty, with programs like the itHRiV scholars program. the Ctsa/itHRiV's mission is to use data to improve health. this is best illustrated in its leadership—Karen C. Johnston, MD, Fel '97, Msc, is an expert in clinical trials and a neurolo- gist who specializes in caring for patients with acute stroke, and Donald Brown, PhD, is a data scientist and systems engineer who was the founding director of the UVa Data sciences institute. UVa President Jim Ryan's themes of discovery, community, and service are exactly the focus of the Ctsa research collaboration. We're exploring science with scientists, and we are integrating with our communities to think about research. With this collaborative effort, our community stretches to a broad group of people and patients across the Commonwealth. itHRiV will continue to be a team effort as we strive to improve the health of our patients across the Commonwealth. this is an excel- lent first step toward changing the way we do research and moving forward together. speaking of teamwork, i hope you'll read the features in this issue focusing on how the school of Medicine keeps our student-athletes like those on UVa's baseball team healthy and on the field, and how our team of physicians and researchers are working to eliminate cervical cancer. thanks as always for your support of the school of Medicine. David s. Wilkes, MD Dean, UVa school of Medicine James Carroll Flippin Professor of Medical science This is an excellent first step toward changing the way we do research and moving forward together.

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