Dear Faculty, Staff and Students,
Perhaps this year hit the pinnacle of medicine intertwined with our community, politics, education, research and worldwide health.
We witnessed the persistence of COVID-19 in China, mpox worldwide and research into long COVID-19 with concerns that its sequala will affect us for decades. Also in the backdrop this past year were new concerns over respiratory diseases; transitions in leadership at the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, MetroHealth and the retirement of Anthony Fauci; and for those of us focused on federal funding, the unknowns of Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) funding opportunities.
In this climate, we should be proud of our incredible year.
Locally, we celebrated the appointment of David Margolius, MD (from MetroHealth) as the City of Cleveland Director of Public Health (who gave an insightful talk on racism and health in Cleveland as part of our VITALS Lecture). And our physicians have worked diligently to support our health systems as they rebound from the complexities of post-pandemic healthcare.
We relied upon our dedicated staff to ensure we were able to achieve our research and education missions.
Our medical students remain incredibly enthusiastic about their training and have embraced changes in their curriculum that reflect our post-pandemic priorities and greater attention to community-aware training. And our students have embraced unique training elements—including an individual project and multiple pathway areas of special concentration. I look forward to Match Day in March for our 2023 graduating medical students!
Our research and graduate education students adjusted to new norms on campus, with our Physician Assistant Program, Master of Science in Anesthesia and master's programs all performing well. And our faculty are excited about new master's programs in biotechnology, pharmacology and aerospace physiology.
Our scientific discoveries continue to have paradigm-shifting, practice changing and policy-changing impacts.
Rather than detail some of our accomplishments in this brief message, I refer you to a summary of these outstanding contributions—our 2022 top research discoveries and observations.
Please accept my thanks for the work you do every day that contributes to all of our successes. Your ability to flex and adapt is invaluable.
I wish you a very happy and healthy holiday.
Stan Gerson, MD
Dean and Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs
School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University
Director, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (acting)
Director, National Center for Regenerative Medicine