On March 28, second-year students in the T.H. Chan School of Medicine at UMass Chan Medical School packed the multipurpose room in the Albert Sherman Center and got a crash course in leadership from Gerard R. (Gerry) Cox, MD’83, MHA, who led a distinguished medical career in government and military service. 

As a veteran critical care nurse and dean of the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing, Joan Vitello-Cicciu, PhD, is passionate about the role of nurses as leaders and transformational change agents in health care settings. It’s a belief she shared with her late husband, Gerald (Jerry) Cicciu, an innovator in medical device sales and development who worked closely with hospitals and medical practices for close to 50 years. 

While a devastating diagnosis, the outlook for Duchenne muscular dystrophy—including quality of life and hope for a cure—has improved dramatically over the last two decades, thanks in large part to fierce advocacy and philanthropy from the patient community.