Chair's Corner

Dear Colleagues,

In this month’s message, I would like to remind you of a couple of important events coming up in April that I encourage you to attend. This Thursday, April 4, we are pleased to welcome our own Dr. Jennifer Reidy, chief of Palliative Care, who will give this year’s Howe Lecture. Dr. Reidy will speak on a patient’s story of palliative care and digital medicine as they learn to live with lung disease. Our department will also be part of a multi-department event on April 11, where we will welcome Dr. Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha as the guest speaker for the inaugural Health Equity Distinguished Lecture Series of the Collaborative in Health Equity at UMass Chan. Dr. Amutah-Onukagha founded the Center for Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice at Tufts and will speak on the topic of "Black Women and Maternal Health Disparities: Addressing the Role of Racism." These events will take place at noon. Please plan on attending! Several other events are also planned for Black Maternal Health Week at UMass Chan that I encourage you to participate in. You may find more information about all of the events here.  

This month, I am also pleased to highlight the work of Dr. Rahul Sood of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care as our April Chair’s Spotlight. Dr. Sood is the director of interventional pulmonology and co-director of pulmonary procedures. You may read about his work here and in this month’s Connect newsletter, out this Friday. Later this month, we will feature the work of Dr. Lee Quinton of Infectious Diseases and Immunology in our Researcher Spotlight on April 17. Dr. Quinton’s research focuses on lung immunity and the biological signals that direct pneumonia outcome and susceptibility.  

Additionally, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new chief of Geriatric Medicine, Dr. David Dosa. Dr. Dosa joins us from Brown University and Providence VAMC where directed the Primary Care Geriatrics Clinic. At UMass, he will lead and help our Geriatric Medicine division grow across all mission areas including clinical services, faculty recruitment and development, research and scholarly activity, teaching and mentorship, and building diversity and inclusion among faculty, trainees, and staff. He will also work to expand age-friendly care of older adults at UMass Chan, UMMH, and Central Massachusetts communities. Welcome, Dr. Dosa! I offer my sincere gratitude to Dr. Jerry Gurwitz, who has served as chief of Geriatric Medicine for the past 20 years, for his leadership and multiple contributions to the Department of Medicine. We are pleased that Dr. Gurwitz will stay on as faculty, continuing to lead projects and contribute to our research mission.  

Finally and importantly, for those who observe Ramadan, Easter, and Passover, I wish you and your loved ones meaningful celebrations. 

Sincerely,
Dave 
 

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