Inside IM
News from the Department of Internal Medicine - May 2023


Debra Romberger, MD, chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, shares a message with important updates for all faculty and staff.


Department recognizes advocacy efforts of faculty and trainees
The Department of Internal Medicine, announced is 2023 Advocacy Award recipients on May 18. The award is presented to Internal Medicine faculty members, house officers or trainees that exemplify excellence in advocacy in the public interest. Award recipients advocate for change in clinical care, public health, research, education, or diversity, equity and inclusion. Their work has an impact close to home, at a campus and regional level, but efforts may also have far-reaching implications nationally and even internationally.
Marcus Snow, MD, assistant professor in the division of rheumatology, received the faculty Advocacy Award for his work with the American College of Rheumatology. Dr. Snow has served as chair of the ACR Committee on Rheumatologic Care since 2020, making him the country’s foremost clinical rheumatologist. In this role, he travels to Washington, DC, three times per year, advocating for ACR members and their patients. Dr. Snow has co-authored the ACR’s guidelines for the increased use of biosimilars and the COVID guidelines for patients with rheumatic disease. He has also led the Nebraska Rheumatology Society since its 2017 inception and serves as a mentor to trainees and junior faculty.

“He has truly made enormous contributions in regional and national advocacy efforts that have improved the care of rheumatology patients both here in Nebraska and beyond,” said Ted Mikuls, MD, MSPH, professor in the division of rheumatology. “Rheumatology care in Nebraska and across the US has improved as a direct result of Dr. Snow’s efforts.”
Natasha Gallett, MD, third year med-peds resident, received the house officer Advocacy Award. Dr. Gallett has established a continuity clinic experience for adolescent healthcare, recruits patients from the LGBTQIA+ population, and provides gender-affirming care. She also created an LGBTQIA+ curriculum for residents and has testified before the Nebraska legislature against bills that would ban gender-affirming care. Dr. Gallett is a member of Nebraska Medicine’s Trauma Informed Care & Culture task force.

“To say that Dr. Gallett is an inspiration to others would be an understatement,” said Allison Ashford, MD, Med-Peds Program Director and assistant professor in the division of hospital medicine. “Since the day she has stepped foot on our campus, she has promoted and supported the voiceless and disadvantaged in our community.”

The Department of Internal Medicine also gave special recognition to Natasha Hongsermeier-Graves, a recently graduated UNMC medical student. Dr. Hongsermeier-Graves led efforts to eliminate the use of the race-based eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate) calculation at Nebraska Medicine. After two years of efforts, Nebraska Medicine recently changed to an eGFR calculation that doesn’t include race. She has also advocated for change at other institutions and the American Society of Nephrology and the National Kidney Foundation have also reassessed their eGFR calculations.

“She has been a champion of change and has successfully brought about a better way to care for patients,” said Ryan Mullane, DO, assistant professor division of nephrology.
Dr. Hingorani, Nebraska Medicine recognized for pancreatic cancer efforts
When his father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 1998, Sunil Hingorani, MD, PhD, was exquisitely placed to have the best possible impact on his father’s cancer struggle.

He was a clinical fellow in gastrointestinal oncology at the Dana Farber Institute. He also was doing post-doctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in a laboratory that was studying the gene that was the main driver of pancreatic cancer. But he found he could do little.

“We essentially had no chemotherapeutic agents that were effective,” he said. “Gemcitabine had just been FDA approved for the treatment of pancreas cancer. But we already knew it didn’t impact survival much, if at all. The reason the FDA approved it was primarily because of some symptom relief and quality of life improvement, but it really didn’t prolong survival significantly.” 

Nebraska Medicine has been nationally recognized as a Center of Excellence by the National Pancreas Foundation for both outstanding clinical care and scientific innovation. Nebraska Medicine has the only cancer center within a 350-mile radius to have earned combined clinical and academic designations, making it the place to go for pancreatic cancer research and care in the state as well as the region.

NPF Centers of Excellence are premier health care facilities that focus on the multidisciplinary treatment of pancreas disease, treating the “whole patient” with an emphasis on the best possible outcomes and improved quality of life.

The designation is awarded after a rigorous audit review that measures high-quality, highly specialized and multidisciplinary care approaches for the field.

Alcohol Center of Research Nebraska Awarded $8.8 million grant
Carol Casey, PhD, professor in the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine in the College of Medicine, and Todd Wyatt, PhD, professor in the UNMC Department of Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health in the College of Public Health, have been awarded an $8.8 million P50 grant for the Alcohol Center of Research-Nebraska (ACORN). The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards P50 grants to support integrated, multidisciplinary research teams.
The ACORN grant will fund research projects related to alcohol tissue injury, with the goal of creating a collective environment for emerging and established alcohol researchers to collaborate. Dr. Casey will serve as director and Dr. Wyatt as co-director of this five-year grant.
The central scientific theme for ACORN is the alcohol exposome, which encompasses all the collective environmental exposures to alcohol across a person’s lifetime.
“The overarching hypothesis of the center is that alcohol misuse negatively impacts our responses to the exposome and does so through alcohol interaction on a multi-organ level,” Dr. Wyatt said. “We hope to make relevant discoveries that impact peoples’ lives through advancing public health.”
 
New pulmonary procedure lets patients stay close to home
On March 17, interventional cardiologist Karen Deffenbacher, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the division of cardiovascular medicine, performed the first balloon pulmonary angioplasty on a CTEPH patient in Nebraska on Miller.

"It's really gratifying to be able to offer this to our patients when they previously had to travel," says Dr. Deffenbacher. "We've had a fair number of patients in the past who would have benefited from this procedure, now they can stay right here in Nebraska."

Patients often need an additional procedure to remove remaining clots — Dr. Deffenbacher performed a follow-up procedure on April 7.

"It is exciting to have Dr. Deffenbacher bring these skills to Nebraska Medicine," says Dan Anderson, MD, PhD, cardiologist. "The ability for us to perform pulmonary angioplasty here is very much needed in the region. This allows us to effectively treat and manage our patients with CTEPH where historically many patients would go untreated."

UNMC again receives Patient-Centered Medical Home certification
UNMC’s Patient-Centered Medical Home certification has been approved again by the Joint Commission. Stephen Mohring, MD, Medical Director for Patient Centered Medical Home/Population Health, said this 36-month recognition is due to the efforts the PCMH team.

“All of us play vital roles - our medical receptionists, medical assistants, nurses, providers, multi-disciplinary team members, population health and analytics teams, and many more," Dr. Mohring said. "Kudos to all of the PCMH managers, NPDS team, compliance and regulatory staff for helping us be prepared for this survey! We are changing healthcare delivery and leading the way into the future.”
Research News & Updates
Content prepared by Toni Goeser, Internal Medicine Research Program Associate
Announcing the 2023 Internal Medicine Research Awards
Six UNMC researchers received the 2023 Internal Medicine Research Awards for exceptional achievements in research. The faculty, students being recognized for their outstanding contributions to research over the past year are:

Medical Student Research Award: Nozima Aripova
Resident Research Award: Domenic DiSanti, DO
Fellowship Research Award: Patrick Twohig, MD, MPH
Post-Doctoral Research Award: Bo Liu, PhD
Faculty Research Mentoring Award: Diana Florescu, MD
Faculty Career Excellence Research Award: Ted Mikuls, MD, MSPH

The awards were presented June 2 during the Department of Internal Medicine grand rounds at noon in the Durham Research Center Auditorium. Russell McCulloh, MD, the UNMC Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical Research, gave a presentation following the awards ceremony.
Publication of the Quarter Recognition
Congratulations to Anupam Kotwal, MD, who has been awarded the Publication of the Quarter for the first quarter of 2023:

Johnson J, Goldner W, Abdallah D, Qiu F, Ganti AK, Kotwal A. Hypophysitis and Secondary Adrenal Insufficiency From Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: Diagnostic Challenges and Link With Survival. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2023 Feb 24;21(3):281-287. doi: 10.6004/jnccn.2022.7098. PMID: 36828029.
 
Bryant England, MD, PhD was recognized as Honorable Mention for his publication:
England BR, Yang Y, Roul P, Haas C, Najjar L, Sayles H, Yu F, Sauer BC, Baker JF, Xie F, Michaud K, Curtis JR, Mikuls TR. Identification of Multimorbidity Patterns in Rheumatoid Arthritis Through Machine Learning. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2023 Feb;75(2):220-230. doi: 10.1002/acr.24956. Epub 2022 Oct 19. PMID: 35588095; PMCID: PMC10009900.
2023 Internal Medicine SURP and SUARP kicks off June 5
You may notice some new young faces in our department starting June 5 when we welcome our 2023 cohort of students participating in the Summer Undergraduate Research and Summer Undergraduate Alcohol Research Programs (SURP & SUARP)!

Internal Medicine welcomes 13 students into SURP and nine into SUARP, each program with one student returning from 2022. The program will run through August 10, when students will showcase their summer project details at the capstone poster session. If you are interested in learning more about these programs, please contact Toni Goeser at toni.goeser@unmc.edu.
UNMC COM Grant and Funding Awards
Andy Bi, MD, PhD, internal medicine-oncology/hematology, received a grant of $108,173 from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute for a study targeting PLK-1 for treating MYC-driven lymphomas.
Cyrus Desouza, MBBS, internal medicine-DEM, received a grant of $70,804 from the Nebraska Educational Biomedical Research Association as the Nebraska ICA for Ramesh Ramalingam; of $33,027 from the Nebraska Educational Biomedical Research Association as the Nebraska ICA for Susan Burbach, and $19,901 from the Nebraska Educational Biomedical Research Association as the Nebraska ICA to support Regan TeKolst’s effort on the SURPASS project.
Brianna Johnson-Rabbett, MD, PhD, internal medicine-DEM, received a grant of $21,976 from the Nebraska Educational Biomedical Research Association as the Nebraska ICA for SELECT project for Jenna Eggert.
Laura Graeff-Armas, MD, PhD, internal medicine-DEM, received a grant of $14,650 from the Nebraska Educational Biomedical Research Association as the Nebraska ICA for ZEUS Project for Jenna Eggert.
Derrick Samuelson, PhD, internal medicine-pulmonary, received a grant of $693,330 from DHHS/NIH/NIDDK for a study of gut bacterial metallophores in the development and severity of inflammatory bowel disease.
James Campbell, MD, internal medicine-general internal medicine, received a grant of $75,000 from the University of Colorado Denver for a National Center for Digital Health Informatics Innovation.
Geoffrey Thiele, PhD, internal medicine-rheumatology, received a grant of $60,000 from Rheumatology Research Foundation for a study on how citrullinated and malondialdehyde-acetaldehyde modified proteins promote cellular and immune responses associated with rheumatoid arthritis.

The following industry-sponsored grants and contracts were received.
Joel VanDeGraaff, MD, internal medicine-allergy/immunology, received funding for a study to assess the efficacy and safety of CDX-0159 in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria.
Kelsey Klute, MD, internal medicine-oncology/hematology, received funding for a study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Ampligen compared to control group/no treatment following FOLFIRINOX in subjects with locally advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Edward O’Leary, MD, internal medicine-cardiovascular, received funding for the Long-Term Outcome and Quality Indicator (LOQI) Impella Registry.
Daniel Hershberger, MD, internal medicine-pulmonary, received funding for a trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of BI 1015550 over 52 weeks in patients with Progressive Fibrosing Interstitial Lung Disease.
Benjamin Tepley, MD, internal medicine-oncology/hematology, received funding for a study of PSCA-specific chimeric antigen receptor engineered T cells (BPX-601) in subjects with previously treated advanced solid tumors.
Krishna Gundabolu, MBBS, internal medicine-oncology/hematology, received funding for a screening and lead-in observational protocol to determine potential patient eligibility for inclusion in AAV gene therapy clinical trials in haemophilia B (ECLIPSE).
Andrea Zimmer, MD, internal medicine-infectious diseases, received funding for a trial of Viralym-M (ALVR105) for the treatment of patients with virus-associated hemorrhagic cystitis after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant.
In the News or From Social Media
In his latest “Health Care Heart to Heart” podcast, UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, speaks with Dan Anderson, MD, PhD, chief of the division of dardiovascular medicine, about heart health. Read more
Dr. James Lawler was quoted in a CNBC story about The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will have less data to track the spread of COVID-19 and new variants in the U.S. Learn more
Dr. Jill Poole talks with KMTV News about air quality in our area, Ozone Action Days and how they can affect lung function. Read more
Dr. Mark Rupp was interviewed by KMTV News about the end of COVID-19 public health emergency, saying this 'doesn't mean the disease is gone.' Read more
Dr. Leslie Eiland was interviewed about telehealth on On Point, a nationally-syndicated public radio program. On Point airs on more than 275 radio stations nationwide and their podcast has roughly two million monthly downloads. Read more
"Leading Nebraska" podcast interview with Dr. Kelsey Klute focuses on world-leading pancreatic cancer research happening at UNMC’s Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center. Read more
Dr. Lydia Kang's latest book was released April 4 and she was interviewed by KETV News. Read more
Dr. Jasmine Marcelin was interviewed by Healio and encouraged all physicians to be antibiotic stewards." Learn more
Education News
Content prepared by Stephanie Hooten, Internal Medicine Educational Programs Administrator
UNMC’s Fifth Annual Graduate Medical Education Research Symposium was held May 3 and the Department of Internal Medicine was well represented. Congratulations and well done to all of those who presented their original research and case reports! Read more.

Our department's oral presentation winners were:
  • Elizabeth Blowers, MD, IM Resident, for "The Roles of Mucins MUC5AC and MUC16 in Lung Cancer"
  • Catherine Cichon, MD, Infectious Diseases Fellow, for "Speaker Demographics at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) Spring Conference, 2019-2022"
  • Patrick Twohig, MD, GI Fellow, for "Turner Syndrome"

And the poster presentation winners were:
  • Claire Schmitz, MD, IM Resident, for "Improving Safety Through Accurate and Patient-centered Insulin Discharge Instructions"
  • Kyle Scholten, DO, IM Resident, for "PTSD Acute Pancreatitis"
  • Grant Starkey, MD, IM Resident, for "Myocardial Ischemia Without Evidence of Obstruction"
  • Jonny Trinh, MD, IM Resident, for "A Case of Metastatic Adenoid Cystic (Basal Cell) Carcinoma of the Prostate: Systemic Therapy for a Rare Disease"
  • Debra Wekesa, MD, IM Resident for "Rabbit Allergy and Kidney Transplant: What’s the Connection?"
  • Alexandra Fiedler, MD, IM Resident, for "Gastroenteritis Leading to Multiorgan Failure in a Young Adult"
Recognition and Awards
Tammy Wichman, MD, and Troy Plumb, MD, received recognition and an award from UNMC’s Office of Graduate Medical Education for the Most Compliance ACGME Survey Award. Both program directors thanked their associate program directors and coordinators (Stephanie Hooten and Stephanie Wichman for Internal Medicine and Mackenzie Dehmer for Nephrology).

Congratulations to Emily Jezewski, a UNMC M4 graduating student who received the prestigious Leeroy Meyer Outstanding Student Award. This award “is given in recognition of superior achievement in Internal Medicine” and Dr. Jezewski was recognized because of accomplishments and accolades both in and out of the classroom.

Amy Dreessen, MD, UNMC Chief Resident, was accepted into the AAMC Learner’s Summit.

Patrick Twohig, MD, was recognized as the College of Medicine Fellow of the Month.
Announcements
Dr. Rae Witt welcomed Joel Melvin.

Dr. Kate Haiar welcomed Otto Robert.

Zach Slocum and his wife Genevieve welcomed Eleanor Frances on April 29.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Content prepared by Jasmine Marcelin, MD, DIVERSE Taskforce Chair
UNMC names new faculty diversity funds recipients

The DIVERSE taskforce has been representing the UNMC IM residency at spring student conferences! Pictured below (left to right), Dr. Chelsea Navarrette recruited at the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA) Midwest conference in Michigan in February. And Drs. Debra Wekesa, Rees Adomako, Jasmine Marcelin and rising M4 students Rajan Mediratta and Eshan Sood recruited at the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) conference in Connecticut in April. While in Connecticut we ran into one of our incoming interns at the SNMA conference, Dr. Chydubem Nwaiwu, who is very excited to be joining our program in July.
AAPI employee resource group now available

University of Pittsburgh Department of Medicine’s Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Prescribing hosted its Pharmacoequity Conference on June 9. CP3 faculty affiliate Dr. Utibe Essien coined the term “pharmacoequity” to describe a health system where all patients have access to the highest quality, evidence-based medications. Learn more about the event and access a recording of the 2022 conference, featuring Dr. Jasmine Marcelin as keynote speaker.
From the DEI Office

A new UNMC student group, the Student National Medical Association, held its first meeting on April 18. “SNMA is a medical-student run national organization with the mission of supporting current and future underrepresented minority medical students, addressing the needs of underserved communities, and increasing the number of clinically excellent, culturally competent and socially conscious physicians,” said Ryan Boyland, fourth-year UNMC medical student and the organization’s interim president. Read more
Faculty Education
Content prepared by Zach Slocum, Internal Medicine Instructional Designer
Looking for premier educational, departmental, and professional information exclusively for UNMC's internal medicine faculty and staff? Our intranet is your gateway to exceptional content, insightful articles, and indispensable resources. Sharpen teaching skills, stay updated on departmental news, and acquire valuable tools for your professional journey.
 
Here's what you can expect ...
Education Focused: Elevate teaching prowess with thought-provoking articles on subjects like effective feedback, healthcare disparities, one-minute preceptor technique, working with struggling learners, and many more. Explore technical walkthroughs for interactive presentations using tools like Poll Everywhere. Gain insights on fatigue management for a healthy work-life balance. 
 
Monthly Department Meeting: Access recorded videos of important meetings to stay connected. Catch up on discussions, presentations, and insights shared by colleagues. 
 
Professional Development: Unlock your full potential with resources on subjects like promotion, tenure, loan forgiveness, research initiation, new faculty orientation, and an "insider's" guide to the IRB. 

These topics represent a fraction of our intranet's offerings, designed to foster collaboration and support your professional growth. 

Remember login information is simply your UNMC credentials after you click on the red “Sign In” button at https://info.unmc.edu/unmcimfaculty/.
Faculty Development
Content prepared by Vice Chair of Faculty Development Kristina Bailey, MD, and Associate Vice Chair of Faculty Development Andrea Zimmer, MD
Faculty Development Events
Dr. Chris D’Angelo and Sue Logsdon presented “An Insider’s Guide to the IRB” on March 13. A recording of the presentation can be found here.

UNMC, together with Nebraska Medicine, announced a new partnership with WeeCare, the largest child care network in the United States. Benefits-eligible UNMC employees will have access to the WeeCare platform and network at no additional cost. Actual cost of child care is not included. Learn more here.

The Department Promotion and Tenure Presentation has been uploaded to the Intranet and can be accessed here.

Dr. Brady Bulian presented “A Clinician’s Guide to Inpatient Billing and Coding” on May 2. View a recording to get more information on inpatient billing codes and criteria, medical decision-making levels, time-based billing, prolonged visits and critical care billing, and split/shared billing. A recording will be posted on the department’s Intranet here.

The NIH is offering a virtual event: How Does Mentoring Impact Diversity in the Biomedical and Behavioral Research Workforce on June 14, 10:30 am to 12 pm EST. Click the link for info and to register.
Faculty Development Announcements and Opportunities
Applications are now open for AAMC Early Career Women Faculty Leadership Development Seminar to be held July 18-21. Click here for more information and to apply.
 
Applications are now open for AAMC Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) Certificate Program 2023-2024. Click here for more information and to apply.
New Faces, Promotions or
Committee Involvement
Dr. Nada Fadul, has been accepted as a Fellow in the 2023-2024 Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM) Program.

At the invitation from the US State Department, Dr. Nada Fadul will serve as a speaker at Global Health (HIV/AIDS) with the U.S. Embassy in Manama, Bahrain. She will serve as a facilitator of this development conference for practitioners from across Bahrain.

The UNMC ID Division was well represented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECMID) conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. Dr. Andre Kalil and Dr. Jasmine Marcelin were both conference faculty and gave platform presentations.

Dr. Anupam Kotwal transitioned from Chair-Elect to 2023 Chair for Midwest Section of American Federation for Medical Research (AFMR).

In April, Dr. Frederick Hamel, division of diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism, and Dr. Roslyn Mannon, division of nephrology, spoke at the Midwest Clinical and Translational Research Meeting in Chicago.

Educational Program Coordinator Jill McIntosh-Carnes partnered with Erin Snow, director of Graduate Medical Education, to present “Understanding the Education Mission” at the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine pre-course for new division administrators at AAIM in April.

The division of hospital medicine's Dr. Jason Shiffermiller and Dr. Cory Rohlfsen presented as keynote speakers during UNMC’s Innovation in Education E-Learning Showcase on April 11. Read more
Welcome to the following new faculty!
Jeyakumar Balakrishnan, Post Doc Research Associate, DEM
Jacques Izard, Associate Professor, GI
Congratulations on your new position!
Lance Burwell
Rachel Thomeczek
Amy Zourdos
Kendra Stachum
Asad Gandapur
Navpreet Dhillon
Eva Williams
Gabrielle Estep
Deanna Hansen
Sarah Stream
Jill Daley
Deanna Gibson
Sherry Westphal
Christine Le
Taylor Monahan
Tien Tran
Thad Buster
Abalyn Moehring
Hongjun Wei
ID
CV CRO
FPBCC
ID
DEM
GI
ID
CV CRO
ID
ID
GI
GI
Cardiology
Geriatrics
ID
FPBCC
Nephrology
FPBCC
Nephrology
3/20/23
3/20/23
3/22/23
3/31/23
3/31/23
3/6/23
3/8/23
4/1/23
4/1/23
4/17/23
4/21/23
4/26/23
4/3/23
4/3/23
4/6/23
5/15/23
5/15/23
5/22/23
5/30/23
Congratulations to the following faculty members who have been promoted, effective July 1
Poonam Velagapudi, MD, Associate Professor, Cardiology
Faris Khan, MD, Associate Professor, Cardiology
Kristina Bailey, MD, Professor with tenure, Pulmonology
Melissa Teply, MD, Associate Professor, Geriatrics
Doug Stoller, MD, Associate Professor, Cardiology
Cliff Miles, MD, Professor, Nephrology
Hesham Basma, PhD, Assistant Professor, Cardiology
Andrea Zimmer, MD, Associate Professor, Infectious Diseases
Stephen Mohring, MD, Associate Professor, General Internal Medicine
Joseph Hejkal, MD, Associate Professor, Geriatrics
Marcus Snow, MD, Associate Professor, Rheumatology
Lydia Kang, MD, Associate Professor, General Internal Medicine
Andrew Rorie, MD, Associate Professor, Allergy
Tammy Wichman, MD, Professor, Pulmonology
Allison Ashford, MD, Associate Professor, Hospital Medicine
Jason Shiffermiller, MD, Associate Professor, Hospital Medicine
Awards and Honors
Recipients of the UNMC Impact in Education Awards were honored during a ceremony March 30. Michael Smith, MD, is the recipient of the Innovative Practices in Education Award. The award recognizes an individual or team that demonstrates ingenuity, courage and creativity in teaching, including innovations in use of educational technology, experiential learning, adoption of simulation and/or creative use of the classroom. Jasmine Marcelin, MD, is the recipient of the Inspirational Mentor of Educators Award. The award recognizes an individual who has mentored junior faculty or trainees in developing as health professions educators.

Sarah Holstein, MD, PhD, division of oncology and hematology, received the Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Junior Faculty award during the annual faculty meeting held virtually on April 18. The UNMC Faculty Senate Awards recognize faculty for meritorious teaching, mentoring or service.

Daniel Hershberger, MD, division pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine, was awarded the Hirschmann Prize for Teaching Excellence. This prize recognizes skills in teach and dedication to medical students.
 
Precious Davis, EdD, MSN, RN, division of infectious diseases, recently received the UNMC Gold Award for Staff Excellence in Engagement.

John Dickinson, MD, PhD, division of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine, received the Outstanding Alumni award from the UNMC MD/PhD Scholars program, given at the program's graduation celebration.

March 30 was National Doctors Day and Scheels celebrated four Nebraska Medicine-affiliated doctors in recognition of their impact on their patients. Ryan Mullane, DO, division of nephrology, was among those nominated by members of the community.

The Nebraska Infection Control Assessment and Promotion Program is the recipient of the 2023 Excellence in Innovation Award, presented by Nebraska Leading Age.

Our department's Jenny Kreikemeier was recognized as College of Medicine Employee of the Month.

The division of geriatrics, gerontology and palliative medicine announced the recipients of its 2023 Vada Kinman Oldfield Award for Research in Alzheimer’s Disease and the Nancy and Ronald Reagan Scholarship Awards. The Vada Kinman Oldfield Award was awarded to Paul Trippier, PhD, College of Pharmacy. The recipients of this year's Nancy and Ronald Reagan Scholarships are Shaylah McCool, Maggie Rempe, Jennifer Sexton and Ruan van Deventer.
Announcements
A UNMC Retired Internal Medicine Physicians group has started meeting recently. Its mission is to support the Department of Internal Medicine and to help retirees or soon-to-be retirees in that transition and maintaining wellness. The group is in the process of getting organized and plans to meet quarterly. Contact Dr. Renee Young at rlyoung@unmc.edu with questions or interest in participating.

The Diabetes and Endocrine Symposium will be Friday, Oct. 13 from 7:15 am to 4:30 pm at the UNMC Truhlsen Campus Events Center. Tickets for UNMC/NM Medical employees are $90/person and $35 for students/residents/fellows. This event will count as 7.0 CTE credit. Learn more and register here.

Congratulations to Kyla Jerrick who celebrated 15 years of service in May!

Drs. Carrie Hoarty, Faris Khan and Bryant England graduated from the UNMC iLEAD program in June.
Do you have news to share with the IM Department and UNMC?

Would you like to recognize a staff member or colleague for their exemplary work? Give them a shout-out using this form. Or email marball@unmc.edu with suggestions or fill out this form if you have social media news to share. And follow @unmc_im on Twitter and now Instagram!
UNMC Department of Internal Medicine
983332 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-3332
402-559-6315 (phone)