The first of two holiday blessing stories this week is one of a long road back to road racing. Meet Sherri, whose seemingly mild bout with COVID-19 in March 2021 turned into a cascade of ailments over the next two-plus years. She kept coming back here for her care, and she credits that care with helping her get well enough to resume running. Read about what she overcame and what she achieved this fall.

After years of suffering with a rare condition and searching the globe for a surgeon who could help him, a Brazilian man finds the answer in Dr. Ketan Bulsara and Dr. Daniel Roberts. Now, three weeks removed from his complex brain surgery here, his message at his follow-up visit is, "You saved my life." Read Rafael's story.

Our dental school welcomed eight new faculty members in 2023, including six who trained here as either students or residents. “We are exceptionally fortunate to be able to continue to attract very talented people to our faculty,” says Dean Dr. Steve Lepowsky. Find out who's joined us, and where you'll find them.

Make it eight more Women's Choice Awards for our John Dempsey Hospital! By this measure of performance, patient satisfaction, and accreditations, we're among the top hospitals in the country in the following areas:

Congratulations to all whose work contributed to this achievement!

As another year goes by, it can be easy to start worrying about what problems we might face as we get older. It’s never too early or too late to start thinking about taking steps to improve our health to try to lower our risk of developing dementia in life in life. We asked Dr. Patrick Coll in the UConn Center on Aging for some guidance helping prevent or delay memory loss.

Congratulations to Sarah Loschiavo, 2023 winner of our Dr. Peter J. Deckers Employee Appreciation Award! Sarah was selected among 25 nominees and five finalists. Wednesday we celebrated them plus 168 fall/winter PAWS and TEAMS awardees. You can see the full list of PAWS and TEAMS winners on the PAWS Award page, and the full list of the Dr. Deckers nominees on the Dr. Deckers Award page, and you can go to either page to watch the ceremony. Congratulations to all the nominees for their outstanding commitment to advancing health care and nurturing a culture of appreciation!

This holiday weekend, be on the lookout for Mr. Holley’s grateful patient story publishing in the Hartford Courant. Thankfully his life was saved due to the excellent, advanced cancer care offered by Dr. Upendra Hegde and our Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center. This double-thumbs up, heartwarming story will be on UConn Today Christmas morning too! Happy holidays to the Holley family!

Dr. Iman Al-Naggar from the UConn Center on Aging is among the 2023 winners of the Urology Care Foundation Research Scholar Award from the American Urological Association and the Urology Care Foundation. It will support her study of treating urinary tract infections in older adults, under the mentorship of Dr. George Kuchel and Dr. Peter Albertsen. Learn more about Dr. Al-Naggar's research and this honor.

As the year comes to a close, the Office for Diversity and Inclusion would like to thank everyone across our academic medical center for supporting and celebrating our people and shared values: courage, integrity, teamwork, excellence, leadership, innovation, diversity, equity, inclusion, kindness, respect, and gratitude. “These words resonate with our collective and institutional core values,” says Chief Diversity Officer Dr. Jeffrey Hines. “Individuals and units continue to pause to reflect on these words on a regular basis. They are using these words to drive conversations around sustaining an inclusive work environment grounded in a foundation of a language of mutual respect. They are driving the evolution in culture we strive to achieve together.” Stay tuned for upcoming Word of the Month workforce spotlights in 2024 (read past monthly articles on UConn Today anytime), and check out the new, large celebratory mural now up in Garage 1.

Our Festival of Hope and Light continues, featuring seasonal serenades from performers of all ages. And that includes the group of preschoolers from our Creative Child Center, who offered a selection of holiday favorites in our University Tower mezzanine. Watch and have a listen!