[domweek] DOM Week, August 11-15, 2025

[Department of Medicine weekly newsletter via domweek]

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DOM Week
August 8, 2025
News, information, and events of interest from the Department of Medicine

(if you have items for DOM Week, please email amyf at uw.edu<mailto:amyf at uw.edu>)


Awards
[Julie Gralow]Julie Gralow receives Lifetime Achievement Award
Dr. Julie Gralow, professor emeritus (Hematology and Oncology) has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Cancer Grid for her tireless efforts to bring equity in cancer care globally, and her longstanding contributions to cancer care, research, and global oncology.


Staff news
Outstanding Staff Award nominees
[A purple background with white text  AI-generated content may be incorrect.]The Outstanding Staff Awards aim to recognize and celebrate exceptional staff members who are dedicated to supporting our organization's mission of teaching, healing, discovery and diversity, and upholding core values.

We have 11 outstanding nominees for our 2025 awards: Leila Armas, Andréa Campbell, Eva Crist, Katherine Elkort, Meg Frazer, Vibha Hariharan, Dawn Hill, Danielle Long, Sonja Stella, Jacquelin Vandermeer, and Blyss Vincent.

Learn about the nominees on our website<https://bit.ly/4mA3tDd>.


Faculty news
[Nicolae Leca]Faculty spotlight: Nicolae Leca
Dr. Nicolae Leca, professor (Nephrology) was featured in Seattle Magazine's Top Doctor series, where he shared insights into what drives his passion for medicine, the advice he most frequently offers, and his perspective on the future of healthcare.

Read the interview<https://bit.ly/4fr1j6D>.

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[A person in a blue shirt  AI-generated content may be incorrect.]Dr. Christopher Blosser, professor (Nephrology) has been elected to serve as a counselor-at-large on the board of the American Society of Transplantation. The AST is the largest transplant organization in North America and is recognized as the premier society for transplant professionals.


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[A person with long hair smiling  AI-generated content may be incorrect.]Dr. Ann Jennerich, associate professor (Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine) has been named Chair of the Ziskind Committee for the American Thoracic Society. The committee oversees the Ziskind Clinical Research Scholar Award, which recognizes early-career pulmonary and critical care fellows conducting outstanding patient-oriented clinical research.



Research news
Brain might become target of new type 1 diabetes treatments
[Michael Schwartz]More than a decade ago, researchers found that an acute complication of type 1 diabetes, diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), can be resolved with the hormone leptin, even in the absence of insulin. An analysis recently published<https://bit.ly/4fmJ8il> in The Journal of Clinical Investigation explains how leptin affects the brain and how it might be used in future therapeutics.

DKA happens when the body is unable to make insulin and begins to break down fat for fuel. This can lead to a life-threatening buildup of sugar (glucose) and ketoacids in the blood. Doctors have typically administered insulin to address the complication, authors noted. But evidence now shows that, when insulin is insufficient, the brain plays a key role in driving DKA, according to the new analysis, based in literature and research that includes studies conducted at UW Medicine since 2011.

When the pancreas can't make insulin, "the brain gets the message that the body is out of fuel, even if it's not. This information is being communicated in part by a low blood level of the hormone leptin," said senior author Dr. Michael Schwartz, professor (Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition). DOM co-authors are Gregory Morton and Irl Hirsch.

Read the full story from UW Medicine Newsroom<https://bit.ly/45cfhG1>.

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Pediatric allergy clinic receives Allergists' Foundation grant award
The Pediatric Allergy Clinics at the UWMC Roosevelt Clinic and Harborview Medical Center have received a 2025 Community Grant Award from the Allergists' Foundation to support the food insecurity screening initiative.

[A group of people posing for a photo  AI-generated content may be incorrect.]The project entitled "Food Insecurity Screening and Support for Pediatric Allergy Patients in the Seattle Area" is led by Drs. Jing Yi Sun, clinical assistant professor, Kelly Colas, clinical assistant professor, and Principal Investigator Dr. Gabriel Mendoza, clinical assistant professor (Allergy and Infectious Diseases).

The funding will supplement resources for patients for an additional 18 months and provide a foundation for partnership with local food banks.


Clinical news
Physician Advisor Program
[Illustration of hands interacting with electronic medical data]Physician advisors serve as a liaison between clinical staff and hospital administration, helping to ensure that medical care aligns with regulatory, documentation, and reimbursement standards. They serve as bridge-builders between frontline care and hospital leadership.

Established in 2024, the University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC) Physician Advisor program helps assure the effective, efficient utilization of health care services.

"In the first six months, the three person PA team has reviewed hundreds of payor denials and conducted Peer-to-Peer discussions with payor medical directors tied to millions of dollars in charges from UWMC," said Dr. Mark Mayo, medical director for care coordination and patient progression.

Learn more on our news site<https://bit.ly/46LanAY>.


Recent publications
Dr. Maralyssa Bann, associate professor (General internal Medicine) is lead author of "A Climate of Stigma, Uncertainty, and Distrust: Stakeholder Perception of Barriers to SNF Placement for Patients with Opioid Use Disorder Treated with Methadone<https://bit.ly/4ln9diy>" in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Dr. Petter Bjornstad, professor (Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition) is co-senior author of "Pathology-oriented multiplexing enables integrative disease mapping<https://go.nature.com/47cTnDB>" in Nature. DOM co-authors are Laura Pyle and Ye Ji Choi.

Dr. Christopher Blosser, professor (Nephrology) is co-author of "Management recommendations for kidney transplantation in patients with plasma cell dyscrasia<https://bit.ly/41wjHVJ>" in Kidney International. He is also co-senior author of "Merkel Cell Carcinoma in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients: Prognosis and Response to Immunotherapy"<https://bit.ly/40VTkIE> in the British Journal of Dermatology. DOM co-authors are Evan Hall and Shailender Bhatia.

Jocelyn Cervantes, research assistant, is lead author and Dr. Jenny Kanter, research associate professor (Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition) is senior author of "Salvaged Signals, Scarred Filters: Podocyte NPRC in Diabetic Kidney Disease"<https://bit.ly/4m9d18s> in Circulation Research.

Dr. Austin Chen, acting instructor, is lead author and Dr. Ann Jennerich, associate professor (Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine) is senior author of "Utilization of the No One Dies Alone Program to Support Dying Patients<https://bit.ly/4m85syL>" in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. DOM co-author is Ketki Sathe.

Dr. Stefanie Deeds, clinical associate professor, is lead author and Dr. Karin Nelson, professor (General Internal Medicine) is senior author of "Electronic Health Record Time Allocation Among Primary Care Clinicians at the Veterans Health Administration Using Virtual Observations<https://bit.ly/45wMrir>" in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. DOM co-authors are Scott Hagan and Ashok Reddy.

Dr. Christopher Goss, professor (Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine) is co-author of "Maximising opportunity for therapeutic success: sequential participation in cystic fibrosis nucleic acid-based therapy trials<https://bit.ly/4oovXBH>" in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

Dr. Joshua Hill, associate professor (Allergy and Infectious Diseases) is senior author of "Opportunities to improve antibiotic stewardship, and identification of blood biomarkers associated with bacteremia following CAR-T cell therapy<https://bit.ly/4mjGfBH>" in Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. DOM co-authors are Jennifer Huang, Andrew Portuguese, Noam Kopmar, Andrew Cowan, Mazyar Shadman, Alexandre Hirayama, Brain Till, Ryan Cassaday, Catherine Liu, Jordan Gauthier, and Emily Liang.

Dr. George Ioannou, professor (Gastroenterology) is lead author of "Target Trial Emulation of SARS-CoV-2 Infection Versus No Infection and Risk of Post-COVID-19 Conditions in the Omicron Variant Versus Prior Eras<https://bit.ly/3UYmMtT>" in Clinical Infectious Diseases. DOM co-authors are Edward Boyko and Ann O'Hare.

Drs. Janine Maenza, clinical professor, Adrienne Shapiro, assistant professor, and Juliana McElrath, professor (Allergy and Infectious Diseases) are co-authors of "Vaccination with mRNA-encoded nanoparticles drives early maturation of HIV bnAb precursors in humans<https://bit.ly/45vGK4d>" in Science.

Dr. Leo Morales, professor (General Internal Medicine) is senior author of "Long COVID among Latino Patients of Two Federally Qualified Health Centers in Washington State<https://bit.ly/3IYf2Wi>" in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Dr. Radhika Narla, associate professor (Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition) is lead author and Dr. Gabrielle Berger, professor (General Internal Medicine) is senior author of "A Three-Tiered Faculty Engagement Programme to Support Resident Scholarship<https://bit.ly/45rHmHY>" in the Clinical Teacher. DOM co-author is Whitney Harper.

Drs. Andrew Portuguese, assistant professor, Andrew Cowan, associate professor, Mazyar Shadman, professor, Emily Liang, fellow, Brian Till, associate professor, David Maloney, professor emeritus, and Stanley Riddell, professor (Hematology and Oncology) are co-authors of "A phase 1 trial of fully human BCMA CAR-T therapy for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma with 5-year follow-up<https://bit.ly/45pwf2b>" in Blood.

Dr. Michael Schwartz, professor (Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition) is senior author of "An unexpected role for the brain in the pathogenesis of diabetic ketoacidosis<https://bit.ly/4mt61Tu>" in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. DOM co-authors are Gregory Morton and Irl Hirsch.

Dr. Mazyar Shadman, professor (Hematology and Oncology) is senior author of "Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell Therapy for Richter Transformation: A CIBMTR analysis<https://bit.ly/45EHuFj>" in Transplantation and Cellular Therapy.

Dr. Stuart Shankland, professor (Nephrology) is lead author of "New Discoveries in Podocyte Mechanosensing and Mechanotransduction<https://bit.ly/4maJVFH>" in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Dr. Asa Tapley, clinical assistant professor (General Internal Medicine) is co-author of "Plasmodium falciparum Parasitemia Does Not Diminish Neutralizing Antibody Responses After mRNA COVID-19 Booster Vaccination in HIV-infected Adults<https://bit.ly/4ln35a9>" in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.


In the news
Dr. Chase Cannon, assistant professor (Allergy and Infectious Diseases) was interviewed by Public Health Insider in "DoxyPEP for STI prevention: Q&A with Dr. Chase Cannon<https://bit.ly/46MJsod>."

Dr. Helen Chu, professor (Allergy and Infectious Diseases) is quoted in "This UW Doc Was Fired from the CDC's Vaccine Panel<https://bit.ly/3UeFwFr>" in Seattle Met.

Dr. Jeanne Gallée, postdoctoral scholar (General Internal Medicine) is quoted in "Subtle Changes in the Way You Speak Could Signal Alzheimer's Disease<https://bit.ly/4mwPspT>" in Verywell Health.

Dr. Heather Greenlee, professor (Hematology and Oncology) is quoted in "How Your Diet Influences Your Colorectal Cancer Risk<https://nyti.ms/4foKhWL>" in the New York Times.

Dr. Irl Hirsch, professor (Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition) is quoted in "Medical Mysteries: Woman who develops colorblindness, diabetes gets rare diagnosis<https://bit.ly/4fAQlLS>" in the Washington Post.

Dr. Jennifer Huang, fellow (Hematology and Oncology) is quoted in "CAR T-Cell Therapy in Cancer Patients With Autoimmune Diseases<https://bit.ly/4mjKpc0>" in Oncology Times.

Dr. Rachel Issaka, associate professor (Gastroenterology) is quoted in "Major increase in colorectal cancer in younger adults tied to pandemic years, researchers say<https://bit.ly/4m7dVCo>" in the Independent.

Drs. Sid Kapnadak, associate professor, and Pradeep Singh, professor (Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine) are quoted in "Going in for a close look at lung infections<https://bit.ly/45nlvBr>" from UW Medicine Newsroom.

Dr. Coralynn Sack, associate professor (General Internal Medicine) is quoted in "Wildfire smoke settles over Seattle, impacting air quality<https://bit.ly/4fuDpHp>" from FOX 13.

Dr. Michael Schwartz, professor (Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition) is quoted in "How Leptin Helps the Brain Maintain Blood Sugar Levels<https://bit.ly/3JnyjAq>" from Drug Discovery.

Dr. Mazyar Shadman, professor (Hematology and Oncology) is quoted in "New Combination and Single-Agent Therapies for CLL<https://bit.ly/4lhfqfU>" in Medpage Today.



Weekly Calendar, August 11-15, 2025
Our events calendar is posted on our website<https://medicine.uw.edu/news/trumba-calendar>.



________________________________

Amy Fields, Editor
amyf at uw.edu<mailto:amyf at uw.edu>


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