[domweek] DOM Week, August 25-29, 2025

[Department of Medicine weekly newsletter via domweek]

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DOM Week
August 22, 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>)


DEIB news
New location fosters community at Center for Indigenous Health
[cid:image003.jpg at 01DC137C.B39E22F0]Many UW Medicine students, residents, and fellows miss home, yet for those who are Indigenous, the sense of dislocation from community and culture can be especially acute. Dr. Jason Deen, professor (Cardiology) and founding director of the UW Medicine Center for Indigenous Health<https://bit.ly/46YX4wR>, hopes some of those connections can be restored at the Center’s new location at UW Medical Center – Montlake.

“I'm grateful that I can be working in my office, and I see the students walking by, and then I’ll get a knock on the door,” says Deen, a professor in Pediatrics and Medicine and member of the Blackfeet Tribe. “I want to hear from them. I want to hear about the things that are going well for them. I want to hear about the things that are challenging for them. My staff and I just want to be here for them.”

Read the full story from Vitals<https://bit.ly/3HAM0vx>.


Faculty news
In memoriam: Sherrill Slichter
[Sherrill Slichter]Dr. Sherrill Slichter, professor emeritus (Hematology and Oncology) passed away on Aug. 13. She was 95.

Throughout a distinguished career spanning more than five decades, Dr. Slichter's contributions to the field of transfusion medicine revolutionized platelet transfusion therapy, and because of her accomplishments, individuals with leukemia, other blood disorders, and other cancers can be safely treated with therapies such as chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

She was known as a truly remarkable translational scientist, colleague, and friend.

Read more about her on our news site<https://bit.ly/4mT7brL>.

________________________________

[Madhav Dhodapkar]Madhav Dhodapkar receives Milton B. Rubin Family Endowed Chair
Dr. Madhav Dhodapkar, professor (Hematology and Oncology) and scientific director of Fred Hutch’s Multiple Myeloma Program, is the new holder of the Milton B. Rubin Family Endowed Chair at Fred Hutch.

The endowed chair was created five years ago by Milton Rubin to express his gratitude for the care his son received at Fred Hutch decades back. The first holder of the chair was Dr. Rainer Storb.

Learn more from Hutch News<https://bit.ly/45C0WCZ>.

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Thomas Fitzpatrick selected for Public Intellectuals Program
[Tom Fitzpatrick]Dr. Thomas Fitzpatrick, acting instructor (Allergy and Infectious Diseases) has been selected for the ninth round of the Public Intellectuals Program (PIP). Launched in 2005, PIP identifies outstanding members of the next generation of American China specialists – in the academic, professional, or policymaking spheres – who, in the tradition of earlier China hands, have the interest and potential to venture outside of academia or their professions into areas relevant to foreign policy and public education. 

Learn more on our news site<https://bit.ly/4oMDhXI>.

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Faculty spotlight: Thomas Lynch
[Thomas Lynch]Seattle Magazine recently profiled Dr. Thomas Lynch, professor (Hematology and Oncology) and president and director of Fred Hutch Cancer Center, as part of their Top Doctors feature series<https://bit.ly/3Hl4obM>. He talked about what led him to Seattle and Fred Hutch, the future of AI in medicine, and the importance of collaboration.



Education news
ReVAMP RAMP: Resident Advising and Mentorship Program
[Gabrielle Berger and Radhika Narla]Since its launch in 2007, RAMP has paired residents with faculty mentors to provide structured guidance in research, career exploration, and professional development.

In an effort to better meet the needs of residents and changing fellowship application landscape, RAMP leadership recently evaluated the program and implemented changes to better meet the needs of participating residents in their professional growth—an initiative now known as “ReVAMP RAMP.”

The results of the project were published this month in The Clinical Teacher: “A Three-Tiered Faculty Engagement Programme to Support Resident Scholarship<https://bit.ly/45rHmHY>.” Dr. Radhika Narla, associate professor (Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition) and associate program director for subspecialty medicine is lead author and Dr. Gabrielle Berger, professor (General Internal Medicine) is senior author.

Post-implementation surveys show that ReVAMP RAMP has strengthened scholarly productivity and fostered more meaningful mentor-mentee connections, especially for fellowship-bound residents.

Read the full story on our news site<https://bit.ly/45BWUZU>.


Research news
Discovering immune mechanisms that contribute to progressive pulmonary fibrosis
[Sarah Holton]Dr. Sarah Holton, acting instructor (Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine) is the recipient of a K23 award from NIH/NHLBI for mentored patient-oriented research career development. This 5-year award will support her efforts to define the immune cell populations that lead to progression of fibrosis in Interstitial Lung Disease. She will use high dimensional flow cytometry and single cell and spatial transcriptomics to define these populations in the blood and the lung and relate them to clinical outcomes in two cohorts of patients.

Her mentorship and advisory team includes Drs. Carmen Mikacenic, Mark Wurfel and Ganesh Raghu (PCCSM), Jessica Hamerman (Immunology), Leila Zelnick (Nephrology), and Hannah DeBerg (BRI, Bioinformatics).

________________________________

Improving follow-up colonoscopy after abnormal colorectal cancer screening
[Rachel Issaka]Dr. Rachel Issaka, associate professor (Gastroenterology) has been awarded a prestigious NIH R37 MERIT grant to support research addressing a crucial public health issue: the high rate of missed follow-ups after abnormal stool-based colorectal cancer screenings. Without timely colonoscopies following these tests, the potential benefits are lost.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) deaths have declined since the early 1990s, but patients in safety-net healthcare systems – which represent 25% of U.S. hospitals – face worse CRC outcomes. These systems typically care for populations with limited access to care, contributing to higher CRC mortality. While the fecal immunochemical test (FIT) is a low-cost, preferred screening method, only 33–58% of patients complete a follow-up colonoscopy within a year of an abnormal result. Delays over six months significantly increase the risk of advanced-stage CRC and death.

This project will test a multilevel intervention that tackles key patient- and health system-level barriers identified by Issaka's team, comparing it with usual care to improve follow-up rates in safety-net healthcare settings.

Learn more on our news site<https://bit.ly/3JmlOFm>.

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Small pilot test of novel opioid-use therapy shows success
[Jared Klein]A novel treatment protocol for opioid-use disorder significantly improves patient outcomes, according to research recently published in JAMA Network Open<https://bit.ly/3UwK8a5>.

In the study, 95 patients were administered injectable-only overlapping buprenorphine that did not require fentanyl withdrawal. The results significantly outperformed traditional methods, with 75% of participants completing the three-day injection series and 64% continuing treatment with a second monthly dose.

“Being able to get someone started on life-saving medication like buprenorphine without the need for an initial period of withdrawal is particularly important for people experiencing homelessness,” said Dr. Jared Klein, associate professor (General Internal Medicine) and senior author of the paper. “This study is a significant contribution to the existing literature around novel methods of starting buprenorphine in the era of fentanyl.”

Read the full story from UW Medicine Newsroom<https://bit.ly/41c94Hy>.


Clinical News
Inaugural clinical practice guideline for obstructive sleep apnea
[Reena Mehra]Dr. Reena Mehra, professor and head (Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine) chaired the task force and is lead author of the inaugural American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline<https://bit.ly/45R39cw> addressing the topic of inpatient sleep medicine and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in medically hospitalized adults. DOM co-author is Dr. Martha Billings.

To date, the existing clinical paradigm for the diagnosis, management and treatment of OSA has focused on the outpatient arena. The guideline was developed to provide guidance regarding the evaluation and management of OSA in medically hospitalized adults, a setting that is increasingly being recognized as an opportunity to identify and manage OSA with the intent to improve clinical outcomes.


Recent publications
Dr. Engi Attia, associate professor (Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine) is senior author of “Spirometry Abnormalities and Immune Dysfunction Among Adolescents With and Without HIV in Kenya: A Cohort Study<https://bit.ly/3HCzkUM>” in CHEST. DOM co-authors are Kristina Crothers and Eoin West.

The paper: “Blood-brain barrier integrity and transport of major hormones are unchanged in mice with euglycemic hyperinsulinemia<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/bit.ly/3FAyKG4__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!k45w51X26voGQvVpr6O3o8ne23iJRdhLk-H_KErBe5C-KMoEC_x4HkkU-stYba4jQXF8L_7NgFKiD_nfVs1jwQ$>” is the featured article in Endocrinology this week. Dr. William Banks, professor (Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine) is senior author and DOM co-authors are Kim Hansen, Kristin Bullock and Michelle Erickson.

Dr. Nisha Bansal, professor (Nephrology) is co-author of “2025 AHA/ACC/AANP/AAPA/ABC/ACCP/ACPM/AGS/AMA/ASPC/NMA/PCNA/SGIM Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines<https://bit.ly/4lmsyQR>” in JACC. Dr. Eugene Yang is co-chair of the Peer Review Committee and Dr. Catherine Otto is chair of the ACC/AHA Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines.

Dr. Megan Capozzi, research assistant professor (Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition) is lead author of “β Cell Gαs signaling is critical for physiological and pharmacological enhancement of insulin secretion<https://bit.ly/4mHafYp>” in JCI.

Dr. Jocelyn James, associate professor, is lead author and Dr. Judith Tsui, professor (General Internal Medicine) is senior author of “Use of Pharmacists and Collaborative Practice Agreements to Treat Hepatitis C: A Survey of Primary Care Clinicians in Washington State<https://bit.ly/3UD2je9>” in the Journal of Primary Care & Community Health.

Dr. Gail Jarvik, professor and head (Medical Genetics) is co-author of “Multi-ancestry meta-analysis of keloids uncovers novel susceptibility loci in diverse populations<https://go.nature.com/3HFxVwS>” in Nature Communications.

Dr. Lauren Jatt, clinician researcher (Allergy and Infectious Diseases) is lead author of “Cytokines Associated With Moderate and Severe Adverse Events During a Sporozoite Malaria Vaccine Trial with Controlled Human Malaria Infection<https://bit.ly/4mxyEQ2>” in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Hans-Peter Kiem, professor (Hematology and Oncology) is co-author of “Pooled CAR-T screening in nonhuman primates identifies designs with enhanced proliferation, trafficking, and persistence<https://bit.ly/41g1WtR>” in Blood.

Dr. Allison Mobley, R2, is lead author of “Facilitators and barriers to scaling up methadone maintenance therapy in Malaysian prisons: using nominal group technique with custodial staff<https://bit.ly/3JmhyWq>” in the International Journal of Prison Health.


In the news
Drs. Megan Capozzi, research assistant professor (Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition) and Scott Hagan, associate professor (General Internal Medicine) are quoted in “New Data Shows Just How Powerful the Next Weight-Loss Drugs May Be<https://nyti.ms/3Uxb8Gq>” in the New York Times.

Dr. Joel Kaufman, professor (General Internal Medicine) is quoted in “Manufacturing-dependent Cowlitz County is an industrial air pollution hotspot in WA<https://bit.ly/45skqd5>” in The Columbian.

Dr. Jared Klein, associate professor (General Internal Medicine) is quoted in “UW study sees success during test for new opioid-use therapy<https://bit.ly/4oz09tI>” from KIRO 7 News.

Dr. Philip Mease, clinical professor (Rheumatology) is quoted in “FDA approves landmark fibromyalgia drug that works like no other<https://bit.ly/45IowN1>” in New Atlas.

Dr. Michael Schwartz, professor (Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition) contributed to “What makes GLP1 receptor agonist drugs so effective for obesity?<https://bit.ly/4mMsriG>” for Open Access Government.


Events of interest
Free online Covidence training for Data Extraction 2 tool
The UW Health Sciences Library is hosting a free online training for the Covidence review software, aimed at researchers who are familiar with the platform and working on non-intervention reviews, e.g., qualitative reviews and reviews of observational studies. Aug. 26, 12-1pm. Learn more and register for the training<https://bit.ly/4mWhoUp>.


Weekly Calendar, August 25-29, 2025
Our events calendar is posted on our website<https://medicine.uw.edu/news/trumba-calendar>.


Coming up
Barbara Jung portrait unveiling
Former Department Chair Dr. Barbara Jung will be present for the unveiling of her portrait on Sept. 8, 8:30am, in Turner Auditorium. Light refreshments will be served. Please stop by to view the portrait and reconnect with Barbara and Betsy. Following the event, the portrait will be displayed outside the Chair’s office in the RR-wing of Health Sciences on the 5th floor, alongside portraits of previous department chairs.
All are welcome!


________________________________

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


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