Department News
Strategic Plan: Making Progress in Amplifying Excellence in Training and Education
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
This is part of a series highlighting the Department of Medicine 2024-2028 Strategy and Action Plan, its five pillars for success, and progress toward meeting the goals.
A key element of the Strategic Plan is to train the next generation of academic leaders, physicians and scientists to excel in the evolving healthcare and research systems. Within the Amplify Excellence and Esteem in Training and Education pillar, there are three strategic priorities:
- Build the strongest pipeline to all our missions. Planned actions range from maximizing recruitment for educational programs to increasing retention of trainees and faculty and engaging alumni in recruitment, mentoring and retention of trainees and faculty.
- Support the development of faculty as educators. These efforts include recognizing excellence in teaching, educating and mentoring and supporting engagement in educational activities by promoting faculty wellness.
- Employ a centralized pathway to training, assistance, engagement, mentorship and skill development opportunities for all types of scholarship. Planned actions include centralizing tracking of scholarship outcomes of trainees and junior faculty, disseminating research and scholarship findings, and enabling and promoting opportunities in scholarship and research.
“These strategic priorities are critical to our mission as an academic medical center and to providing the best education for physicians,” said Catherine Gracey, MD, Vice Chair of Education, DOM. “We aim to support scholarship and the development of skills in clinical, translational and basic-science research and in the areas of educational and quality-improvement science. We want to support scholars in their areas of interest.”
To date, work has focused on the recruitment pipeline, alumni engagement and faculty-development activities. The Medicine and Medicine-Pediatrics residencies are in the midst of their annual recruitment, and the DOM fellowship matches were quite successful.
A major upcoming event for alumni engagement is the 100th reunion of the Medicine Residency program, which is planned for the weekend of May 30, 2026. A new alumni newsletter has also been created.
Transitional Care Medicine Transforms Lifelong Patient Care
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
DOM’s Division of Transitional Care Medicine is redefining care for patients with chronic medical or developmental conditions during their transition from adolescence to adulthood. Led by Interim Chief Steven Scofield, MD, and Francis Coyne, MD, director of the Complex Care Center, the division’s collaborative model has resulted in improved care coordination, reduced complications and smoother transitions for patients as they age from pediatric to adult care.
“We have clear evidence that our approach is leading to better health outcomes,” Scofield said. “The division’s comprehensive-care model has reduced ED utilization and improved outcomes for high-risk patients.”
Transitional Care Medicine team
One of its Kind
Many institutions across the country offer transitional care programs and clinics, the Medical Center is the first to establish a dedicated division. This approach provides autonomy, with faculty directly appointed to the division, making transitional care not just a service but a fully integrated academic and clinical entity.
The structure also promotes collaboration across disciplines, enabling specialists from many divisions to work together more effectively, enhancing care for transitioning patients.
Streamlined, Focused Care
On average, physicians get between four and six calls per month to assist patients with intellectual or developmental disabilities who lack the capacity to make their own health care or end-of-life decisions. New York State’s Office for People With Developmental Disabilities requires that two physicians sign off on the Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) form, in addition to the patient’s parent or guardian. To assist with this process, the division now has three new OPWDD-certified physicians.
Patients with IDD, autism spectrum disorder or behavioral issues face challenges getting services, from dental checkups to routine procedures and surgeries. The Intensive Behavioral Support Team, led by Amanda Laprime, PhD, BCBA-D, LBA, helps screen and desensitize patients before their visits and procedures, which can help reduce staff injury and staff turnover.
Transitional Care’s Applied Behavior Analysis Team is training inpatient nurses caring for patients with IDDs. Offered to Strong and Golisano Children’s Hospital nurses, the training will eventually expand to hospitals across the state.
Research and Education
The division is advancing research in sickle cell care, developing non-hematology expertise to address these patients’ needs. Current clinical trials include the MAYFLOWERS study, evaluating health outcomes of women with cystic fibrosis (CF) on modulators and their babies during and after pregnancy; the STOP-PEDS trial, focusing on optimizing antibiotic use for pediatric CF patients, and the REACH trial, examining disease progression in CF patients who are ineligible for new medications.
A one-year fellowship is offered in transitional care, and resident education spans across Med-Peds, Internal Medicine and Family Medicine. Residents rotate into the Complex Care Center, gaining direct experience with complex conditions and the array of courses, such as the combined Med-Peds/Pulmonary elective, give residents exposure to clinics and provide a foundation in transitional care.
Three Faculty Earn Research, Teaching Awards
Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Brendan Guercia, MD

Erika Drury, MD

Rebecca Levy, MBBCh
Nephrology and Hematology/Oncology faculty were awarded research and teaching grants to advance care and education of the next generation of physicians.
Nephrology’s Rebecca Levy, MBBCh, received the 2025 UR CTSI K12 (formerly KL2) Scholar Award to examine outcomes for adolescents and young adults with chronic kidney disease and explore potential interventions to reduce unnecessary hospitalizations. The award provides 75 percent FTE support for two years.
Erika Drury, MD, of Nephrology, was selected as the 2025-2027 Ritchie Teaching Fellow. She will create a cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic health curriculum for the Nephrology Fellowship. The two-year award provides 10 percent FTE support.
Brendan Guercio, MD, of Hematology/Oncology, received a $250,000 Career Development Award from the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (BCAN.) He will investigate whether a healthy diet can help the immune system’s ability to fight advanced bladder cancer when coupled with the newest therapy, enfortumab, vendotin, and pembrolizumab (EVP). Guercio previously won a BCAN Young Investigator Award and has already shown that a nutritious diet enhancing the gut microbiome, along with immunotherapy, may lead to better bladder cancer control.
Morning Report Room Renovation Underway
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
The long-awaited renovation to the DOM Morning Report room (7.2346/7.2366) is underway. Throughout construction, which is expected to be completed in mid-April, morning reports shifted to the Young Room (3.3235), near to Chair’s suite.
The room updates will provide more functional space within the main hospital for clinical work, conferences and meetings. It will also better meet the needs of DOM’s student and residency programs following significant growth over the past two decades.
Specific upgrades will include an updated sound system to enable more interactive hybrid meetings, moveable tables and chairs for room reconfiguration for small or large groups, an additional workstation for residents and learners, a kitchenette and a water cooler.
A special thank-you to Adam Anolik, Medical Center CFO, Mike Rotondo, MD, URMFG CEO, Amber Foster, senior director of Space Planning, and Gerard Mikols, Senior Associate Dean of SMD Finance & Administration, for helping secure project approval.
Many others helped make the renovation possible, including Krista Pike and Katie Murphy of Residency/Fellowship programs; Kate French, of Clinical Administration; Lorie Damann, of Facilities and Karin Staub, of Space Planning, and the Hospital Operations/Space Planning team.
Kari Steinmetz Wins CTSI Shark Tank Funding Competition
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
CTSI held its Translational Science Shark Tank event in October, with teams developing solutions to seemingly intractable barriers to recruitment in clinical research.
Kari M. Steinmetz, BA, COA, assistant director of Clinical Trials, and her team, presented creation of an Open Research Round Table Committee to enhance collaboration between research teams and participant recruitment groups. Following the competition, Steinmetz was asked to conceptualize her idea and secured CTSI funding to pursue it.
“With these resources, we aim to eliminate communication barriers that frequently impede clinical-research recruitment” Steinmetz said. “Through a standardized system, we hope to streamline collaboration among research-team members while enhancing participant engagement.”
Communication barriers between researchers and recruitment teams frequently slow the enrollment process in clinical trials, resulting in inefficient recruitment and missed enrollment targets. By identifying barriers to recruitment and discussing potential solutions, the round table committee will help meet research-enrollment targets and better engage research participants.
The committee will consist of coordinators, principal investigators, and study participants, and initially be piloted in Infectious Diseases before expansion across all divisions. The model could also be applied to community engagement, allowing potential participant recruitment groups to contribute ideas.
“My hope is that we can turn this pilot into a long-term project that expands from an internal process to a community effort,” Steinmetz said. “For example, in the community, we could discuss a barrier such as vaccine hesitancy. Researchers would have the opportunity to learn more about the reasons behind this hesitancy and to explain the safety of vaccines.”
Faculty and Staff Artwork Brightens DOM Community Space
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
The DOM Community Space is now home to a variety of pieces or artwork by faculty and staff.
“When we renovated the space, we thought what better way to embody the work of our staff and faculty than to feature their donated artwork,” said Erica Couch, department coordinator, who manages the Community Space at 3.5100.
After last year’s opening, there was an opportunity for artwork submissions and the response was tremendous. Contributors whose artwork and photography on display now are:
- Christopher Nolan, MD, of Pulmonary and Critical Care
- Candice O’Connor, of Infectious Diseases
- Brandon Sprung, MD, of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
- Neil Scheier, MD, of Primary Care
- Deepak Sahasrabudhe, MD, of Hematology/Oncology
- Adelaide Weidner, MS, of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
Selected Works
Yosemite Falls, California by Erica Couch, MD
Rose of Sharon by Neil Scheier, MD
A Donated Collection by Brandon Sprung, MD
Can You Guess the Famous Building? by Deepak Sahasrabudhe, MD
Beauty in Hope by Candice O'Connor, MD
"A maiden with PCOS holds her newborn baby next to her partner. She represents hope for reproductive health."
Each piece of art includes a plaque crediting the artist. Plans are to eventually have a rotating art exhibit in the space, likely on an annual basis.
“We are excited that this artwork is now displayed in the Community Space,” Couch added. “It took a bit longer to get everything printed, framed and displayed than we hoped, but we are very happy with how it turned out. We encourage everyone to see the beautiful artwork created by their colleagues.”
The pieces can be viewed daily between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. (it requires ID badge access). To gain access outside of the regular hours, contact: erica_couch@urmc.rochester.edu.
First Pathways Event Held For Medical Students
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
The first DOM DEI Council and OEI Pathways event for medical students from various affinity student groups. Turnout was tremendous at this networking dinner, and the students greatly appreciated the opportunity to get together.
Pathways events aim to facilitate mentorship opportunities, enable students to learn about diverse career trajectories, and build a sense of community, belonging and inclusion by having students and mentors engage in a friendly, casual environment.
These events are also a way to help build medical students’ interest in pursuing an Internal Medicine residency at URMC.
Clare Park, DO, and Janice Cheong, MD, organized the January 9 dinner, and another is planned for the spring.
Give DOM A Boost Before Doximity Voting Opens for US News Rankings
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Most DOM clinical faculty are registered on Doximity, the only place where physicians can vote in the annual US News & World Report Best Hospitals survey.
Balloting will begin soon – typically in February and March – and we urge you to start adding colleagues to your network. This move can help boost URMC's reputation in clinical areas for ranking: Cancer, Heart & Heart Surgery, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Geriatric Care, Nephrology, and Pulmonary.
When you update your profile, or are mentioned in a publication, everyone in your network gets an update. The more connections you have, the more people who will see URMC/Strong Memorial Hospital. And we hope they’ll think of us come voting time.
All faculty are encouraged to connect with former classmates, physicians you've trained with, and other colleagues to help your division improve its reputation score in the annual rankings!
New Procedures Launched to Bolster Clinical Trials
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
A new standard operating procedure (SOP) for Department of Medicine investigators was recently introduced to ensure feasibility of clinical trials as part of a new, comprehensive clinical trials platform. Its primary mission is to achieve translation through clinical trials, with the goal of creating a uniformed framework to identify innovative studies that align with the missions of DOM’s various divisions.
“We are launching a novel, innovative clinical trials framework to promote a strategic, managed clinical trials portfolio, effective trial operations and diversity, in alignment with the DOM Strategic Plan,” said Valentina Kutyifa, MD, PhD, vice chair for Clinical Research. “Most importantly, processes for start-up, feasibility, and conduct of clinical trials are being harmonized and modernized across our divisions to set up our investigators for success.”
With this streamlined process, new studies will be identified that are feasible and advance the institution’s strategic priorities. Last week, URMC CEO David Linehan, MD, cited his goal of building an “absolute powerhouse for clinical trials and clinical investigations.”
The DOM is at the forefront of this effort, with more than $247.7 million in research funding is the largest across SMD. This is the first of the DOM Clinical Trials Umbrella procedures aiming to achieve these goals.
The SOP’s scope covers clinical research protocols that prospectively enroll randomized and non-randomized human subjects, including sponsored and investigator-initiated research, clinical trials and FDA-regulated studies.
Key elements of the new DOM clinical trials framework include a Clinical Research Leadership Committee, harmonized organizational structure and mission statement, harmonized use of OnCore across divisions, a Protocol Review Committee and enhancing study start-up activities including IRB support. Other elements include advancing the use of e-consent and electronic study documentation, ongoing feasibility review, PI engagement, improved oversight and training, and competitive staff recruitment, training and retention.
The feasibility assessment of new clinical trials encompasses seven steps: sponsor inquiry, go/no go check, completion of a new, standardized feasibility worksheet, formal risk assessment through OCR, score calculation, protocol review by the DOM Protocol Review Committee and decision.
The next initiative is focusing on harmonizing the use of OnCore across all divisions. DOM hopes to soon implement its usage in all studies, currently at about 80 percent for DOM sponsored studies across all divisions.
“This SOP marks the beginning of a unified approach across all 15 divisions of medicine, providing a clear framework to align clinical trials with our strategic goals and ensuring swift and successful execution of studies that drive our mission forward,” said Stefanie Fingler, MBA, director of Research Operations.
Kari Steinmetz, MBA, assistant director of Clinical Trials, said, “With almost three decades of experience across various departments at the University of Rochester, I’ve seen firsthand how clear, consistent and well-communicated SOPs can serve as a vital tool in driving efficiency, consistency and quality across all levels of an organization. This SOP will help us reduce inefficiencies, foster communication and ultimately drive the success of our organization.”
The new SOP is a pilot that will be evaluated at the end of the year. For questions, contact the Research Leadership team.
URMC Department of Medicine Clinical Trials Framework
Jennifer Anolik Named Chief of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology Division
Monday, January 6, 2025
Internationally renowned physician scientist Jennifer H. Anolik, MD, PhD, was named chief of the Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology (AIR) Division in the Department of Medicine, after serving as interim chief since 2021.
“I am delighted that Jen has agreed to continue leading our AIR division as chief,” said Ruth O’Regan, MD, chair of Medicine. “The division is in great hands under her leadership and will continue to benefit from her experience and expertise as a clinician, educator and researcher. I am extremely grateful to her for serving as interim chair over the past few years.”
A faculty member for 22 years, Anolik also serves as associate chair for research in the Department of Medicine, professor of Medicine, Pathology, and Microbiology and Immunology, and director of the Internal Medicine Physician Scientist Training Program.
Anolik earned her MD and PhD at the University, completed her residency in Internal Medicine in 1999 and her fellowship in Rheumatology in 2002, after which she joined the faculty.