July 2026

Dean's Message

Recognizing Excellence Through Academic Promotion

One of the hallmarks of a thriving academic medical center is its commitment to recognizing and rewarding excellence. Academic promotion represents more than advancement in rank. It reflects years of dedication to scholarship, teaching, service, and clinical productivity in the presence of learners. It is a milestone that acknowledges both individual achievement and the collective impact faculty members have on their students, colleagues, patients, and communities.

At Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTCSOM), faculty promotion is grounded in a rigorous peer-review process designed to evaluate meaningful contributions across the missions of research and scholarship, education, service, and clinical care. Faculty members seeking promotion develop comprehensive dossiers that document the breadth and impact of their work, and these materials undergo review at the department, college, and university levels and then, ultimately, by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.

This year, we are pleased to recognize 18 faculty members whose accomplishments have strengthened VTCSOM and advanced our academic mission. Their success reflects a sustained commitment to excellence and serves as a testament to the talent and dedication found throughout our institution.

Promotion is also an important reminder of the collaborative culture that exists within our organization. Behind every successful promotion is a network of colleagues, department leaders, collaborators, learners, and mentors who provide guidance, support, and encouragement throughout a faculty member’s career journey. As we celebrate those who have achieved promotion this year, we also recognize the departments and individuals who have helped cultivate their success.

For faculty members considering promotion in the future, now is an excellent time to begin planning. Promotion is most successful when approached as a longitudinal process rather than a single event. Faculty are encouraged to review the resources available through the Office of Faculty Affairs, familiarize themselves with promotion criteria and expectations, and engage early with their department chairs and mentors regarding professional goals and readiness for advancement.

The VTCSOM promotion process and supporting resources, including promotion pathways, timelines, and guidelines, are available through the Office of Faculty Affairs Promotion website. These resources are designed to help faculty understand expectations, prepare strong dossiers, and navigate each stage of the review process with confidence.

Please join me in congratulating our newly promoted faculty members. These achievements reflect their contributions to the continued growth, reputation, and success of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. We are proud of their accomplishments and grateful for the many ways they enrich our learning environment every day.

Shari Whicker, EdD, MEd
Assistant Dean, Faculty Development
Interim Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs
Senior Director, Office of Continuing Professional Development, Carilion Clinic
Director, TEACH (Teaching Excellence Academy for Collaborative Healthcare)
Professor, Department of Pediatrics

News Around Campus

• Medical student brings anatomy to life in first solo art exhibit
• VTCSOM HR leader appointed to role in new AAMC Faculty and Staff Vitality initiative

Social Media

• Ten years later, they're back where it all began! It was a joy to welcome the VTCSOM Class of 2016 back to Roanoke to reconnect, reflect, and celebrate a decade of making a difference in medicine.
• Congrats to our students Colby Mallet, Etta Hanlon, Blaire Barton, Lily Rose Bahrabadi, and Rachel Chiao for being awarded the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Student Service Leadership Project Grant!
• 3rd-year VTCSOM students Austin Fitzgerald and Sophia Roche took the stage for the Cornerstone and 50th Alumni Programming.

Events

• 7/26 Salem Ridgeyaks Meet and Greet
• 8/6 Inaugural lecture of the Craft Family Endowed Guest Professorship on Medicine and Humanities

Recognitions

• Dr. Amanda Murchison, associate dean for student affairs, was recently recognized with multiple honors celebrating her exceptional contributions to medical education. She received a Gold Star Award for Excellence in Medical Student Teaching, based on evaluations from VTCSOM students, and a national Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology (CREOG) Award, recognizing her outstanding impact on residency education after being nominated by residents and department leadership. During the residency graduation ceremony, graduating OB/GYN residents also honored Murchison with a “GOAT” sash—recognizing her as the “Greatest of All Time” for her steadfast support in ensuring residents could participate in weekly didactic sessions. Together, these recognitions reflect Murchison’s lasting impact on learners across the continuum of medical education through her leadership as former residency program director and her continued service as vice chair for education.

• Dean Lee Learman was inducted into the Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine

Humanism

Your True North – Making a Regular Time for Recalibration, by Mark H. Greenawald, MD, FAAFP, Department of Family and Community Medicine

"Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you." – Parker Palmer

Did you know that airplanes spend surprisingly little time flying directly over their planned route? Winds, weather, and tiny navigational errors constantly nudge them off course. Rather than trying to fly perfectly, modern navigation systems continually make small corrections. The destination isn't reached by avoiding drift; it's reached by noticing drift early and recalibrating.

Perhaps our lives work much the same way. Most of us don't wake up one morning having suddenly become exhausted, disconnected, or misaligned with our values. More often, we drift there gradually. Deadlines accumulate. Relationships receive less attention. Good habits quietly erode. Before long, we realize we're living reactively rather than intentionally. The problem wasn't a dramatic wrong turn, rather too many small ones left uncorrected.

Behavioral science research has found that periodic self-reflection helps people stay aligned with their deepest values, priorities, and long-term aspirations. Studies of self-regulation suggest that routinely comparing our current direction with our deeper goals improves follow-through, resilience, and well-being. Even brief moments of reflection increase the likelihood that our daily actions remain aligned with the person we're hoping to become. Like a pilot regularly checking the flight instruments and confirming the aircraft is still on course, the purpose isn't self-criticism. It's course correction.

Over the years, I've found that the changing seasons provide natural invitations for these recalibrations. Around each solstice and equinox, I intentionally alter my usual routines for a few days. It always includes some form of fasting, not because fasting is the goal, but because it creates space. Space to journal. To sit quietly. To walk in the woods or paddle on the water. To write. To ask questions I rarely make time for otherwise: What's life trying to teach me right now? What needs more attention? What needs less? Where have I drifted? What should I carry into the next season, and what should I leave behind?

Your rhythm may look entirely different. Perhaps it's a monthly morning alone with a notebook, a quarterly hike, an annual retreat, a Sabbath afternoon, or simply an uninterrupted conversation with your PeerRx partner or another colleague. The practice matters less than the rhythm. Regular recalibration helps prevent small drifts from becoming large departures.

As we move into the heart of summer, consider scheduling your next reset before you think you need it. Put it on your calendar. Protect it. Bring curiosity rather than judgment. The goal isn't to reinvent yourself every few months. It's simply to return, again and again, to what is presently your true north. These small, intentional course corrections today may keep you from wondering years from now how you drifted so far from the life you hoped to live. That sure seems like a wise use of your time.

Publishing

The following highlights a selection of recent publications from across the VTCSOM community.

• Jed Gonzalo, senior associate dean for medical education and professor in the Departments of Internal Medicine and Health Systems and Implementation Science, joined colleagues on Systems-Based Practice Core Competency: A Survey of Physicians’ Perspectives, and on a companion qualitative study, A Qualitative Study of the Systems-Based Practice Competency in United States Graduate Medical Education, both published in Cureus.
• Arthur Ollendorff, associate dean for graduate medical education and professor in the Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Health Systems and Implementation Science, along with Kimberly Simcox, associate professor in the Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine, and other colleagues, published A Tiered Framework for Outpatient Perinatal Substance Use Disorder Services, in the Substance Use & Addiction Journal.
• Denis Foretia, associate dean for global health and associate professor, and Michael Nussbaum, chair and professor, both in the Department of Surgery, collaborated with a colleague on Surgeons at the Policy Table: Toward More Structured and Effective Policy Engagement, published in Annals of Surgery.
• Foretia also worked with colleagues on Willingness and Barriers to Voluntary Blood Donation: Findings From Cross-Sectional Study in Cameroon, published in the Journal of Surgical Research.
• Nicholas Rider, professor in the Department of Health Systems and Implementation Science, teamed with colleagues on Finding A Balance: Auricular Acupressure in the Allergy Clinic, a review published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.
• Rider also collaborated with colleagues on A lifecycle governance and learning health system framework for trustworthy, generalizable, and sustainable human-AI partnership in clinical practice: Lessons from the asthma-guidance and prediction system (A-GPS), a review published in the Journal of the National Medical Association.
• Rider and colleagues co-authored Associations between disease factors and clinical outcomes in common variable immunodeficiency: a systematic literature review, published in Immunological Medicine.
• Anita Kablinger, vice chair for academic affairs, director of clinical research, and professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine, along with departmental colleagues Virginia O’Brien and Robert McNamara, both associate professors, and other colleagues, published Assessing the Implementation of a Novel Digital Measurement-Based Care Training in Behavioral Health Using the PRISM Framework, in Implementation Research and Practice.
• Andrew Strohman (MD/PhD) worked with his PhD mentor Wynn Legon, assistant professor in the Department of Neurosurgery, and Virginia Tech colleagues on Acoustic Coupling for Double-Blind Human Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulation, published in Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.
• Jazlyn Selvasingh, class of 2029, Taral Jella and Tara Menon, both class of 2028, and Theodore Huang, class of 2027, co-authored with Justin Shinn, assistant professor in the Department of Surgery, From Residency to Fellowship: Gender and Race in Neurotology Fellowships Compared With Otolaryngology Residency, published in Otology & Neurotology.
• Dulguun Myagmarsuren, Aysha Alani, and Nicki Rohani, all class of 2027, collaborated with colleagues on Radiation-Induced Vaginal Stenosis in Cervical Cancer Patients in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review, published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics.
• Brian Hansen, class of 2025, Evan Sandefur, class of 2025 and resident, Alexander Garcia, Devon Pekas, and Nicholas Peterman, all residents, and John Tuttle, assistant professor, all in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, along with a Carilion colleague, published Tibial-sided Suspension Fixation increases Risk of Cyclops Lesion following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction in the Journal of Knee Surgery.
• Taneen Maghsoudi and Carter Colwell, both residents in General Surgery, Marina Levochkina, class of 2026, and Katie Bower, Michael Saccocci, and Maxine Lee, all associate professors, Joshua Stodghill, assistant professor, and Michael Nussbaum, chair, all in the Department of Surgery, and a Carilion colleague, published How Timing of Regional Anesthesia Impacts Outcomes in Traumatic Rib Fracture Patients: A Trauma Quality National Improvement Program-Based Study in the Journal of Surgical Research.

Spotlight on Giving

Save the Date! Please join us on Thursday, August 6 at VTCSOM for the inaugural lecture of the Craft Family Endowed Guest Professorship on Medicine and Humanities. We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Aubrey Knight as our inaugural speaker. A deeply respected leader within our community, Dr. Knight serves as Professor of Medicine and Family & Community Medicine at VTCSOM and Section Chief for Geriatric Medicine at Carilion Clinic. Known for his longstanding dedication to humanism in medicine and patient-centered care, he brings a wealth of clinical insight and educational expertise that perfectly embodies the spirit of the medical humanities. Additional details and a formal invitation will follow.

Through the establishment of this new endowment, Dr. Hugh and Mrs. Reggie Craft have demonstrated a generous and deeply rooted commitment to the medical humanities. The professorship reflects their enduring passion for integrating the arts and humanities into medical education, a value Dr. Craft lives out as a local pediatrician who already contributes to our curriculum by teaching an ethics course to our first-year students and a history of medicine to our fourth-years. He is also spearheading an oral history focused on medicine in Roanoke and the surrounding areas.

The endowment will bring distinguished scholars and experts to campus to share insights on topics selected from the breadth of the medical humanities, including medical history, ethics, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, art, and literature. This initiative will enrich the intellectual life of our community, offering vital perspective and context to our future physicians. We extend our sincerest gratitude to Dr. and Mrs. Craft for their unwavering support of VTCSOM, our students, faculty, and staff.

Alumni Update

At this year’s Carilion Clinic OB/GYN residency graduation, Dean Lee Learman awarded Dr. Stephanie Masters ’22 with the Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence.  Dr. Masters will be heading to the University of Virginia to complete a Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship.

Class of 2016 Reunion

VTCSOM recently welcomed back thirteen members of the Class of 2016 back to Roanoke. We enjoyed seeing them and meeting their families during our Twisted Tracks Brewpub event on June 6^th.  Later that evening the classmates had a celebratory dinner at Hotel Roanoke, hosted by Dr. Aubrey Knight.   Dr. Leslie LaConte gave a presentation on VTCSOM’s expansion and new curriculum, with Dr. Cynda Johnson wrapping up the evening with a toast to the Class of 2016. We would like to extend a special thank you to the Class President, Dr. Katie Trigonis, for sharing special remarks about her time at VTCSOM during the dinner.

 The following alumni were in attendance during the reunion: Dr. Victoria Fischer, Dr. Peter Moreau, Dr. Kevin Taylor, Dr. Joseph Pechacek, Dr. Steven Punzell, Dr. Lily Pham, Dr. Wayne Chang, Dr. Scott Call, Dr. Jaclyn Dovico, Dr. Katie Trigonis, Dr. Russell Trigonis, Dr. Kaitlyn Bixel, and Dr. Julia Selfridge.

Enjoy some of the pictures from the Reunion!

Last Note

Wear sunscreen and drink water!