Kevin C. Bergquist

On Aug. 26, the University of Michigan announced 37 projects that will receive $40 million in initial funding from the Strategic Initiative Fund to pursue bold ideas.

Graduate Medical Education (GME) Professional’s Day — August 21 — is a dedicated moment to pause, recognize, and celebrate the extraordinary team members who serve as the backbone of the GME educational mission at Michigan Medicine.

H. David Humes, MD, is being awarded this year’s Distinguished University Innovator of the Year. The award is the highest honor for U-M faculty members who have developed transformative ideas, processes or technologies and shepherded them to market for broad societal impact.

In the latest episode of the Well-Being at Michigan Medicine podcast, host and Chief Well-Being Officer Elizabeth Harry, M.D., is joined by Seetha Monrad, M.D., Associate Dean for Medical Student Education, and Erin McKean, M.D., Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, to discuss how Michigan Medicine is creating a learning environment where students can succeed without compromising high standards.

Medical School professor Lori J. Pierce, M.D., is one of six U-M faculty members recognized for their outstanding teaching and service with one of the university’s most prestigious honors: the Distinguished University Professorship. Each professorship bears a name determined by the appointed professor in consultation with their dean. Pierce is the Allen S. Lichter Distinguished University Professor of Radiation Oncology.

The Michigan Medicine Learning Health System Summit on Oct. 9 will bring together leaders, clinicians, researchers, educators, staff, and learners from across the organization to explore what it will take to fully realize the vision.

A general internal medicine physician who has devoted her career to studying how health policy decisions affect patients like hers nationwide will spend the next year advising policymakers in Washington, D.C. directly, through a prestigious national fellowship. Renuka Tipirneni, M.D., M.Sc., an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan Medical School, was selected by the National Academy of Medicine and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as one of eight RWJF Health Policy Fellows for 2026-2027.

Susan Murphy, Sc.D., OTR, FAOTA, a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation and internal medicine, and research professor in the Institute of Gerontology, has been appointed faculty chair-elect for women’s careers in the Medical School. The chair-elect is one of several Medical School roles that focus on the advancement — and overall thriving — of women pursuing careers in academic medicine and science at Michigan Medicine. Murphy will become chair-elect in January 2027, serve as faculty chair in 2028-29, and after her term is complete, she will serve in an advisory role as post-chair in 2030-31.

The Medical School is helping researchers save money and reduce waste by connecting laboratories with surplus supplies to those that can put them to immediate use. At three Lab Swap events held in the spring, more than 100 participants donated and “shopped” for valuable laboratory supplies at Medical Science Research Building 2, North Campus Research Complex, and A. Alfred Taubman Biomedical Science Research Building. The events rehomed more than 3,500 pounds of lab supplies, with a value of nearly $115,000.

Louito C. Edje, M.D., MHPE, FAAFP, the Medical School’s vice dean for medical education, emerged victorious in elections on two fronts at the recent American Medical Association (AMA) meeting in Chicago, including chair-elect of the AMA Council on Medical Education

In his role as Medical School Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director for Administration, Matthew C. Comstock, MBA, MHSA, oversees the administrative ecosystem that supports the school's mission of education, research, and patient care. He also contributes his time and expertise through various leadership service roles, both at U-M and nationally.

A University of Michigan building on the medical campus was recently honored as a “Biggest Loser” in a statewide competition. That designation, however, is a good thing. On May 14 at the Michigan Energy Summit in Lansing, the Michigan Green Building Collaborative named the U-M’s A. Alfred Taubman Health Sciences Library a 2025 winner in the education category of its Battle of the Buildings competition that recognizes outstanding energy conservation.

On May 21, the University of Michigan Board of Regents approved promotions for 191 Medical School faculty members. Their new appointments take effect Sept. 1, 2026.

Every person who has ever taught a future healthcare professional will one day, in all likelihood, become a patient. It is one of the quiet truths of health professions education that the work of teaching is never purely academic. It ripples forward in ways we cannot always see, shaping the hands and minds that will one day care for us, our families and our communities.

On April 22, officially Earth Day, members of Medical School Facilities, U-M Health Sustainability, U-M Custodial and Grounds Services, and interested occupants of the North Campus Research Complex (NCRC) gathered for a ceremonial tree-planting ceremony. Grounds Services staff helped to plant a pair of tulip trees in the lawn just north of Building 10 at NCRC.