Friends,
This week, I had the pleasure of attending the Institute of Medicine of Chicago’s State of Health of Chicago event featuring a heavy hitting panel including Arti Barnes, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Illinois Dept. of Public Health, Simbo Ige, MD, MPH, Health Commissioner of the City of Chicago, and our own alum and trustee Kim Darey MD ‘04, CEO of Endeavor Health Elmhurst Hospital among others. The concerns will not surprise you: increasing numbers of uninsured people following Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicaid cuts, hunger and food insecurity following the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) cuts, mistrust amongst the public, nihilism in our politics. For all of those problems, it was a reassuring event filled with examples of success, which were nearly always anchored by the person to person engagement that comes from patients and clinicians talking and listening to each other.
One of the most energetic conversations among the panelists expanded beyond formally trained health workers to the importance of language and culturally congruent community health workers, who have been shown to improve stubborn problems like . Sometimes the most important healthcare is delivered through and education from a trusted neighbor.
I really enjoyed the Institute of Medicine Chicago (IOMC) event. I met alumni there, and it was a privilege to talk with the panelists. My thanks to Dean Archana Chatterjee, MD PhD for sponsoring me at the IOMC and introducing me there. Also, congrats to Archie on her election to be president of the IOMC next year!
We can provide as much love and care to our neighbors as we want, and there is still no doubt that cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and the ACA will worsen access for individuals and hurt institutions facing those cuts. Be aware, those institutions include our own, as well as the health systems everyone in the region uses for their own health care. People without coverage will still get care in the emergency department, which will eventually be paid for by the rest of us through transferred costs or changes in service.
In amongst the and challenges facing us all, we do have some cool accomplishments . Rosalind Franklin University is a member of the health equity medical honor society, and we dominated their awards this year, including one of the projects of the year and five of six finalist awards:
Chapter Project of the Year Award, Dr. Melissa Chen, ICC (Interprofessional Community Clinic) Skin Equity Initiative
Finalists: Caroline Madigan,CMS ‘26 - ICC Vaccine/Screening Program Expansion
Aayush Gupta, CMS ‘26 -
Kayla Talebi, CMS ‘26- Mini Medical School Take-Home Curriculum Expansion
Kristina Nguyen, CMS ‘26 - Chicago Street Medicine Chapter Development
Tommi Tsao, CMS ‘26 & Aroosha Aamirn, CMS ‘26 - Health Equity Course Community Member Research
And, I want to congratulate Hongkyun Kim, PhD in the Center for Cancer Cell Biology, Immunology, and Microbiology for his recent NIH grant looking at the basic science underlying voltage-gated calcium channels. These channels are proteins that change their shape and the flow of calcium ions due to changes in the voltage across the cellular membrane. This is a fundamental mechanism our nerves use to carry impulses and release neurotransmitters. Universities, like 69É«ÇéƬMS, and the NIH are this country’s prime powerhouse driving our understanding of the basic science structure and function of cells and organisms that underlies all of our therapies and new biological technologies. NIH funding is remarkably competitive especially around these kinds of basic science investigations. Congratulations to Dr. Kim and his team!
A number of families in the Rosalind Franklin University community are going through particularly difficult health challenges, and I have been heartened and impressed by the love and support shown by our staff and faculty colleagues. It is relatively easy to be a supportive community when things are going well, and it is so much more impressive when our community comes together in support of each other during a time of struggle. Thanks so much for all you do for each other when times are good and when they are not. We are all so fortunate to be a part of this amazing community.
Improving the health of all people with you,
Aron