‘One of the Best Jobs Imaginable’

Q: With threats to federal funding for medical research and other external issues, this has not been an easy year to be a medical school dean. Did that influence your decision to step down?

There have always been challenges in academic medicine. Clearly, there have been a lot now related to uncertainty about federal funding, and how we create a supportive environment for everyone in the school. In terms of what factored into my decision, leaders have a certain shelf life — a certain amount of time to accomplish the things they want to do. This will be 13 years. It is a good length of time. There comes a point where you want to do different things and want to allow room for a new leader to come in. And that was entirely my choice. I wanted to give President [Pamela] Whitten plenty of time to search for my successor.

 

Q: What are you proudest of?

Probably the single most important thing we were able to accomplish is to ensure the School of Medicine and IU Health would fully realize the promise of being an academic health system. There is a powerful synergy between education and research and clinical care, and it plays out in many ways. I’ve met a number of patients alive today that would not be had it not been for research at the School of Medicine. I’ve seen students realize their dreams far beyond what they could imagine.

 

Q: What’s been essential to success?

It starts with recruiting the right people — people who were not just talented and well trained but share a common purpose. They’re sincerely interested in making lives better for people through better health. We’re striving to create a community of purpose about preventing disease, alleviating suffering and saving lives. That’s really powerful. And then it’s important that each person understands what their role and goals and responsibilities are.

 

Q: This IU MEDICINE focuses on cancer. Did losing your mother to breast cancer influence your warm relationship with the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer?

The Vera Bradley Foundation is a remarkable story. It began well before I arrived. There’s been a long history of strength in breast cancer research and, particularly, clinical care at IU. One of the very first donor visits I made was to meet with Barbara Baekgaard and other leaders of the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer. Maybe it was our artistic backgrounds, but we connected. That led to a $15 million gift. It was a wonderful group of just incredibly warm, dedicated, hardworking people that shared this purpose of working to eliminate the scourge of breast cancer. For me, it was a remarkable arc going from losing my own mother to breast cancer, being inspired to go into medicine because we had to do better in cancer care, and then having this opportunity to work with generous partners to improve lives for breast cancer patients. That has been a real privilege.

 

Q: The cancer center achieved comprehensive status after building toward that for decades. What’s the significance of that designation?

It reflects excellence in interdisciplinary research, innovative clinical and educational programs. Putting those different elements together to raise the excellence of the cancer center is what I think is really most important. It’s also important from a reputational point of view. Considerable credit goes to Dr. Pat Loehrer for leading the cancer center through the site visit that ultimately led to that designation.

 

Q: You hired Kelvin Lee, MD, to succeed Dr. Loehrer. How’s he doing?

Dr. Lee is a very inspiring leader. He is very patient-focused. When we were recruiting him, he had a real clarity of vision about what he imagined for the cancer center — like getting cancer care to all the parts of the state, more focus on prevention, the idea that research saves lives and the science we’re doing should benefit our patients. He’s recruited well. He’s enthusiastic and he’s been successful with philanthropy. We’re very happy with him and enthusiastic about working with him to fully realize that vision he has for the cancer center.

 

Q: The Brown Center, established in 2016 with Don Brown’s $30 million gift, was leaderless for a few years. Now, under Huda Salman, MD, PhD, it seems to be taking off.

The Brown Center was launched when there was an enormous demand for cancer immunotherapists and tremendous interest in cell-based therapies like CAR T. So, there was huge competition to recruit the right leader. We wanted to make sure we got the right leader — someone with vision who we could trust to invest the significant resources that Don Brown and his family generously donated. It took a while to find the right leader, but Dr. Salman’s been very, very effective and has exceeded all our expectations.

 

Q: Have you enjoyed engaging with donors?

It’s been a real privilege and a joy. When you get to a point in life where you actually have more money than you will ever need, what do you do? The people we work with have decided they want to help other people. For them, it’s empowering and meaningful. They want to know, ‘Where can I make the most difference?’ Some of the most joyous occasions I’ve been involved in were when a donor makes a major gift. You can see it’s almost a relief to them that, finally, I can do something that will pay dividends well into the future.

 

Q: After stepping down, you plan to take a one-year sabbatical. How will you spend it?

I expect we’ll spend the majority of our time in our house in Rockport, Maine. There are some papers I want to write related to the work we’ve done with the School of Medicine. I’ll certainly be available to help advise the next dean, if asked. I am looking forward to having a bit more time for sailing and woodworking, which are a couple of my favorite hobbies.

 

Q: And you’d like to return to the School of Medicine to teach and focus on strategic initiatives?

I want to keep some options open. I definitely don’t want to get in the way of the next dean. But there are some really big initiatives, whether it’s developing clinical trials, or work related to IU Lab or even the Indy Health District. It would be wonderful to have an ability to focus on one really big project instead of 50 different things. Of course, that’ll largely be dependent on the next dean.

 

Q: What are the big challenges for your successor?

There are never enough resources to do all the things you’d like. Research is getting increasingly expensive. With uncertainties about funding, it makes it more challenging. The health system has been a very important supporter of our work, but with a trillion dollars of reductions in Medicaid funding and other federal health care funding expected over the next decade, the clinical revenue available to invest in research and education is threatened. So, no surprise, one of the biggest challenges is where to get the resources we need.

 

Q: Is being dean still a good job?

For the right person, this is one of the best jobs imaginable if you want to do something meaningful and impactful — to have a long-lasting effect on many people’s lives.