Yesterday UND sponsored a Town Hall meeting for faculty and staff to discuss the recent federal mandates for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) vaccination. There was a productive “back and forth” discussion of the issues and implications for UND. Here’s a brief overview of what was discussed. There are three ways the ExecutiveRead More

Recently, I attended the virtual retirement ceremony for Dr. Rick Vari, held October 29, 2021, by the Virginia Tech Carilion (VTC) School of Medicine where Rick was the Senior Dean for Academic Affairs and a founding faculty member. Many of you will remember Rick when he was a faculty memberRead More

This past Tuesday, Dr. Don Warne, associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion, director of our Indians into Medicine (INMED) and public health programs, and chair of our newly established Department of Indigenous Health, testified in Washington, D.C., before the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the United StatesRead More

It may seem trite to say the obvious, but what makes institutions great is not simply wonderful facilities (such as the magnificent new School of Medicine and Health Sciences building in Grand Forks) so much as the people – faculty, staff, students, and friends and supporters – who occupy thoseRead More

I should begin by noting that earlier this week we celebrated Indigenous Peoples’ Day. As you know, the UND SMHS has made Indigenous health and healthcare – not to mention the education of Indigenous health providers – one of our major goals. Just a month ago, for example, we announcedRead More

Fall is in the air, of course, which means not only Fighting Hawks football but Homecoming at UND. If you’ve not already done so, remember to register for one of our Homecoming events, in particular our annual interdisciplinary continuing education symposium taking place at least virtually, if not in-person, onRead More

This past Wednesday was a bitter-sweet day as we wished “Happy Retirement” to Dr. Jacque Gray with a drive-by celebration. Dr. Gray, associate director of Indigenous Programs at the UND Center for Rural Health and program director of the National Indigenous Elder Justice Initiative (NIEJI), is retiring after 22 yearsRead More

This week the faculty of the School held virtual symposia organized through the auspices of two of our research capacity-expanding grants sponsored and funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The first symposium was on Tuesday and centered on investigations related to host-pathogen interactions (HPI), especially by microbial pathogens.Read More

Over the past year and a half, I’ve written a variety of columns about the impact of the pandemic on the School and how our faculty, staff, and students have risen to the attendant challenges. Today I’d like to address some health aspects of the pandemic itself and focus onRead More

One of the important ways in which we monitor the health of our research enterprise is by measuring the growth of external funding – often from the federal government – that supports the efforts of the School’s many investigators and staff. To be sure, the amount of funding is whatRead More

Two esteemed physicians associated with our renowned Indians into Medicine (INMED) program were recognized this week for their service to medicine and efforts to achieve greater social justice. Dr. Judith Kaur of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center in Florida, and one of the first matriculants in the INMED program, wasRead More

Although medical and other students have matriculated already, the bulk of UND students are returning to campus for the start of the fall semester on Monday. I know that all of us had anticipated a more normal start to the fall semester, but the delta variant has changed that. Accordingly,Read More

The rapidly evolving pandemic situation has been a major focus of attention as we gear up for the return of the majority of students – especially undergraduates – to the UND campus in a little over a week (of course, some SMHS students already are on campus and have beenRead More

We have a new academic department at the UND SMHS – and a world-first to boot! To the best of our knowledge, the School now boasts the first Department of Indigenous Health. Although the new department will not be directly responsible for a specific course, it will provide a homeRead More

I’m so tired of the pandemic and its impact on all of us! I’ll bet you feel the same way. And yet several events this week demonstrated that despite our collective pandemic fatigue, annoyance, and – yes – anger, the pandemic unfortunately isn’t done with us yet, due in largeRead More