Articles by

joshuawynne

Welcome to 2023! I trust that you had a pleasant and enjoyable New Year. Susan and I had a wonderful few days away with our children, their spouses, and grandkids. But it is good to be back and part of the exciting things that are happening at your UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences. […]

The holiday season certainly is upon us! Over the past two weeks we’ve had five scheduled UND SMHS holiday gatherings – one on each of our four regional campuses in Grand Forks (Northeast campus), Fargo (Southeast campus), Bismarck (Southwest campus), and Minot (Northwest campus), along with a Holiday Luncheon this past Monday in our building […]

As you may remember from prior columns, a few years ago I was asked by Gov. Doug Burgum to head up a working group charged with developing a Strategic Plan for Health for the state of North Dakota, with the goal of making North Dakotans the healthiest people in the country. As Chief Health Strategist […]

This past Tuesday I had the pleasure of welcoming over 50 undergraduates to the SMHS for a summer research experience at UND. The goal of the program is to attract talented undergraduate students studying science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics (STEM) at a North Dakota college/university to a career in the biomedical sciences. The program provides […]

With the fast-approaching start of the new academic (and fiscal) year (AY and FY) on July 1, 2022, we are finalizing our budget plans for what will be the second year of the biennial budget. As you undoubtedly know, the North Dakota legislature meets every other year (in the years with odd numbers) and authorizes […]

I have some sad news to share for those of you who have been associated with the SMHS for some time. Earlier this week an esteemed former faculty member, Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor Dr. Roger Melvold, passed away at age 76. Roger served as professor and chair of microbiology and immunology at the SMHS from […]

Commencement 2022 is here at the UND SMHS! Tomorrow, 69 medical students officially will join the medical profession as they are awarded their MD degrees. Following a celebration brunch where outstanding students and faculty are recognized, we will reassemble in the Chester Fritz Auditorium for the afternoon Commencement. You can watch the ceremony, which starts at […]

Given the current apparent transition of COVID-19 in our region from a pandemic to an endemic situation (meaning that while COVD-19 has not disappeared, it no longer is associated with widespread, rapid, and potentially debilitating community spread), it would appear to be an appropriate time to further modify the School’s pandemic mitigation policy. To this […]

Yesterday marked the 42nd annual Frank Low Research Day at the School, and this year our premier research event was again virtual. Presentations by faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, residents, and graduate, medical, and health sciences students were prerecorded and then aired during the meeting, with subsequent live video discussion with members of the audience. Named […]

Susan and I recently “attended” (virtually) the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology (called ACC22) that was held in Washington, D.C., from April 2-4. It was a hybrid event, with a moderate number of in-person attendees and a fair number online (like Susan and me). I spent a total of 18 hours participating […]

As one of UND’s vice presidents, I had the pleasure to be part of the interview team that visited with the four outstanding final candidates who are under consideration for the deanship at the UND School of Law to follow Dean Mike McGinnis, who is stepping down in June. I enjoyed chatting with all of […]

As I mentioned in last week’s column, last Friday was Match Day for our graduating medical students. The vast majority of them matched in a residency that they will start after graduation, and in which they will learn their chosen specialty over the next three to five years. Most matched with their first choice or […]

Today is Match Day! At noon today (EDT), some 42,000 medical students across the U.S. and indeed the world – and especially our own UND SMHS senior medical students – will learn where they will be doing their residency training following graduation from medical school. Residency training is required for state licensure, and lasts from […]

As I mentioned in last week’s column, we met with Governor Burgum and his executive leadership team yesterday as part of a strategic review process that is utilized by the Governor and the executive branch to plan for North Dakota’s future. First, President Armacost, accompanied by the university’s vice presidents, presented on behalf of UND […]

This past Wednesday I had the privilege of delivering the annual “State of the School” address at the Faculty Assembly. It was (again) a virtual event and we had great turnout, with over 100 individuals participating. I outlined my assessment of where we are as a school, and, importantly, where we hope to go in […]