Dr. O’Dell stepping aside as rheumatology chief

James O’Dell, MD, who has served as chief of the UNMC Division of Rheumatology for 35 years, will step aside from that leadership post Jan. 1. Dr. O’Dell will continue to serve as professor of internal medicine and is not entering full retirement.

“I’m still going to be in the division, seeing patients, teaching, doing some of my research – though it is not as deep and robust as it once was,” Dr. O’Dell said. “I’m still going to be around.”

Yet the change at the top of the division marks the end of an era at UNMC. During Dr. O’Dell’s tenure, the UNMC Division of Rheumatology ascended to a position of national prominence in education and produced the kind of translational research that has had an enormous impact on patient care.

“It’s been an incredible ride for me,” Dr. O’Dell said. “I’m proud of what we’ve built and all of the amazingly talented individuals who make up our division.”

Bryant England, MD, PhD, associate professor of rheumatology, will serve as interim chief.

Under Dr. O’Dell’s leadership, the division grew from a total of three faculty members, including himself, to now more than 20 – many of whom are recognized as national leaders in the field.

“My goal with all of my faculty members is to hire people who are better and brighter than I am, and I have succeeded,” Dr. O’Dell said.

“I don’t have many talents,” he said. “But one of my talents is recognizing talent and recruiting that talent.”

Moreover, “I’m very proud of the fact that we’ve never lost a faculty member,” Dr. O’Dell said. “Our attrition rate is zero, with the exception of retirement.”

Dr. O’Dell said credit for his success as a leader and mentor can be traced back to his own mentors, including the late Dr. Michael Sorrell, and Drs. Lyn Klassen and James Armitage.

“Dean Bob Waldman,” Dr. O’Dell continued. “He was a spectacular person and visionary dean. He doesn’t get enough credit.”

Dr. O’Dell was famously Dr. Sorrell’s first chief resident. This experience helped spark Dr. O’Dell’s interest in a career in academic medicine. He said even as he was preparing to leave for a fellowship, Dr. Sorrell already was recruiting him to eventually return to UNMC.

Dr. O’Dell later would follow this very model, working closely with residents and hand-picking them to become UNMC faculty. “Among the first two were Ted Mikuls (MD) and Amy Cannella (MD). And they have helped make us the division we are today.”

Dr. O’Dell praised Dr. Mikuls’ leadership of clinical research like the Veterans’ Affairs Rheumatoid Arthritis (VARA) Registry and Dr. Cannella’s founding and management of the rheumatology fellowship program. Drs. Cannella and Mikuls were recently honored by the American College of Rheumatology.

Both were specifically chosen to carry out these roles – and more than rose to the occasion, Dr. O’Dell said. They have embodied his leadership philosophy that, “You give every faculty member you hire something of their own that they can build and be proud of.”

He continued: “I can go right down the list and name something unique and special about every single faculty member, some program where each has taken ownership.”

The success of the division?

“It’s there because of them.”

And it’s there because of Dr. O’Dell, who has empowered each of them by passing on the lessons he’s learned from his own mentors:

• Hire the right people.
• Open doors for them; don’t demotivate them.
• Encourage them to grow their networks; give them yours and take advantage of theirs.
• Give each of them something special of their own to take on and be responsible for.

Dr. O’Dell acknowledged that not everyone is naturally confident or at ease using soft skills. “Putting yourself out there,” he said. “Applying for this position, giving this big talk in front of an audience.

“But that’s where, if someone shows confidence in them, that builds confidence.”

It happened to him.

“It goes back to the people I was lucky enough to have as mentors or promoters in my career,” he said. “Dr. Sorrell saw potential in me that I didn’t see in myself.

“It’s when people like that who you look up to and admire have confidence and faith in you, it helps you to step up and say, ‘Maybe I can do this.’”

He can step aside now, he said, because the people he has trained can do this.

“We have young faculty members who are extremely capable,” he said. “Dr. England is ready for this job. He has all of the skills to build on what we’ve done.”

Dr. O’Dell already knows it will be hard on some days to sit on the sideline and watch.

“But I’ll get to see my ‘kids’ thrive,” he said. “And that’s going to be really fun, too.”