As we approach Veterans Day and Thanksgiving, I want to recognize and thank each of our students, faculty, and staff who have served or are currently serving in the military. Your service to our country is much appreciated. The UNMC College of Medicine is proud of its veteran faculty, staff and students, and we appreciate the opportunity to honor and thank them, as well as honor, thank and remember all veterans — and not only on Nov. 11.
A separate note of thanks also is in order for our volunteer faculty who devote many hours of their time and expertise to the education of our medical students, residents and fellows. We struggle, both as a college and institution, in how best to acknowledge their dedication to training the next generation of physicians, and we don’t do so often enough. Be assured their efforts do not go unnoticed. We could not accomplish our educational mission without them and our trainees benefit so much from their involvement.
Congratulations to all of the College of Medicine faculty who, as described below, were recognized as recipients of this year’s UNMC Distinguished Scientist Awards, particularly this year’s Scientist Laureate, Dr. Sid Byrareddy, as well as Drs. Vijaya Bhatt and Becky Deegan, who each received UNMC’s Research Leadership Awards. These awards and the work that was displayed at the recent College of Medicine Research Retreat on Oct. 22 (also covered in InterCOM) emphasize our continued recognition and support for all manners of research across the college’s 22 departments.
Despite the challenges that have befallen medical research this past year, the college’s dedication to not only supporting our current investigators, but to expanding our research portfolio, as well as training the next generation of biomedical research scientists is unwavering. Future advances in medicine and improving the health of our patients and fellow human beings will not be possible without it. Thanks to each of our researchers and their teams for their perseverance in such challenging times.