Board of Trustees meeting highlights
The Board of Trustees meeting was called to order at noon, Thursday, Nov. 30.
The meeting began with the President’s report.
John Langell, M.D., remarked that NEOMED had successfully launched its 50th anniversary kickoff. With the official founding day being Nov. 23, the event was held the week before.
Dr. Langell reported that NEOMED had been recognized as a Collegiate Purple Star Award institution, which means the University is committed to providing a high level of support for students with military backgrounds. He announced that a veteran’s lounge will open in six months at the NEW Center lounge location previously used by students — who now have a new larger lounge space in the south corridor.
During his report Dr. Langell said that NEOMED had raised $268,000 for its Parkinson’s disease research. He noted the campaign, which benefited heavily from clinical faculty member Dr. Sara Whittingham’s story, would receive additional exposure with a soon-to-be international release of the World Ironman Championship video.
Innovation and collaboration was a common theme during the report as Dr. Langell mentioned four initiatives in particular: An extended UH-NEOMED agreement which could amount to $23M in new revenue by June 2024; the NEOvations Bench-to-Bedside competition event at which (for the third year in a row) someone from Dr. Moses O. Oyewumi’s lab was the winner; a gift in support of the Timken Medical Design Innovation Center by the Timken Foundation; and the formation of a new joint venture, called Kinetic, Healthcare Innovation in Motion, in collaboration with Jessica Sublett, president and CEO of Bounce Innovation Hub.
Congratulations were in order as Dr. Langell welcomed Ron Seese, M.D., Ph.D., to NEOMED. A NEOMED researcher who also practices at Akron Children’s Hospital, Dr. Seese was one of five to receive the prestigious NIH Director’s Early Independence award of $1.5M.
Dr. Langell concluded his report by recognizing NEOMED Clinical Services — which includes NEOMED Health Care, NEOvations Pharmacy and NEOMED Wellness— for its 25% ROI. The center currently sees 333 patients visit per month.
He also applauded NEOvations Pharmacy Services for being ranked #1 nationally by Outcomes for Medication Therapy Management (MTM) in the Health System Category, even more remarkable considering the ranking was among much larger systems.
Others presenting
David Vitatoe, senior director of alumni relations, introduced NEOMED Connect, a proprietary online database for student mentoring.
Student trustees Olivia L. Safady and Omer S. Ashruf, both third-years in the College of Medicine, remarked on several topics. Among them, they recognized College of Medicine faculty Rupesh Raina, M.D., clinical assistant professor and M4 course director, for his mentoring and accessibility, and Corrie Stofcho, M.D. (’06), assistant dean of students, for her dedication to helping students.
Safady and Ashruf highlighted student rates of publications and research as being important aspects of the University’s mission. They remarked on the success of the research symposium on Nov. 17 and their desire to continue to strengthen connections with faculty and students. They also complemented the Writing Center as being very beneficial to students and the University’s website on its user experience, specifically for search.