“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”—John F. Kennedy

Veteran’s Day is observed every year on November 11, but here in Emory’s Woodruff Health Sciences Center (WHSC), we celebrate and support our nation’s veterans every day. That’s why I was deeply honored to participate in this year’s outstanding Veteran’s Day observance on November 10.

Our faculty and staff have a long history of serving our country both in wartime and in peace. The proud tradition dates back to World War I when the Emory Unit—a civilian medical regiment of physicians, surgeons, nurses, and others from the Emory community—reported for active duty to set up field hospitals in war torn areas. The tradition continued in World War II, when a new generation of Emory health professionals enlisted in the Emory Unit. And it continues today, as faculty and staff WHSC-wide have served and continue to serve in the military—including more than 650 employees of Emory Healthcare alone.

In addition to celebrating the courage and commitment of our active duty and veteran staff, the WHSC also supports veterans in the way we uniquely can—by providing them with the most cutting-edge care available. For example, our Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing (SON) is one of just 18 nursing schools nationwide selected for the VA Nursing Academic Partnership program, which offers training specifically focused on veteran-centered care. The Emory and Atlanta VA partnership has lasted more than six decades, helping to ensure patient-centered care for more than 130,000 enrolled veterans from 50 counties across northeast Georgia. And, of course, our Emory Veterans Program in partnership with the Wounded Warrior Project continues to make a life-changing difference for our nation’s servicemen and women by offering evidenced-based treatment for conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, substance use disorder, anxiety, and depression related to military service.

I hope you were able to participate in some of this year’s Veteran’s Day activities. If not, please take a moment to express your respect and gratitude to those courageous colleagues who serve and have served in our nation’s military.

Ravi

Ravi I. Thadhani, MD, MPH
Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, Emory University
Executive Director, Woodruff Health Sciences Center
Vice Chair, Emory Healthcare Board of Directors

Please direct questions and comments to evphafeedback@emory.edu.

The Emory Department of Medicine (DOM) held its 16th Annual Research Day earlier this month, welcoming more than 300 researchers, faculty, staff, and trainees to celebrate the groundbreaking research taking place across the department’s 10 divisions. The DOM received a record number of abstracts this year, showcasing progress across basic, translational, and clinical science through more than 150 poster presentations, 12 oral presentations, and several lectures, including the keynote I was deeply honored to present.

I particularly enjoyed the opportunity to peruse the poster presentations and meet some of the talented innovators who drive the extraordinary success of our research enterprise, including Assistant Professor of Medicine Emily Eichenberger (pictured above, left) and Senior Academic Research Scientist Ragini Vittal (pictured above, center). Though both are fairly new to Emory, Emily and Ragini are already making an impact in their respective divisions—infectious disease (Emily) and pulmonary (Ragini)—and both are proud to see their discoveries translated to enhance patient care and outcomes.

“I am a transplant infectious disease physician working toward becoming an independently funded physician-scientist,” says Emily. “Two of the most rewarding aspects of my job are 1) the patient care and 2) getting to generate clinical questions that I can then explore in a translational way.” 

Ragini says, “I am a senior research scientist working with Vibha Lama at the Pulmonary Division. My research interest revolves around complement activation-driven pro-fibrotic mechanisms in the pathogenesis of lung fibrosis and chronic rejection in lung transplant patients. I have over 20 years of experience in this research area, and always felt rewarded by the prospect of research findings culminating in translational relevance.”

Emily and Ragini also agree that Emory’s research program is distinctive among peer research institutions.

“Emory has many resources available to junior faculty who are attempting to get their research program off the ground, including consultation with biostatisticians, grant writing support, and seminars offered through the Department of Medicine,” Emily says.

Ragini concurs: “Emory University has been one of the fastest growing research institutions in terms of funding in both the basic and clinical research areas. It is uniquely juxtaposed with Georgia Tech to drive innovative biomedical research that can offer translational relevance. Furthermore, considering the available number of undergraduate, graduate, and medical students from both institutions, it is a fertile ground for nurturing the next generation of the research community as well.”

Thank you, Emily and Ragini, and all who participated in the 16th Annual Research Day, for helping us improve lives and provide hope! 

To nominate a colleague to be featured in an upcoming segment of Our People, please email me at evphafeedback@emory.ed and let me know what makes them special.

Georgia Jackson, director of Workforce Development and Patient-Family Centered Care for Emory University Hospital, Emory Wesley Woods Hospital, and Emory University Orthopaedics and Spine Hospital, was selected to be in the first cohort of the AARP Center for Health Equity through Nursing (A-CHEN) Volunteer Ambassador Program. 

The ambassadors will share best practices, opportunities, and learnings to implement change, and will promote scalable solutions, including a toolkit, to help end structural barriers to health and well-being. A-CHEN leverages the power of nursing, consumers, AARP, and national and state coalitions for collective impact and sustainable systems change. 

The aim of the program is to:

• Focus on strengthening and diversifying the nursing workforce
• Understand the social determinants of health and nurses’ roles in care delivery
• Elevate and spread the concept of equity-minded nurses
• Improve health equity
• Implement recommendations from the Future of Nursing 2030 report.

Jackson also co-chairs both the Emory Healthcare DEI Steering Committee and DEI Leaders Network.

Fatemeh Ardeshir, thoracic oncologist, received the Translational Research Distinction Award for her oral presentation, "Cell Surface Target Discovery Pipeline in Metastatic Thymic Epithelial Tumors," at ECOG-ACRIN's 2023 Young Investigator Symposium.

Nabil Saba, medical oncologist, has been named associate editor of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Nanette Wenger, professor of medicine in the division of cardiology, received the 2023 Alma Dea Morani, MD Renaissance Woman Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation.