Dear Colleagues,

February 2026 began for Yale GIM with Aba Black, MD, MHS, vice chief for collaborative excellence, leading our annual GIM winter retreat for the sixth year in her usual spectacular fashion. The agenda for this year’s professional development retreat was entitled, “From Values to Voice: Advocacy in Healthcare.” Aba and Chris Sankey, MD, FACP, SFHM, presented a session on equity-informed coaching, which served as a preview for a new pilot coaching program to be launched this spring in GIM. This was followed by a session focused on approaching advocacy by working across institutional silos led by Johanna Elumn, MSW, PhD; Emily Wang, MD, MAS; and Janet Gipson, head of talent acquisition at Yale University. Johanna and Emily are true role models in the art of uniting institutional silos, as is clear through their awe-inspiring work in our SEICHE Center for Health and Justice.

Brad Richards, MD, led the afternoon session through a conversation with Kate McEvoy, JD, executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, on health policy advocacy, a topic that goes to the core of our daily commitment to care for vulnerable populations. Our retreats are designed to bring GIM faculty together to reconnect, refresh, and rejuvenate with a focus on our core missions of patient care, research, and education. BRAVO to Aba and her wonderful team for a great day of camaraderie and learning! Of course, as noted below, be sure to mark your calendars for our upcoming GIM spring education retreat on May 29.

In the meantime, our faculty and staff continue to address our core missions in amazing ways, as is obvious by reviewing this month’s Yale GIM News headlines below. Innovations in AI, addiction treatment, obesity management, stroke prevention, antibiotic management, and preventive health more broadly are advancing in remarkable ways to address health disparities and promote the health of our patients and communities. At the same time, our faculty are advancing their careers, as evidenced by their reappointments and promotions, with the support of our marvelous GIM staff, each other, and their mentors. Honors and accolades from outside Yale’s walls are also evident through a number of remarkable awards and other forms of recognition of our faculty. Congratulations to all!

Speaking of remarkable, this has truly been a remarkable winter with abundant cold and piles of snow. I was talking with Marcella the other day, who was home with her twins for one of a series of snow days following this week’s storm. Growing up in upstate New York, I treasured many snow days as an opportunity to unexpectedly hang out with siblings and friends in our snowy neighborhood. Fast forward to 2026, and how things have changed - as Marcella noted that her kids were hunkered down participating in Zoom classroom activities on their snow day. Ah, for the good old days of building snow forts with friends during an unexpected day off from school.

Enjoy the rest of this beautiful New England winter —spring is right around the corner!

Patrick

Patrick G. O'Connor, MD, MPH

Dan Adams and Amanda Adams Professor of General Medicine
Chief, Yale General Internal Medicine
Head of Advisory House, Yan House
Yale School of Medicine

Kenneth Morford, MD, FASAM, promoted to associate professor.

Julia Shi, MD, FACP, promoted to clinical professor.

Mukta Dhond, MD

Samer Ein Alshaeba, MD

Courtney Fankhanel, MMSc, PA-C

Erica Heiman, MD, MS, FACP

Andrew Putnam, MD, BA

Elizabeth Roessler, MMS, PA-C

Jacqueline Savage, MD, FACP

Amy Schwartz, MD

Amerisa Tarabar, MD

Graham Taylor, MD

Amy Zimmerman, MD

Dr. Nunez-Smith Among Prominent Black Leaders in Medicine Cited by AAMC

Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, MHS, associate dean for health equity research, was one of eight prominent Black leaders in medicine recognized by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Nunez-Smith was celebrated for her work on the Biden Administration's COVID-19 Equity Task Force. Her other roles at Yale include C.N.H. Long Professor of Internal Medicine (General Medicine); founding director of the Equity Research and Innovation Center; director of the Center for Research Engagement; and chief health equity officer at Smilow Cancer Hospital.

Fiellin Named Distinguished Fellows of American Society of Addiction Medicine

David Fiellin, MD, was recently named Distinguished Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. He was also appointed chair of the National Methadone Access and Quality Commission.

Dr. Jeremy Schwartz appointed to the Steering Committee of the Coalition for Access to NCD Medicines and Products

Jeremy Schwartz, MD, was recently elected to the Steering Committee of the Coalition for Access to NCD Medicines and Products - a global, multi-sectoral coalition of governments, NGOs, academics, civil society, private sector entities, and foundations dedicated to increasing access to medicines and health products for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in low- and middle-income countries to reduce the impact of diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Dr. Schwartz has served in multiple capacities within the coalition, including as a member of the Technical Working Group on strengthening public sector data reporting and quantification modeling for NCD medicines and as a member of the Technical Advisory Committee.

If you interesting in learning more about the coalition, please visit the coalition website or reach out to Jeremy directly.

Kimberly Sue, MD, PhD, assistant professor adjunct.

Isaac Ssinabulya, MBBS, assistant professor adjunct.

Message from Benjamin Mba

The following meetings took place in February. In case you missed them, meetings that have been recorded can be viewed as indicated below.

Yale General Internal Medicine Grand Rounds and Yale GIM Noon Meetings - Please go to: https://medicine.yale.edu/intmed/genmed/news/grand-rounds/

https://medicine.yale.edu/internal-medicine/genmed/news/gim-noon-meetings/

Note: The logins for the Grand Rounds and noon meetings have been upgraded to ensure better security for Yale networks.

1. Yale employees can use their CAS login.

2. Other emails from approved domains should log in using the non-Yale email button. You will be prompted to set up a username and password.

3. Personal emails will no longer be allowed access to videos.

Yale General Internal Medicine Noon Meetings prior to December 2025 - can be viewed here.

3/9 - Talking Tips for Sleep Technology

3/26 - Planning Your Retirement - explore a path for satisfying life changes

Web Profile Photoshoots: The Office of Communications offers a web profile photo portrait once every five years. To schedule an appointment, please select a date from the calendar. Photoshoots take place at 333 Cedar Street, Room 211A. If you do not have the time, then you can submit your own web profile picture by selecting the following link: Submit Your Own Web Profile Photo.

Video Biography: A video biography on Yalemedicine.org gives physicians the opportunity to showcase your medical specialist. To schedule an interview with Kimberly Conner, please use this link. Interviews take place at 333 Cedar Street, Room L207A.

GIM Newsletters from May 2023 to June 2025 can be found here.