Dear Medical College of Georgia Friends,

Gov. Kemp signs FY25 Amended Budget, which includes $99.8 million for research building

Yesterday was a good day – one that will surely be written down in the history of this medical school and this university. Gov. Brian Kemp signed his amended FY2025 budget, which includes $99.8 million to help fund the construction of a much-needed translational research building on our campus. The project costs $146.2 million in toto and has also been generously supported by philanthropy – $30 million worth from the MCG Foundation, the Augusta University Foundation, the City of Augusta and other private donors. You all well know that close to 70% of the research space on the Health Sciences Campus is housed in buildings that have reached or are fast approaching their useful lifespan. This new building is an important first step in alleviating that problem. The 150,000-square-foot space will feature modern laboratories, advanced equipment and updated technology infrastructure that will be designed with the ever-evolving needs of our researchers top-of-mind. Next steps include finding a design firm – the new building will likely be located at the site of Pavillion II on Laney Walker.

I know I’ve named them before, but it bears repeating – there are those whose support was essential to making this new building an even closer reality. Those include Dr. Russell Keen, who from day one as president, has made research a top priority; Gov. Kemp; Lt. Gov. Burt Jones; our state legislators, including Speaker of the House Jon Burns; House Appropriations Chair Matt Hatchett; Senate Appropriations Chair Blake Tillery; Rep. Mark Newton, chair of the House Committee on Higher Education Appropriations; Sen. Billy Hickman, chair of the Senate Committee on Higher Education Appropriations; the entire General Assembly; our local legislative delegation; as well as Chancellor Sonny Perdue and the University System of Georgia.

MCG moves up four spots to 64 in the latest Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research rankings

This medical school is no stranger to groundbreaking research – for the last nearly 200 years, the hard-working physicians and scientists that are a hallmark of MCG have worked to find better ways to understand and treat maladies like Alzheimer’s, heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes and obesity, among other things. While we certainly punch above our weight at MCG – with a small faculty that is among the most productive in the country when it comes to National Institutes of Health funding – our Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research rankings have not always reflected that true story. The Blue Ridge rankings are an annual analysis of US medical and health sciences schools, departments, and investigators based on their funding from the NIH.

For many years, we ranked in the 70s. Last year, we moved closer to our goal of top 60 when we ranked 68th. I’m happy to tell you that the story only gets better. Thanks to the hard work of our incredible scientific community here, reflected in a 20% increase in funding over the last year, MCG now ranks 64th in the country with $72 million in NIH funding. That’s the highest the medical school has ever ranked. And not only is this a point of pride for MCG and AU, but it’s also an economic boost for our community. That’s because every $1 of NIH funding means $2.46 in economic impact – which represents a little over $177 million here.

I am both proud and profoundly thankful. I am also confident that with your continued great work and our state’s investment in a new research building, we will continue to climb next year.

Faculty from every MCG campus honored with Exemplary Teaching Awards

MCG simply has the best faculty in the world. Here’s more proof. Our Office of Faculty Development, led by Drs. Michelle Krupp and Ralph Gillies, recently handed out the annual Exemplary Teaching Awards for our faculty and residents’ contributions to our medical students and residents. Awards for undergraduate medical education are based on quantity of teaching (number of students taught or number of lecture hours, for example) and student evaluations. Graduate medical education awards are based on innovations or impactful contributions, and awardees were nominated by our department chairs. This year’s awardees include faculty and residents from nearly every department, as well as community clinical faculty who volunteer across our regional campuses. You can find the list of our honorees here. Thank you all for your exceptional dedication to teaching the next generation.

While we’re on the subject of Faculty Development, I also wanted to share that details and registration for our 2025 Statewide Faculty Development Conference, May 29-31 in Jekyll Island, are now available. This is always a great time to join our faculty across the state, talk about best practices in medical education, and thank them for their work on behalf of our medical school. I hope you’ll plan to join me there.

Dr. Edward Chin elected to American College of Physicians Mastership status

Continuing our theme of our incredible faculty this week, I wanted to let you know that Dr. Edward Chin, a professor in the Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism Division in the Department of Medicine has been elected to Mastership status in the American College of Physicians (ACP). Those elected to Mastership must have demonstrated excellence and significant contributions to the science and art of medicine in areas such as research, education, health care initiatives, volunteerism and administrative positions. Dr. Chin is now among the only 1-2% of ACP’s 161,000 members who have obtained this status. He also is just the seventh Master of the ACP in the history of our medical school – the first was Dr. Virgil Sydenstricker in 1949. What a remarkable achievement.

Dr. Chin is a 1984 MCG alum and completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Rochester in New York. After residency he worked as an ER physician, as the sole practitioner in an internal medicine private practice, in tiny Wrightsville, Georgia. He then accepted a fellowship position in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism with the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda. There he studied renal Insulin-like Growth Factors (IGF’s) and growth hormone basic research in the lab of the late Dr. Carolyn Bondy, chief of the NICHD Developmental Endocrinology Branch until her retirement in 2012. He continued that work after his fellowship and began collaborating with scientists who were studying polycystic ovary disease and localizing renal distribution of what is now known as aquaporin 1 in rodent and human kidneys. He came back to the faculty at his alma mater in 2002.

He is an honored educator who has received multiple Exemplary Teaching Awards, the Georgia ACP’s 2016 J. Willis Hurst Outstanding Bedside Teacher Award and the Georgia ACP’s 2021 Laureate Award, which is the chapters highest award. Congratulations on this latest honor, Dr. Chin.

Dr. Boadie Dunlop named chair of MCG Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior

Finally today, I wanted to share news of someone who will soon be a new part of our faculty. Dr. Boadie Dunlop, a clinical psychiatrist who specializes in mood disorders and anxiety, will join us as chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior in August. Pending USG approval, he will also be the Case Distinguished University Chair. Dr. Dunlop comes to us from Emory University, where he directs the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program and the Adult Psychiatry Outpatient Program. He also serves as medical director of Emory Healthcare’s Veterans Program, where they treat conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, anxiety, and depression, and as co-director of the Emory Center of Psychedelics and Spirituality, the world’s first center to fully integrate clinical and research-based expertise in psychiatry and spiritual health.

His clinical research program focuses on the neurobiology, psychopharmacology, and personalized treatment of major depression, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder. A federally-funded scientist, he has served as an investigator on more than 70 NIH- and industry-funded clinical studies of medication, psychotherapy, and their combination for the treatment for those conditions. He is a graduate of Mayo Medical School and completed a residency in psychiatry and a master’s in clinical research at Emory. I look forward to working together with him to build more departmental and cross-disciplinary research programs at MCG.

My deepest gratitude as well to Dr. Peter Rosenquist who has skillfully guided the department as interim chair since June.

My best to you always,

David C. Hess, MD

Dean, Medical College of Georgia

Upcoming Events

March 15 – Deadline to order regalia for MCG Hooding Ceremony. Order here: regalia

March 18 – MCG Faculty Senate Meeting, noon, Natalie and Lansing B. Lee Jr. Auditorium

March 21 – MCG Match Day

April 18 – MCG Faculty Senate Meeting, noon, Natalie and Lansing B. Lee Jr. Auditorium

April 25-27 – Alumni Weekend, https://www.augusta.edu/alumniweekend/

May 8 – MCG Hooding Ceremony, 2pm, James Brown Arena

May 29-31 – MCG Faculty Development Conference, Jekyll Island