Dear Medical College of Georgia Friends,
Remembering Jack Gersten, MCG Class of 2028
Last week brought profound sorrow for our entire MCG family and one of the hardest days I have faced as dean. We lost Jack Gersten, a 27‑year‑old member of the Class of 2028. Jack was a newlywed, a standout baseball player who played at Brown University, an exceptional student, and – most importantly – a devoted son, brother, husband, and friend whose warmth, generosity, and limitless potential were evident to everyone who knew him.
Being at his packed graveside funeral was both heartbreaking and deeply moving. Our medical students and faculty wept openly, yet they also held and supported one another. Jack’s impact on our community was unmistakable in the many who gathered to honor him, including Drs. Lynne Coule, Patricia Schoenlein and Ralf Lucas; as well as his classmates and close friends, Elijah Arkanum, Justin Kelleher, Max Sharawy, Michael Brimer, Sam Dankberg, Dev Shah, Sean Micklus, Chris Painter, Alex Deltchev, Ryan Lee and Mika Baltes.
To lose someone so young, so full of life, and so clearly destined to make a meaningful impact on the world is a grief that is difficult to put into words. Jack brought to medicine the same devotion, discipline, and heart that defined him on the baseball field and in every part of his life. His father, Mitch, and brother Simon recounted how he took swings in the batting cage until his hands bled. His family and friends are enduring an unimaginable loss, and their heartbreak has been felt deeply across our community.
“Be great. Be like Jack,” is the best way to honor his legacy
In the days since his passing, Jack’s family shared something they found on his phone: an alarm that lit up each morning at 7:30 with the simple reminder, “Be great :)”. It was more than a message. It was the way he lived. Through their heartbreak, his family has asked us to carry that spirit forward: “Be great, be like Jack. In the kindness you choose, in the way you show up for others, and in the humanity you bring to your work.”
They are also honoring that legacy in a lasting way through the Jack Gersten “Be Great :)” Scholarship Endowment, created to support a medical student each year who “not only pursues excellence in medicine, but also reflects the character, compassion, humility, and integrity that defined Jack’s life.”
Please continue to hold Jack’s family – his wife Rebecca, his parents Mitch and Lauren, and his brother Simon – along with his friends and classmates in your thoughts and prayers. Certainly, his life and legacy are a perfect example of the good I believe all of you are committed to doing in this world. In many ways, that commitment to serving and caring for others is the true spirit of our profession and certainly of this medical school. Continuing that important work is one way we will honor Jack and his legacy at MCG.
Dr. Eric Belin de Chantemele invited to be part of NIH’s Vivian W. Pinn Symposium
Even in a week marked by deep loss, our community continues to work incredibly hard to advance science and improve health in ways that truly change people’s lives. One example is Dr. Eric Belin de Chantemele, Regents’ Professor and Leon Henri Charbonnier Endowed Chair, who has been invited to speak at the National Institutes of Health’s 10th annual Vivian W. Pinn Symposium. This event is dedicated to advancing research on chronic conditions affecting women and honors the first full‑time director of the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health. This year’s program will open with remarks from NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.
Dr. Belin de Chantemele, a longtime member of our faculty, has built his career studying the mechanisms that drive obesity‑related hypertension and cardiovascular disease, with a particular focus on how leptin influences blood pressure and vascular function. His work has shed important light on sex‑specific differences in cardiovascular disease, earning national and international recognition, sustained federal funding, and a long list of peer-reviewed publications. He is also a dedicated mentor to the next generation of scientists and was recently named associate director of our Vascular Biology Center. His invitation to present at this prestigious symposium is a direct reflection of the impact of his research and the strength of the scientific community here at MCG. Congratulations. I know you will represent us all well.
Dr. Daria Ilatovskaya named recipient of 2026 John H. Laragh Research Award
Here’s more national recognition of the impact of the science being done at MCG. We also learned recently that Dr. Daria Ilatovskaya has been selected as a 2026 recipient of the American Journal of Hypertension’s 2026 John H. Laragh Research Award, which honors the founder and first president of the American Society of Hypertension and recognizes outstanding investigators under the age of 45 whose work is significantly advancing the field.
Dr. Ilatovskaya, an associate professor in our Department of Physiology, leads a research program focused on renal blood pressure regulation, with particular emphasis on mitochondrial bioenergetics – essentially how kidney cells generate and manage energy – and sex‑specific aspects of renal metabolism. Her work spans molecular, cellular, and whole‑organism approaches and is supported by multiple NIH R01s, an NIH U54 grant, an American Heart Association (AHA) Transformational Award, and the AHA Strategically Focused Research Network on Cardiometabolic Kidney Syndrome in Women. She has published more than 95 peer‑reviewed papers, earned numerous honors from professional societies, and is – like Dr. Belin de Chantemele – a tireless advocate for developing the next generation. That commitment is reflected in the many NIH and AHA fellowships and career development awards her trainees have earned.
No doubt this is an honor that is well-deserved. Congratulations.
More than 20% of our Class of 2029 will complete their clinical education on campuses across the state
Outside of the strength of its people, another one of MCG’s greatest strengths is the breadth of our educational program. Our students have access to the full range of clinical training experiences they need to shape the kind of physicians they want to become. Across our campuses — in every corner of the state — they can learn alongside small‑town physicians providing one‑on‑one care, or in the complex specialty and subspecialty settings of an academic medical center. Whatever kind of medicine you hope to practice, you can learn it at MCG.
Each spring, our freshman class learns where they will complete their clinical training, beginning the following January, through our campus match process. Students submit their campus and rotation preferences, and our amazing Academic Affairs team matches them with available spots. This year, 64 students — more than 20% of the Class of 2029 — will head to one of our regional clinical campuses.
When you add Athens and Savannah students, that climbs to over 50%
Twenty students will head to the Northwest Campus (Rome/Dalton), 20 to the Southwest Campus (Albany/Thomasville), and 24 to our Atlanta Campus at Wellstar Kennestone. When you add the students at our four‑year campuses in Savannah and Athens who will begin clinical rotations at the same time, 164 students — over half the class — will be learning at the side of physicians outside our main campus in Augusta.
And that doesn’t include the hundreds of individual rotations Augusta‑based students complete at our regional campuses each year. I say it often because it’s true: we could not provide the quality education MCG is known for, to one of the nation’s largest class sizes, without the dedication of those across our statewide network who give their time and expertise to our students. We are also fortunate to have the best Regional Campus Deans in the country. Thank you all for your continued investment in the future of our profession and the future of medicine.
My best to you all,
David C. Hess, MD
Dean, Medical College of Georgia
Upcoming Events
April 24-26 – Alumni Weekend, augusta.edu/alumniweekend.
May 7 – MCG Hooding Ceremony, 2 p.m., Bell Auditorium
May 21 – MCG Faculty Awards Ceremony, 5 p.m., Natalie and Lansing B. Lee Jr. Auditorium
