STUDENT SUCCESS
LCME Reaccreditation site visit completed
The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) evaluates whether medical schools meet nationally established standards on an eight-year accreditation cycle. The school has been preparing since 2023, and the LCME survey team completed its site visit in March 2025. Findings from the visit were positive. Overall, IU School of Medicine students are highly satisfied with the quality of the school’s medical education program — satisfaction rates are above the national average and rising each year. The LCME noted eight areas with opportunities for improvement. Final accreditation results are expected in fall 2025.
Match 2025 results
IU School of Medicine had a 97.7% placement rate in the National Resident Matching Program this year. On Match Day, a total of 341 graduating medical students were matched to residency programs in 38 states, plus Washington, D.C. Of those graduates, 90 matched to IU School of Medicine residencies. The top five specialties matched into were internal medicine, general surgery, pediatrics, family medicine and anesthesiology; 42.2% of graduates matched into primary care.
This year, IU School of Medicine will welcome a total of 317 incoming residents from 125 medical schools, including 115 graduates coming from Indiana medical schools and the rest coming from 34 other states.
Building the Future
The new Medical Education and Research Building is nearly complete. Planning for this flagship School of Medicine facility began over a decade ago in 2014; faculty, staff and students will begin moving in this summer. This will be the first new classroom space the school has built since 1959, and it will be filled with the latest technology. A dedication ceremony was held on April 22. Save the date for an open house for the entire school community on June 26.
Regional campuses have also received improvements, including updates on the West Lafayette, Bloomington, Gary, South Bend, Fort Wayne and Evansville campuses, and renovations are planned for IU School of Medicine—Terre Haute. Every campus has uniformly high facilities standards.
Resident coaching program
A new resident coaching program funded by an IU Health Values Grant is being led by Christen Dilly, MD, ME, assistant dean for Graduate Medical Education. Residents receive coaching from trained faculty, usually from a different department. Program topics include workplace stressors, professional identity, administrative burdens and work-life balance.
Resident spotlight: Ricardo Serrano, MD
Serrano, a third-year psychiatry resident, is dedicated to supporting and growing the underrepresented in medicine workforce. He co-chairs the Latino Association of Residents and Fellows (LARF) and the Multicultural Physicians Alliance (MPA), which works to foster a welcoming climate for all trainees.
Graduate student support
During the week of April 7, the Graduate Division celebrated National Graduate Student Appreciation Week with a series of events designed to recognize, support and uplift the IU School of Medicine graduate student community. The week culminated in a reception to honor graduate student volunteers for supporting recruitment efforts by presenting their research, leading facility tours and welcoming prospective students.
Graduate student spotlight: Olivia Bednarski, PhD
Bednarski is an MD/PhD student who just finished her PhD with a focus in malaria research. She received the Sherry Queener Graduate Student Excellence Award for her exceptional research, leadership and community involvement. Bednarski founded the group Women in Science in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.
RESEARCH GROWTH
IU School of Medicine’s overall research funding is up by 5% from 2023, with total 2024 funding of $546.49 million from the National Institutes of Health and other sources. NIH funding was slightly down by 1.9% while funding from the State of Indiana increased by 14.7%; commercial/for-profit funding increased by 41.2%; and nonprofit funding increased by 13%. The school received 111 new federal grants in 2024, representing the work of 118 faculty who serve as primary investigators on those studies. There were 30 faculty members who received their first grant award in 2024.
2024 AAAS Fellows
Elliot Androphy, MD, and Mark Kaplan, PhD, were recently elected as fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Androphy is a professor of dermatology, of microbiology and immunology, and of anatomy, cell biology and physiology, who studies human papillomavirus. Kaplan is chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and director of basic science at the Brown Center for Immunotherapy. He studies allergic diseases and aims to prevent deaths from peanut allergies.
IU LAB launches
The IU Launch Accelerator for Biosciences, known as IU LAB, is supported by a $138 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. and builds on areas of strength for IU School of Medicine, including diabetes, cancer, rare disease, musculoskeletal health and neuroscience. IU LAB will help IU School of Medicine achieve its strategic goals by bringing together scientists in multiple disciplines to engage with industry partners and commercialize discovery. It will create a space for startups and give students more experience working on real-world problems. D. Wade Clapp, MD, has been named as the inaugural Senior Associate Dean for Entrepreneurial Research and Commercialization at IU School of Medicine and will be the school’s scientific lead for IU LAB.
“It will be a space to bring together multiple disciplines,” Dean Hess said. “It will be a front door for industry partners … and there will be incubator space for startups. The School of Medicine will lead this whole facility with high-end gene sequencing equipment for research studies.”
Clinical Research
James McGill, MD, has been named Executive Director for Clinical Research at IU Health. He recently worked with IU School of Medicine leaders to develop criteria for prioritizing studies in the IU School of Medicine and IU Health Clinical Study Portfolio. The focus is on high-impact, bench-to-bedside work. “Top 10” clinical studies are ones focusing on highly innovative therapies, or something that is “game changing” for the practice area. This includes new gene therapies, neurology and oncology trials, vaccines and other studies that align with the school’s strategic priorities for improving Indiana’s health, including behavioral health and maternal and infant mortality. These are studies where IU is taking the lead on federally funded or industry-sponsored research.
Basic science investigator spotlight: Melissa Fishel, PhD
Fishel is an associate professor of pediatrics with a research focus on developing therapies for pancreatic cancer. Driven by personal loss, including the death of her father to cancer, Fishel has dedicated her career to advancing treatments for aggressive cancers.
Clinical trial investigator spotlight: Zach Adams, PhD
Adams is associate vice chair of research for the Department of Psychiatry. He conducts clinical trial research to evaluate the efficacy of brief interventions for adolescent substance use, including the Teen Intervene program, which uses varied techniques to prevent alcohol and substance use problems.
IMPROVING HEALTH AND WELLNESS
IU Health Downtown Hospital Campus
The new IU Health hospital is the largest hospital construction project in North America. The 2.6 million-square-foot hospital will have 864 hospital beds in a comprehensive medical and surgical hospital with safety and security prioritized. The campus will also include a 240,000-square-foot Medical Office Building with a 900-stall parking garage, along with a 2,600-stall campus parking garage and logistics center, a Clinical Research Center and conference center. Roadways, tunnels and bridges will connect the buildings on this beautifully landscaped medical campus, which is part of the new Indy Health District encompassing 1,500 acres on the city’s north side.
Transition to EPIC
Based on faculty physician feedback, IU Health is transitioning to EPIC — the electronic records system used in every Top 20 U.S. News and World Report ranked hospital and the system over 90% of medical students and resident train on. EPIC will provide a vastly superior patient experience via the MyChart patient portal and is designed to reduce care team burnout.
United Medical Group engagement
IU Health leaders are implementing several physician and advanced practice provider engagement initiatives aimed at improving communication and collaboration, providing genuine and frequent recognition, addressing resource constraints, and creating proactive feedback mechanisms. This initiative is being directed by senior leaders David Ingram, MD, interim president of academic medicine, and Kevin Gebke, MD, senior vice president of community medicine for IU Health.
Physician spotlight: Nasser Hanna, MD
Hanna, the Tom and Julie Wood Family Foundation Professor of Lung Cancer Clinical Research, is fighting against lung cancer and driving significant advancements in early detection. He spearheaded Indiana’s first mobile lung screening program, which includes a 40-foot mobile unit equipped with a CT scanner and bringing screenings directly to high-risk Hoosiers.
Regional physician spotlight: Ayodeji I. Ogunleye, MD, MPH
Ogunleye serves as the psychiatry site clerkship leader at IU School of Medicine—West Lafayette. He is an outstanding educator, mentor and clinician who dedicates at least an hour each day to teaching. Many students consider their time with “Dr. O” as one of the most rewarding experiences in their training.
STAFF APPRECIATION
The first IU School of Medicine Staff Appreciation Week was held in October 2024. Staff joined together for spirit days, donation drives, virtual events and the Staff Appreciation Celebration. Donations were collected for Paws Pantry, which assists up to 500 IU Indianapolis students, faculty and staff each week. Save the date for the 2025 Staff Appreciation Week: September 22-26.
Staff spotlight: Courtney Cowley
As a construction and planning specialist, Cowley helps lead capital improvement and infrastructure projects on all nine campuses. She provided vial project management during construction of the Medical Education and Research Building. She is also leading the physical move into the building and transition from the IU Indianapolis campus of all student services.
Staff spotlight: Katie Duffey
As executive director of strategic communications, Duffey leads a team dedicated to sharing the school’s stories and successes. She collaborates with colleagues across the school, the broader university and partner institutions to ensure that information about educational opportunities, research and clinical innovations reach those who need them most.
FACULTY ELECTION RESULTS
Results of the IU School of Medicine faculty elections were announced at the Spring All School Meeting. Catherine Sears, MD, is the president-elect, and Brandon Brown, MD, is secretary-elect. Full election results for the Faculty Steering Committee may be found on the Faculty Affairs and Professional Development website.
Trustees’ Teaching Awards
The Indiana University Board of Trustees established this award to recognize outstanding teaching and emphasize the priority of learners in the medical school. The Teaching Awards Committee, chaired by Ruben Hernandez, MD, chooses the award winners. Nominations were solicited from students, residents and faculty. This year, 57 educators were honored for positively impacting learning through direct teaching. See a list of all Trustees’ Teaching Award winners by department.
