 On January 31 this year, Dean Levine announced the long awaited appointment of Derek Angus, MD, MPH, as the new Department of CCM Chair. In his outstanding letter to the Chancellor and other University of Pittsburgh honoratiores as well as all CCM Faculty members, the Dean outlined Dr. Angus' distinguished career to become "one of the world's most accomplished and recognized authorities in critical care medicine" which made him superior to all other exceptionally well qualified candidates for our chair in CCM. According to the Dean, this was true for all Derek's roles as clinician, mentor, researcher, lecturer and leader.
Derek Angus was recruited to the CCM Fellowship after residency in internal medicine at the University of Glasgow in the UK. Dr. Grenvik was an invited lecturer, when his co-editor of a CCM book series, Professor Iain McA Ledingham, a renowned British intensivist and ICU Director at Glasgow’s Western Infirmary, singled out Dr. Angus as his, by far, best trainee and recommended him for further CCM training in Pittsburgh. Derek started his clinical CCM fellowship at UPMC in 1989, followed by a year of research at the Safar Center. During this time, he also obtained his MPH at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health. Derek's many talents were obvious to us from the onset and he was appointed to the CCM Faculty in 1992. Through his productive research and excellent publications in our most prominent journals, he rapidly escalated to full professor. In 2001, he was appointed vice chair for research in the then new and independent Department of CCM, still unique in the US as the only such academic department in the country. This department has grown enormously and now has a total of 18 full professors among a faculty of approximately 80 members. Dr. Angus has contributed immensely to the thousands of prominent publications by our faculty, responsible also for over 30 books, since becoming a separate department.
Dr. Angus is very excited about taking on this leadership role and has many goals as the new CCM Chairman. Derek’s goals include building on the existing, well funded and very active CCM research program, exploring various options for improving and standardizing patient care in UPMC’s various ICUs, and ensuring that the Department’s MCCTP fellowship program continues to excel in attracting and training the best possible candidates.
On a personal note, we also welcome Derek to the CCM Chair because of his friendly, low key, always smiling style. We all feel comfortable in his presence, something which will result in excellent collaboration for all of us in CCM as well as throughout Pitt and UPMC. Congratulations to you Derek from our entire CCM Department.
Read Announcement by Dr. Levine
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