Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1363384
to support every effort, from providing world-class care to the city's most vulnerable patient populations, to serving as the initial clinical trial site for COVID-19 therapeutics such as Regeneron's antiviral antibody cocktail and Moderna's mRNA COVID-19 vaccine." The College's historic focus on diversity and assisting underserved populations also has come into play, as the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the glaring health inequities of low-income, low-resource communities of color in Chicago and across the country. The virus the spread at same time the nation dealt with troubling issues around social and racial injustice. The rates of infection and death due to the coronavirus remain disproportionately high for nonwhite Americans, particularly the African American and Latino communities. "For years, diversity has been a fundamental part of our College, both in terms of the physicians we train and the patients we serve," Rosenblatt says. Ramping up communication and decision-making at the executive level served to not only provide timely guidance but also to assure the College's diverse leaders that they were all moving in the same direction. "At the beginning of the pandemic, Dean Rosenblatt led us through a situation that none of us have ever experienced. This has been an unprecedented time with so much uncertainty. We looked to Dean Rosenblatt for leadership, and he brought everyone together to work collectively," says R.V. Paul Chan, MD, MSc, MBA, chair of ophthalmology and visual sciences and the John H. Panton Professor of Ophthalmology. "We looked to him to make thoughtful, data-driven decisions even when there wasn't a whole lot of data. Because of his established track record with the College, he had already built trust with all the key players. He trusted us, and we trusted him. No one panicked." Collaborative Thinker NAMED TO HIS CURRENT LEADERSHIP ROLE in March 2019, Rosenblatt relishes the traditional pillars of academic medicine: seeing patients, delving into clinical research challenges, and sharing what he has learned with students and trainees. "I can't help but combine all three roles in my head in everything I do," he says. "In my mind, they are all interrelated and should be seamless in practice." During a highly competitive search process, Rosenblatt, an internationally recognized clinician-scientist and director of the Corneal Regenerative Medicine Laboratory, stood out for his academic experience, investigative curiosity and passion for making a difference in people's lives. Previously head of the department of ophthalmology and visual sciences, Rosenblatt brought to his new post a deep familiarity with the College that served him and the COM community well when the pandemic hit. "Dean Rosenblatt is an exceptional leader who leads by example and encourages members of our UI Health community to collaborate and think creatively," says Robert Barish, MD, MBA, vice chancellor for health affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "He both understands and embraces the mission of the College of Medicine, and he truly believes in the outstanding quality of our students, faculty, researchers and staff." Looking back before Merriam-Webster named "pandemic" the 2020 word of the year, Rosenblatt considers the timing of his current leadership role extremely fortuitous. He became dean during the COM's first major strategic planning initiative in more than a decade. This massive undertaking continues to set the tone and vision—and provide operational and inspirational guidance— for the College's present and future. The planning process—and a general desire to learn more about all of the campuses—prompted Rosenblatt to visit all of COM's statewide campuses multiple times within a few months early in his tenure. He viewed the process as an opportunity to tap into the collective wisdom of the College's students, faculty, staff and partners. "It generated pages of feedback that I promised would not be part of a tome that gathered dust on some shelf," he says about the ongoing process. "It's been leading to an implementable plan that allows us to be innovative and achieve excellence across all domains." In addition to bold ideas that the strategic plan yielded, Rosenblatt continues to build on the many plans of his own for the COM, from enhancing diversity "in all its guises" to building a community pipeline to local high schools to nurture talented students interested in pursuing careers in medicine. Promoting the intersection of science and technology is also on his agenda to "bring innovation to the people who need it." "As a large research university," he says, "we're in a pretty good position to make many things happen." Medical Career in His DNA GROWING UP IN MAYSVILLE, KENTUCKY, population 9,800, Rosenblatt found a physician role model literally in his The rates of infection and death due to the coronavirus remain disproportionately high for nonwhite Americans, particularly the African American and Latino communities. "For years, diversity has been a fundamental part of our College, both in terms of the physicians we train and the patients we serve," Rosenblatt says. 8 | Spring 2021