Change

We hope you’ll greet this issue of Medicine at Michigan as an old friend with a brand new look. After nine years, the magazine was ready for an update, but you’ll find a lot that’s familiar behind the fresh appearance. We’ll still bring you feature articles that delve into the worlds of basic science, medical education, and clinical care and research, as well as news from throughout the Health System. We’ll still bring you alumni updates; we’ll tell you about national and international awards to our faculty and students and share their experiences, both personal and global; and we’ll continue to tell the rich history of the Health System, as so many of you want us to do.

So what’s changed, beyond the obvious? We listened to your feedback and worked to improve the organization of information and increase readability. We chose recycled paper of a lighter weight. And we created a new department, On Call, which will feature physician-scientists’ views on national topics and Michigan’s involvement on the national scene — the top area of interest among those who responded to our 2007 reader survey.

Let us know what you think. We’ve placed a prominent comments link on the magazine’s Web site, or send an e-mail to rkrup@umich.edu. Old-fashioned letters work too; in any form, at any time, we love to hear from our readers.

—Rick Krupinski, Editor

Paws-ing to Celebrate Ability

I am so excited to see Moxi, the Paws with a Cause puppy, on the inside front cover of the fall 2007 issue! My service dog, Ukon, and I are members of the Council For Disability Concerns and part of last October’s Investing in Abilities week. The CFDC is an amazing group of people, and they have seen just how much Ukon has affected my life. We are so honored by that photograph, and it means the world to me, Ukon and Moxi.

—Jane and Ukon MacFarlane, Beverly Hills, Michigan

A Family-centered Experience

It is with sadness, yet deep appreciation, that we write to memorialize the life of Jarrett Knyal (“Into the Home, Into the Heart,” spring 2006). Jarrett and his family welcomed us into their home and lives as part of the Family Centered Experience, and we were struck by his desire to make an impact on us and on medicine. Jarrett provided us a candid look into his life as a loving father and husband and how those roles were affected by his paraplegia, infected ulcer and cancer. He allowed us to witness his struggles as a relatively new and bedridden father. We also shared in the Knyals’ joy over discovery of their second pregnancy. Jarrett was inspiring, genuine and optimistic. He was our teacher and our friend. The Knyal family provided us with a clear picture of what medicine should be. The experience a family has in medicine goes beyond the clinic and ward, and we were able to see that firsthand. Jarrett leaves with us a profound sense of the power of the human spirit, which we will carry with us throughout our personal lives and our careers as physicians, benefiting countless future patients. What a wonderful legacy for one man to leave for the entire medical community!

—Nada Elbuluk Matthew R. Meunier, Class of 2008, Ann Arbor

(Jarrett Knyal lost his battle with cancer on January 16, leaving behind a wife, Bridget, a 5-year-old son, Wade, a daughter, Violet, 1, and a lasting impression on two students who become physicians this spring.)

Hope Matters

I was very interested in the “Muscle Matters” article (summer 2007). It gives us 80-year-olds hope that we can still save some muscle!

—Joan Y. Meyer, Ann Arbor