All CFAS members are welcome to join committees to help translate the mission and values of CFAS into action. CFAS has created a document that explains how its committees are structured. For more information or to volunteer, contact cfas@aamc.org.
Thematic committees (open to all):
CFAS Advocacy Committee
Chair: Deanna Sasaki-Adams, MD, Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at UAMS College of Medicine.
The CFAS Advocacy Committee will work with the AAMC Government Relation’s staff to provide opportunities for faculty members' voices to be heard on selected legislative and regulatory policy issues of priority importance to faculty and to engage faculty in support of the AAMC’s positions on such issues. The committee may be asked to review AAMC advocacy materials to facilitate their use by faculty, organize advocacy-related sessions at CFAS meetings, and suggest CFAS-sponsored conference calls and webinars on related topics. A key goal of the committee is to ensure message alignment with other AAMC constituent and leadership groups.
CFAS Engagement Committee
Chair: Kimberly Lumpkins, MD, FACS, FRCS(Eng), Chief, Pediatric Surgery and Urology, Assistant Professor of Pediatric Surgery and Urology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
The CFAS Engagement Committee (formerly the CFAS Communication Committee) will develop mechanisms to allow CFAS and AAMC leadership and staff to communicate effectively with CFAS representatives; to allow CFAS representatives to communicate effectively with their CFAS colleagues; and to explore, test, and implement innovative methods to engage medical school and teaching hospital faculty in bi-directional conversations and learning on critical issues affecting academic medicine.
CFAS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee
Chair: Monica Baskin, PhD, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Community Health Equity, Health Sciences; Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, School of Medicine; and Associate Director of Community Outreach, Hillman Cancer Center at University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences.
The CFAS Diversity and Inclusion Committee works to elevate awareness of the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion at all levels in academic medicine, CFAS, and the AAMC itself. The committee will develop mechanisms to promote and realize diversity, equity, and inclusiveness in all CFAS activities. We define diversity broadly to include all aspects of human differences including but not limited to socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, language, nationality, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, geography (including rural and highly rural areas), disability, and age. This committee will collaborate with relevant AAMC groups to facilitate and promote development of innovative methods of education, research, policy, and clinical practice that focus on issues of diversity, inclusion, and respectful interactions.
CFAS Committee for Faculty as Medical Educators
Chair: Lily Belfi, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College; Associate Attending Radiologist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Campus.
The CFAS Faculty as Medical Educators Committee is charged with identifying issues and challenges of relevance to faculty who are engaged in medical education (both clinicians and biomedical science educators), developing opportunities to discuss these issues and providing the faculty voice and perspective on educational matters that impact them, their learners, and their institutions. The work of this committee is to improve and nurture the role of faculty as medical educators and its approach will be to encourage open communication among educators and support creative solutions as faculty navigate the ever-changing landscape of undergraduate and graduate medical education.
CFAS Biomedical Research and Training Committee
Chair: Neil Osheroff, PhD, John G. Coniglio Chair in Biochemistry, Professor of Biochemistry and Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
The CFAS Biomedical Research and Education Committee (BREC) will work with the AAMC Chief Scientific Officer to provide opportunities for basic science faculty (in both basic science and clinical departments) to discuss issues of concern. Such issues may include the impact of research and other funding trends on faculty vitality and their mission activities; defining, evaluating, and promoting the value of fundamental research to the public, policy makers, and other members of the academic community; training and sustaining the research and basic science educator workforces of the future; and other issues. The committee is expected to work closely with the CFAS Advocacy Committee and AAMC professional development groups such as the Group on Faculty Affairs; the Group on Women in Medicine and Science; the Group on Research Advancement and Development; and the Graduate Research, Education, and Training Group.
CFAS Mission Alignment and Impact of Faculty Educators Committee
Chair: Stewart Babbott, MD, Professor, General Medicine, Geriatrics and Palliative Care, University of Virginia School of Medicine.
The CFAS Mission Alignment and Impact of Faculty Educators Committee (formerly named CFAS Mission Alignment and Faculty Values Task Force) focuses on the role of basic science in medical education — to consider both the scientific foundation of clinical medical knowledge as well as the preparation of clinician scientists. It explores the professional activities that might be expected of a graduating medical student and the impact of competency-based education on the length of training in various specialties. The committee also focuses on the preparedness of residency graduates to enter into the unsupervised practice of medicine and transition to independent practice.
CFAS Faculty and Organizational Well-being Committee
Chair: Catherine Florio Pipas, MD, MPH, Professor of Medical Education at Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine.
The CFAS Faculty and Organizational Well-being Committee (formerly named CFAS Faculty Resilience Committee) is charged with identifying institutional (both medical school and academic society) practices that successfully promote faculty vitality and well-being in both their professional and personal lives. The committee will consider the how CFAS can facilitate the personal and professional success of CFAS representatives. The committee is specifically charged with making recommendations to the CFAS Administrative Board and Program Committee on how the CFAS can best take advantage of the demographic and professional variety of the council’s representatives.
Structural Committees (by appointment only):
CFAS Nominating Committee
Chair: Aviad “Adi” Haramati, PhD, Professor, Division of Integrative Physiology; Director, Center for Innovation and Leadership in Education, Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC)
The CFAS Nominating and Engagement Committee shall be composed of two subcommittees; one conforming to the nominating committee composition requirements contained in the CFAS Rules and Regulations and charged with the nominating committee activities described in that document; and a second subcommittee of the whole to undertake other activities.
CFAS Program Committee
Chair: Arthur Derse, MD, JD, FACEP, Julia and David Uihlein Chair in Medical Humanities; Professor of Bioethics and Emergency Medicine; Director of the Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
The CFAS Program Committee is charged with developing the program for the CFAS Spring Meeting. The committee can also recommend to the CFAS Administrative Board the convening of special topic or theme meetings, webinars, conference calls, or other such initiatives. The committee is specifically charged with exploring new and innovative ways to engage CFAS representatives in the work of council.