News and Feature Articles

Aurora, Colorado – Dr. Sean Colgan, Director of the Mucosal Inflammation Program, Director of the GI and Liver Innate Immune Program, Interim Chief and Vice Chair of Research, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and Professor of Medicine Immunology and Microbiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine (CU Anschutz), recently received the prestigious honor of the Dean's Doctoral Mentoring Award.  

This award goes to faulty who demonstrate commitment to providing students with a one-on-one, high-quality training experience; maintain high standards of scholarship; and possess personal attributes that make the faculty member an effective role model for other mentors. Faculty are nominated by the doctoral students whom which they mentored for at least one semester and with a significant amount of one-on-one interaction. 

“There is no doubt that Dr. Colgan is excellent in both his mentorship skills and scientific accolades, but what makes him truly the exemplary mentor is Dr. Colgan as a person. To state it plainly, Dr. Colgan is my role model,” said one of the nominators, Ruth Wang, MD/PhD Candidate. “This is a sentiment that I have heard mentioned over and over again from various past and present lab members.” 

Dr. Colgan has been working on mucosal inflammation of the intestine for 25 years. His research focuses specifically on the identification of anti-inflammatory molecules associated with mucosal inflammation.  

Dr. Colgan began his research in Boston at Harvard Medical School and came to CU Anschutz 12 years ago. He shared that throughout that time, it has been his students and post-doctoral fellows that have been the fundamental drivers.  

“Any success that I have achieved is fully attributable to the students and the postdocs,” said Dr. Colgan, “They have taught me how to be a good mentor.” 

His mentees select their research topics themselves based on their interests.  

Wang, on behalf of herself and her graduate student colleagues Rachel Gao and David Kitzenberg, shared, “Dr. Colgan inspires and motivates his mentees with his knowledge, work ethic, integrity, humility, and sincerity. His genuine interest and care in his mentees are evident in everything he does. He regularly checks in with every lab member, not only for their research, but also in their lives outside the lab. He cares deeply about the wellbeing of his “lab family” and is always willing to help in any way possible.”  

"It's always nice to be recognized something that you love to do,” said Dr. Colgan, “[Mentoring students] is the most enjoyable part of my day. I get to spend one-on-one time with bright young people.”  

Dr. Colgan is the 2019 award recipient. Previous award recipients are listed below. 

2018: Cory Christiansen, PhD, Professor, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation-Physical Therapy Program 

2018: Jennifer Kiser, PharmD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Associate Director, Center for Translational Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacogenomics 

2017: Matthew Kennedy, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology 

2017: Rytis Prekeris, PhD, Professor, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology 

2016: Jared Brown, PhD, Associate Professor of Toxicology, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences  

2016: Gidon Felsen, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Associate Faculty in the Center for Bioethics and Humanities 

2016: Jennifer Stevens-Lapsley, PT, PhD, Professor, Physical Therapy Program 

2015: Ulli Bayer, PhD, Associate Professor, Molecular Biology Program 

2015: Laurel Lenz, PhD, Professor, Immunology and Microbiology Program 

2015: Jennifer Richer, PhD, Professor and Co-director of the Cancer Center Pathology Core 

2014: Dana Dabelea, MD, PhD, Professor, Director of the LEAD Center and Conrad M. Riley Endowed Professor 

2014: Elan Eisenmesser, PhD, Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics 

2014: Ross Kedl, PhD, Professor, Immunology and Microbiology Program 

2014: Nancy Zahniser, PhD, Professor, Department of Pharmacology 

2013: Deb Glueck, PhD, MS, Professor, Pediatrics-Endocrinology 

2013: Gary Grunwald, PhD, Professor, Colorado School of Public Health, Department of Biostatistics and Informatics,  

2013: Jim McManaman, PhD  

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ABOUT the Graduate School. The Graduate School administers and serves Master's programs, Doctoral programs, Certificates, and non-degree courses throughout all thirteen schools and colleges across both the Denver and the Anschutz Medical Campuses. The Graduate School recognizes the importance of mentoring as essential to all levels of graduate training.