{"id":243264,"date":"2026-04-02T14:43:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T18:43:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=243264"},"modified":"2026-04-02T14:53:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T18:53:10","slug":"ceo-weekly-update-april-2-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/04\/ceo-weekly-update-april-2-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"CEO Weekly Update: April 2, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Colleagues,<\/p>\n

This is a short week, and I hope it gives you some more time over the weekend to recuperate and care for yourself. Those who know me well will attest to the fact that I don\u2019t usually watch much sports, but I had the privilege of attending the UConn vs. Michigan State men\u2019s basketball game in Washington, D.C., last Friday. You might wonder why I am raising this in a weekly update. The reason is, I was actually there, with the UConn Foundation, to meet a subject matter expert and potential philanthropic supporter of our plan to launch the UConn Health AI Institute. After dinner we attended the game and it (as probably, the whole world knows) was a truly thrilling win. I didn\u2019t stay for the next game against Duke on Sunday but again, as you all know, that game turned out to be even more amazing, so much so it\u2019s difficult to describe. I can only say our student athletes \u2014 men and women \u2014 are unbelievably inspiring and make the rest of us so proud.<\/p>\n

\"portrait<\/a>
Dr. Robert Arciero, athletic trainer Tavarus Ferguson, and Dr. Allison Schafer with the UConn men\u2019s basketball team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Given I am on the topic of sports, and a core theme of my updates is to thank all of you, I want to highlight the amazing work of our UConn Health sports medicine physicians who keep the student athletes safe and healthy.<\/p>\n

That includes Dr. Robert Arciero and Dr. Allison Schafer, who have been traveling with the men\u2019s basketball team as team physicians, and who are heading to Indianapolis for the men\u2019s Final Four, and Dr. Katherine Coyner and Dr. Zachary Maass, who will be in Phoenix with the women\u2019s team as they look to repeat as NCAA champions.<\/p>\n

\"portrait<\/a>
Drs. Zachary Maass and Katherine Coyner with the UConn women\u2019s basketball team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dr. Maass also worked with the men\u2019s ice hockey team along with Dr. Corey Dwyer, and I should also mention that Dr. Matthew Hall is a dedicated team physician with UConn Athletics and Dr. Anthony Alessi is a trusted consultant working closely with the program.<\/p>\n

Our sports medicine physicians play important roles in ensuring the Huskies are ready to compete and helping them recover from injury \u2013 \u201cunsung heroes,\u201d as women\u2019s basketball coach Geno Auriemma describes them in the promotional television ad we made for this year\u2019s tournament:<\/p>\n