I’m delighted to announce the following new Section Chiefs at the John Cochran VA Medical Center.
Ian Ross, MD, has been selected as the new Section Chief of Medical Education at the John Cochran VAMC!
Dr. Ross was the WashU VA Chief Resident in 2016-2017 and faculty at Penn State College of Medicine before returning to St. Louis in August 2020 to join the hospital medicine section. He currently serves as the co-course director the Advanced Clinical Medicine course at Washington University in St. Louis.
He has been involved in several initiatives in Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) at the medical student, resident, and attending training level. He is the co-director of POCUS for the WashU Internal Medicine residency and the POCUS elective. He is a co-chair for the Midwest Diagnostic POCUS Workshop for Internists, a skills workshop offered annually through the Missouri Chapter of the American College of Physicians (ACP). Dr. Ross is also a Narrative Medicine author and has published in peer-reviewed medical journals including Annals of Internal Medicine and The New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Ross’ teaching has been recognized several times including a Washington University Distinguished Service and Teaching Award, several Housestaff Teacher of the Year Awards, and the Sydney S. Pearl ’32 Clinical Teacher of the Year Award.
Colin Diffie, MD, has been selected as the new Section Chief of Rheumatology at the John Cochran VAMC!
Dr. Diffie is the recently promoted chief of the Division of Rheumatology at the VA. He earned his medical degree from the University of Texas at Houston in 2014. He subsequently completed his internal medicine residency and his rheumatology fellowship at Washington University.
As an attending physician, Dr. Diffie has managed the Vasculitis Clinic at Washington University since 2019, providing care to patients with complex medical problems such as vasculitis, IgG4 related disease, VEXAS syndrome, and other rare conditions. As a dedicated clinician educator, he has been recognized with multiple teaching awards from both residents and fellows. In January 2025, Dr. Diffie assumed leadership of the rheumatology division, where he continues to advance care for veterans with a variety of rheumatic illnesses. His research interests include healthcare outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis as well as drug trials for ANCA associated vasculitis and VEXAS syndrome.
Michael Durkin, MD, MPH, has been selected as the new Section Chief of Infectious Diseases at the John Cochran VAMC! He will be starting in May 2025.
Dr. Durkin is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Washington University.
He has previously served as a hospital epidemiologist and the co-director of antibiotic stewardship at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. He is passionate about clinical research and improving the quality of patient care. His current projects involve evaluating the safety and effectiveness of antibiotics for common conditions, developing clinical decision support tools to improve medical decision making, and improving the care for neglected patient populations. His research has been funded by the CDC, NIH, and Pew Charitable Trusts. Dr. Durkin has enjoyed taking care of veterans in medical school, residency, and fellowship. He also has several relatives that have served in the US military and who have received medical care through the Department of Veterans Affairs. He looks forward to joining the St. Louis VA and helping serve veterans again.