“Dr. Smith is a distinguished physician and leader, uniquely positioned to continue the momentum of UofL Health,” Gerry Bradley, University of Louisville president, said. “His combination of clinical experience, innovative leadership and consensus building is well known among our team and colleagues across the nation. I look forward to the impact he will have on the health of our community and commonwealth.”

Smith has served as CMO for UofL Health since its inception in November 2019 and served as CMO for UofL Health – UofL Hospital from 2017 to 2019. He has been a member of the University of Louisville School of Medicine faculty since 2008.

“I strongly believe in the mission of UofL Health,” Smith shared. “Being able to serve our organization in this role is exciting and I look forward to continuing to work alongside our team to provide quality, patient-centered care to our community. I want to thank former CEO, Tom Miller, for his leadership and the UofL Health Board for this opportunity.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Smith led the health system’s response and served as an expert voice throughout Kentuckiana and the commonwealth.

Last year, he was awarded the Paragon Award from the Greater Louisville Medical Society for his outstanding contributions to health care leadership, advocacy for gun violence victims and his commitment to the education of future physicians.

Smith earned his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Wright State University before completing hisĚýmedicalĚýdegreeĚýatĚýTheĚýOhioĚýStateĚýUniversity. He completed his residency inĚýsurgery at The Ohio State University before joining the University of Louisville. Smith earned his Ph.D. in physiology and biophysics from UofL in 2012. He received a master of business administration from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University in 2019. He is board-certified in general surgery and critical care by the American Board of Surgery.

For more information on the UofL Health, visit: .

About UofL Health

UofL Health is a not-for-profit (501(c)(3)) fully integrated regional academic health system with nine hospitals, four medical centers, Brown Cancer Center, Eye Institute, more than 250 physician practice locations, and more than 1,200 providers in Louisville and the surrounding counties, including southern Indiana. Additional access to UofL Health is provided through a partnership with Carroll County Memorial Hospital.

ĚýAffiliated with the University of Louisville School of Medicine, UofL Health is committed to providing patients with access to the most advanced care available. This includes clinical trials, collaboration on research and the development of new technologies to both save and improve lives. With more than 14,000 team members – physicians, surgeons, nurses, pharmacists and other highly-skilled healthcareĚýprofessionals, UofL Health is focused on one mission: to transform the health of communities we serve through compassionate, innovative, patient-centered care. For more information on UofL Health, go to .

The Power 50 list identifies the city’s most influential people in business and related communities. Louisville Business First selected honorees from individuals nominated by the public and those covered in the publication’s own reporting and sourcing, and did not include elected officials.

Schatzel secured a position on the fifth annual edition of the list in 2024 after being included in 2023’s “Five on the Rise.”Ěý

Under Schatzel’s leadership, UofL secured a $24 million funding package to launch the Louisville Clinical and Translational Research Center, a statewide effort to transform the university’s clinical research infrastructure and combat chronic conditions that disproportionately affect Kentuckians, like cardiovascular disease, stroke and cancer.Ěý

The UofL president also oversaw procurement of the funding for the new planned Health Sciences Simulation Center and Collaboration Hub at the downtown Health Sciences Center campus, a project made possible by a landmark $280 million investment by the state of Kentucky. The center will increase the impact of the university’s research and health professions education effort, benefitting people across the commonwealth by producing highly qualified physicians, dentists, nurses and public health professionals and fostering collaboration among the city’s health care organizations.

Also returning to the Power 50 list isĚý, who has led the university’s academic health system since early 2019 and was the overseer for the recently opened UofL Health – South Hospital. The new facility provides access to health care for residents of Bullitt County and southern Jefferson County.

The 2025 Power 50 list also includes numerous Cardinal alumni and donors, along with current and past members of UofL boards.

Additionally, Business First announced an inaugural Power 50 Hall of Fame category of honorees, all who have UofL-ties. They are:

• Ulysses “Junior” Bridgeman, most recently the owner of Heartland Coca-Cola Bottling Co. and Bridgeman Sports and Media
• Christina Lee Brown, philanthropist, UofL Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute
• Edward “Ed” Glasscock, chairman emeritus, Frost Brown Todd LLC
• Alice Houston, co-founder and owner, HJI Supply Chain Solutions
• David Jones Jr., president and founder, Chrysalis Ventures
• Mike Mountjoy, founding partner and chairman emeritus, MCM CPAs and Advisors (now Cherry Bekaert)
• Phoebe Wood, principal, CompaniesWood and co-founder of KirtleyWood

The honorees will be recognized in the March 28, 2025, print edition of Louisville Business First, and online around this time.

UofL Health, a fully integrated regional academic health system affiliated with the University of Louisville School of Medicine, has been named as the Official Health Care Provider for the Louisville Cardinals.

“This is an exciting day for the University of Louisville,” said Josh Heird, vice president/director of Athletics. “Our number one priority will always the well-being of our student-athletes and whenever we can create a partnership that provides our student-athletes with world-class services, we want to celebrate it. The commitment UofL Health is making to our student-athletes and our department will allow us to be a national leader in the medical and mental health care we provide our student-athletes.”

The new partnership that extends for eight years addresses medical coverage for all 23 UofL sports programs, plus basic training coverage for the Cardinals’ cheer and dance teams. There will be a comprehensive brand presence for UofL Health throughout Louisville Athletics facilities.

“Academic health care offers unique advantages, especially for world-class athletes like those at UofL. Our sports medicine team understands the complexities needed to keep athletes at the top of their game,” said Tom Miller, UofL Health CEO. “We have been taking care of the Cardinal athletes since the 1980s, starting with the innovative sports medicine program developed by Dr. Raymond Shea. There was a brief hiatus from the sidelines for some of our providers, but we never stopped providing care and this agreement formally puts us all back on one team for the benefit of the athletes, our university and our community.”

The level of support for Cardinal student-athletes will significantly increase with added personnel as well as health and performance equipment upgrades.Ěý UofL Health will provide access to its network of sports health physicians, orthopedic surgeons, neurologists and primary care providers.

“Maintaining good health is essential for any athlete, especially student-athletes,” said Dr. Jennifer Daily, medical director of UofL Heath Sports Medicine. “We have the expertise, and we have technology, such as DARI which provides movement data analytics to help athletes regain their game. We also have the comprehensive resources to make sure they never lose ground in the classroom.”

Mental health services were a point of emphasis with the new partnership, with at least 10 dedicated mental health and mental performance professionals planned for UofL student-athletes, in addition to other generally available mental health services.Ěý Two dedicated staff members were in that role previously.

Also included are additional services and equipment for injury rehabilitation, medical coverage at athletics events, and supporting UofL’s new sports science department within athletics.

UofL Health is a regional academic health system with six hospitals, four medical centers, 200+ physician practice locations, 700+ providers, Frazier Rehab Institute, Brown Cancer Center and the Eye Institute.
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When complete, UofL Hospital will offer more than 360 beds, each in a private room, 20 operating rooms, plus a new 24-bed observation unit. Alongside the increased clinical space, the expansion will include an enhanced visitor experience with a new lobby and waiting area, along with updates to the gift shop and coffee shop.

“This new tower is a demonstration of UofL Health’s commitment to transform the health of all the communities we serve, here in Louisville and across the Commonwealth,“ said Tom Miller, UofL Health CEO. “UofL Hospital is one of the anchors in our downtown academic medical center campus, a hub of specialized care, progressive academic research and innovative treatments. We are investing here to meet demand and increase access everywhere.”

The hospital expansion also will lead to an expansion of the UofL Health team, with approximately 325 new jobs being created. Positions will include nurses, plus clinical and non-clinical support. New hires and their dependents are immediately eligible for , funded by UofL Health, to the University of Louisville.

“By expanding UofL Hospital to meet today’s medical needs, we are also investing to grow the physicians, nurses and other allied health professionals of tomorrow,” said Lori Gonzalez, University of Louisville interim president. “Together, with UofL Health, our blended mission of healing, teaching and research is building a stronger health care workforce and healthier future for Kentucky.”

UofL Hospital is the primary teaching and research hospital for UofL Health, affiliated with the University of Louisville. Its Level 1 Trauma Center, one of only two adult trauma centers in the state, includes a comprehensive burn unit and admits more than 3,500 patients each year. The hospital is home to Kentucky’s first Comprehensive Stroke Center and includes UofL Health – . The cancer center specializes in treating cancers of the nervous system, breast, gastrointestinal and reproductive systems, head and neck, lungs and skin.

According to the ASHE, an association devoted to professionals who design, build, maintain and operate hospitals and other health care facilities, there are nearly 1,700 individual teaching hospitals in the United States.ĚýOf these, roughly 300 are considered major teaching hospitals, including UofL Health.

“Academic medical centers offer significant advantages, especially in complex cases,” said Jason Smith, UofL Health chief medical officer. “The treatments of tomorrow are available today at UofL Health with the collective wisdom of expert researchers and clinicians. The new tower allows us to make that care available to more patients.”

The hospital is licensed to operate up to 404 beds, but the existing facility limited operating capacity to 340 over the past several years. The combined impact of the additional beds and the observation unit creates room for nearly 50 more patients and reduces wait times as patients transition between different levels of care. The seven-story tower expansion will also include the infrastructure to accommodate two more floors for future growth.

The investments at UofL Hospital are part of an overall commitment to increase access to care in the region, particularly in federally medically underserved areas (MUAs). Over the past two years, UofL Health has opened five Urgent Care Plus locations, added two new locations for the Brown Cancer Center and recruited more than 140 new physicians. Two of the urgent cares, a cancer center location and more than 100 physicians are specifically located to serve people living in MUAs.

More than 1.5 million patients seek care through UofL Health each year, with patients from each of Kentucky’s 120 counties and southern Indiana.

With construction now underway, the tower is expected to open to its first patients in early 2024.Ěý

“The new tower will reduce capacity constraints and increase access to UofL Hospital’s specialized care, progressive academic research and innovative treatments,” said Tom Miller, UofL Health CEO. “As Kentucky’s largest academic health care system, UofL Health is building the future of health care, to transform the health of the communities we serve, the Commonwealth and the region.”

The hospital expansion also will lead to an expansion of the UofL Health team, with approximately 325 new jobs being created. Positions will include nurses, plus clinical and non-clinical support. New hires and their dependents are immediately eligible forĚýĚýfunded by UofL Health.

The investments at UofL Hospital are part of an overall commitment to increase access to care in the region, particularly in federally medically underserved areas (MUAs). Over the past two years, UofL Health has opened five Urgent Care Plus locations, added two new locations for the Brown Cancer Center and recruited more than 143 new physicians. Two of the urgent cares, a cancer center location and more than 100 physicians are specifically located to serve people living in MUAs. In addition, UofL Health recently announced the building of a new rehabilitation hospital called UofL Health – Frazier Rehabilitation Institute – Brownsboro, in partnership with Kindred Healthcare, and is evolving a medical center into a full-service hospital in Bullitt County.

“UofL Health has been an outstanding Team Kentucky partner in the fight against COVID-19, and this expansion is great news for Louisville and the commonwealth,” said Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. “Increasing UofL Hospital’s staff and capacity will make it possible for more Kentuckians to get great care, alleviate the burden on other hospitals in busy times and help train the next generation of Kentucky physicians, nurses and other health care professionals. To develop our workforce, it’s important to make higher education more affordable. That’s why UofL Health’s commitment to providing free tuition to employees and their families is such a critical step and one that’s deeply appreciated.”

UofL Hospital is the primary teaching and research hospital for UofL Health, affiliated with the University of Louisville. Its Level 1 Trauma Center, one of only two adult trauma centers in the state, includes a comprehensive burn unit and admits more than 3,500 patients each year. The hospital is home to Kentucky’s first Comprehensive Stroke Center and includes UofL Health –Ěý. The cancer center specializes in treating cancers of the nervous system, breast, gastrointestinal and reproductive systems, head and neck, lungs and skin. UofL Hospital is part of one of only 120 academic medical centers in the country.

“By expanding UofL Hospital to meet today’s medical needs, we are also investing to grow the physicians, nurses and other allied health professionals of tomorrow,” said Lori Gonzalez, University of Louisville interim president. “The updated facility will complement the renowned reputation of our academic physicians.”

The hospital is licensed to operate up to 404 beds, but the existing facility limited operating capacity to 340 over the last several years. The combined impact of the additional beds and the observation unit creates room for nearly 50 more patients and reduces wait times as patients transition between different levels of care. The seven-story tower expansion will also include the infrastructure to accommodate two more floors for future growth.

“I’m thrilled to see UofL Health make yet another exciting investment that will improve care, expand access, and further grow our city’s already outstanding health care workforce. This new seven-story tower will help ensure that state-of-the-art, patient-centered care will be the hallmark of UofL Hospital for years to come,” said Kentucky Rep. John Yarmuth. “As our state’s leading academic health care system and teaching hospital, I’m proud of the work being done here in Louisville to improve the lives of Kentuckians—whether they enter these doors as patients or as the medical professionals of tomorrow.”

“This expansion of vital health care resources, right here in our city’s core, is great news for people who need the kind of specialized services that UofL Health provides,” said Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer. “Thank you to the UofL Health leadership and team for all your hard work, your passion and your commitment to our city and its residents.”

More than 1.5 million patients seek care through UofL Health each year, with patients from each of Kentucky’s 120 counties.

“This expansion means we can better support both our community and hospitals in other communities,” said Ken Marshall, UofL Health chief operating officer. “When we are full, we can deliver the care to our patients that is expected of us. We are building to allow more patients to benefit from the expertise of UofL Physicians and our clinical teams.”

Construction is expected to begin this spring, with the tower opening to its first patients in early 2024.

Financing for the project will involve a mixture of internal capital investment, tax-free bond financing, hospital revenue bonds and private donations. Those interested in supporting the project are encouraged to visitĚý

“Our 12,000 health care heroes are the key to UofL Health’s success, but we share this credit with the entire Commonwealth,” said Tom Miller, UofL Health CEO. “Kentucky understood the critical need to preserve health care services, jobs and expand access in underserved areas. Kentucky invested in UofL Health and Kentucky is reaping the return.”

Today, drawing patients from each of Kentucky’s 120 counties, plus neighboring states, UofL Health is a fully integrated regional academic health system. It provides care to more than 1.5 million patients each year.

“I specifically want to thank Governor Beshear, Senate President Robert Stivers, Senate Minority Leader Morgan McGarvey, House Speaker David Osborne, and House Minority Leader Joni Jenkins. They understood the critical need to preserve these health care resources,” said Miller. “With their support, we saved more lives, more jobs and now we are growing. UofL Health is in a strong position to further increase access, decrease barriers and train more nurses, doctors and other clinicians.”

The loan, initially approved by KEDFA in 2020, was intended to absorb short-term operating losses and capital expenditures while the system was coming together. Under the amended terms, approved during KEDFA’s December 9^th meeting, UofL Health will begin payments in April 2022, concluding in April 2025. Other details of the loan agreement remain unchanged, including the ability to forgive up to 50% of each annual loan payment based on meeting one of two conditions:

1. Retain 5,880 full-time, Kentucky-resident jobs being paid an average hourly wage, excluding benefits, of at least $35.
2. Continue operating existing facilities, open at least one additional facility within a Medically Underserved Area (MUA) and increase the total number of family medicine access points, from 10 to 14 in the MUA.

To date, UofL Health continues to meet and exceed both conditions. The system now employs more than 7,900 full-time employees, with an average hourly wage exceeding $60. The facilities from the former struggling owner, are all now financially sound and access points have grown. In the last year, UofL Health opened two new Urgent Care Plus locations in MUA’s and 107 physicians have been recruited to improve care in the underserved population.

UofL Health spent the $35 million KEDFA loan for critical upgrades and equipment needs at the acquired facilities. The biggest project was a replacement of the IT infrastructure to support electronic medical records. Other significant projects include surgery power equipment, establishing a geropsychiatric unit and redevelopment of an epilepsy unit at UofL Health – Jewish Hospital; a cath lab and detox unit at UofL Health – Mary & Elizabeth Hospital; expansion of 10 additional beds for UofL Health – Frazier Rehabilitation Institute; air conditioning upgrades for UofL Health – Shelbyville Hospital.

In addition to the capital expenses funded through the loan, support from the Legacy Foundation of Kentuckiana, Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence and UofL Health’s operating revenue has supported many more projects to improve care across the region and Commonwealth., Over the last two years, $115 million was invested into existing facilities. The Brown Cancer Center expanded to two additional locations. Shelbyville Hospital recently opened a 6-bed Intensive Care Unit and two new hospitals are on the way. In Bullitt County, UofL Health – Medical Center South is evolving into a full-service hospital with 60 inpatient beds. Frazier Rehabilitation Hospital – Brownsboro, in partnership with Kindred Healthcare, a 40-bed rehabilitation hospital now under construction in east Louisville.

Building on more than two decades of success in cancer research, the University of Louisville is poised to advance immunotherapy with a grant of $11.5 million from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to establish the (CCII). The new center will develop and improve strategies that use the immune response to fight cancer. The five-year grant also will allow UofL to establish the CCII as a National Institutes of Health-designated Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (CoBRE) to support young investigators and develop additional basic, translational and clinical research at the .

“One of the university’s Grand Challenges is to advance the health of all people,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. “Through this center, our cancer researchers will grow the field of immunotherapy, saving the lives of many more patients with cancer in the future.”

“Our mission is to harness the power of the immune system to eradicate cancer,” said Jason Chesney, director of the Brown Cancer Center. “The University of Louisville, UofL Health and the Brown Cancer Center have been at the forefront of the clinical development of a new generation of immunotherapies that have been proven to increase the survival of cancer patients. This grant from the federal government leverages our existing strengths in cancer immunology and clinical trials to accelerate the development of new immunotherapies that will translate into lives saved across the globe.”

Cancer survivor Jeff Habermel received two different immunotherapies at Brown Cancer Center in the course of treatment for three different cancers, including metastasized melanoma.

“I consider myself very fortunate to have the type of care that Dr. Chesney and Dr. (Donald) Miller and the whole staff provide at the Brown Cancer Center. We have a world-class facility right in our backyard,” Habermel said. “I truly feel I am the luckiest man in the world to live in a time when we have such technologies and such amazing abilities to treat cancer in these ways.”

The newest cancer treatments often are available at Brown Cancer Center through clinical trials before they are available anywhere else. One such treatment is CAR T-cell therapy, in which a patient’s own immune cells known as T cells are modified in the lab to more effectively attack cancer cells. UofL announced the creation of the at UofL in October.

“Our leading-edge cancer program improves access for patients in our region, giving them the opportunity to benefit from life-saving immunotherapies through clinical trials,” said Tom Miller, CEO of UofL Health. “Thousands of our cancer patients – our neighbors and family members – are alive today because of this early focus on drugs that activate immunity against cancer.”

Researchers within the CCII will build on expertise and resources gained from previous research at UofL to develop better cancer immunotherapies. This will be achieved in part by enabling talented junior investigators who have not yet obtained major funding to advance their research and subsequently obtain major grant awards of their own.

“One of the major goals of the center is to cultivate the next generation of cancer scientists in immunology and immunotherapy,” said Jun Yan, professor, director of the CCII and chief of the UofL Division of Immunotherapy. “Starting in year two, we will call for pilot projects that will bring in more researchers and investigators to work on immunotherapy and immunology.”

The young researchers are provided funding, mentorship and access to sophisticated facilities to advance their research. Once CCII-supported researchers obtain their own funding they rotate out, allowing new investigators to come in to the program.

“It’s training a cohort of new investigators who will have their own large grants and expertise,” said Paula Bates, professor of medicine and co-investigator for the CCII along with John Trent. “We are building a critical mass of well-funded researchers in the area.”

Senior UofL faculty members Robert Mitchell, Nejat Egilmez, Haribabu Bodduluri, Huang-Ge Zhang and Bing Li will serve as mentors and core directors for the CCII. In the first year of the program, four junior researchers at UofL are conducting projects to improve the effectiveness of immune therapies.

• Chuanlin Ding is investigating the impact of chemotherapy on anti-tumor immunity in breast cancer order to discover effective combination regimens that improve conventional chemotherapy.
• Qingsheng Li is exploring a method to improve immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy for non-small cell lung cancer. Immune checkpoint inhibitors are a type of immunotherapy that blocks proteins (checkpoints) made by immune system cells, such as T cells. The checkpoints can prevent T cells from attacking cancer cells.
• Corey Watson is studying immune cells to determine which of these cells are beneficial to lung cancer patient outcomes and how they may help kill tumor cells.
• Kavitha Yaddanapuddi is studying immune checkpoint inhibitor resistance in lung cancer patients. This will help in developing therapies that reduce resistance and improve treatment.

This grant may be extended for two additional five-year phases. A previous CoBRE program for cancer research at UofL was extended through all three phases, lasting 15 years. That program significantly expanded the contingent of both junior and senior investigators at UofL, including Chesney, Trent and others whose research was funded by the previous program.

“This type of funding has been truly transformative for this cancer center,” Trent said. “The research for the current generation of immunotherapeutic checkpoint inhibitors was done more than 18 years ago. This grant’s research will feed into the clinical work in time. These grants lay the groundwork for the next generation of therapies.”

To extend the impact of the CCII still further, Kosair Charities has provided an additional $200,000 to facilitate the discovery and development of immunotherapy drugs for children with cancer. This gift bridges the CCII and the UofL Kosair Charities Pediatric Oncology Research Program, allowing the CCII to focus also on immuno-oncology for children.

“Kosair Charities is proud to be the first community partner to support the UofL Center for Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy,” said Kosair Charities President Keith Inman. “The UofL Kosair Charities Pediatric Cancer Research Program will allow this new center to include crucial pediatric cancer research as well as expand the scope to all people living with cancer – children and adults alike.”