Campus Life Education Students
For Matt Golub, the video game Guitar Hero was a way of life in middle school. Far from a frivolous obsession, the endless hours he spent shredding virtual guitar set the course for his artistic passion. He’s become a full-fledged musician – guitarist, singer and songwriter – one who’s already taken the stage at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
Patient Care Cancer Center Shared Cancer
From “No Hair Don’t Care” to “Keep Calm and Colorado On,” four friends facing two grim diagnoses used humor and grit in their battles against cancer. All four contend that, without their outlook and a little fate, their crusade might have had a different ending.
Campus Life Community COVID-19 Faculty
The past six months have affected everyone, but particularly the people working the front lines in healthcare. By doing their jobs of providing care to others during the COVID-19 pandemic, they are also at a high risk of feeling stressed and anxious, among many other emotions. It is critical that healthcare workers know where to go if they need help when feeling this way and have support at no charge to get them through this difficult time.
Chris Casey | 
October 26, 2020
Among its many harsh lessons, 2020 has reminded the world about the power of waves – as in the alarming swells that come with a pandemic.
For Nishanth Kalavakolanu, it was an idyllic September day in 2018 when a health crisis of a different, but also mysterious, sort crashed his world. It arrived as a sudden surge that upended the healthy young man – a military cadet, no less – and left him fighting for his life.
Lisa McKenzie, a clinical assistant professor at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus, has found that benzene concentrations in the air around oil and gas operations in Colorado are about twice as high as they are in Denver, whose air isn’t exactly pristine. “The closer you live to an oil and gas site, the higher your risk of cancer … and the higher your risk for respiratory and neurological effects,” she said.
Typically, hospitals can get an idea of what the flu season will be like by looking to Australia, whose winter flu season is during the Northern Hemisphere’s summer, said Michelle Barron, medical director of infection prevention at UCHealth [and professor of medicine at CU School of Medicine].
If you’re traveling, consider staying at a hotel rather than with relatives, unless everyone in the group is very low risk and has plenty of space to spread out, said Dr. Andrés Henao, internal medicine physician, infectious disease specialist, and director of the UCHealth Travel Clinic at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Dr. Daniel Pastula, a neuroinfectious disease physician at UC Health University of Colorado Hospital [and CU School of Medicine associate professor of neurology], said the outdoor element of ski trips is generally safe during a pandemic, but the virus could spread if people congregate in places such as lift lines, lodges, restaurants and bathrooms. “I think you can ski smartly and safely. Again, not completely eliminating the risk, but really reducing it,” he said. Pastula listed now-common safety measures for skiers to follow, among them staying outdoors as much as possible, avoiding crowds and staying home when sick.
CU Anschutz Newsroom