Research Patient Care Education This Week with Vineet DOM Newsletter
Our future is brighter and better than it has ever been. The Department of Medicine’s journey towards Reaching New Heights has just begun.
Our focus on advancing human health tells a compelling story. Here are some highlights from our annual report:
Patient Care Community Leukemia
When your life is about being outdoors — about making your way up and around complex rock formations, looking for that flow you get into as every foothold and ledge reveals itself — the last place you want to be is stuck in a hospital bed, enduring the side effects of chemotherapy.
Research Patient Care Education This Week with Vineet DOM Newsletter
Our future is brighter and better than it has ever been. The Department of Medicine’s journey towards Reaching New Heights has just begun.
Our focus on advancing human health tells a compelling story. Here are some highlights from our annual report:
Watch the Department of Medicine's September 6, 2023 Medical Grand Rounds: "The Right-Sizing Care: A Peer Mentored Care Model," presented by Duane Pearson, MD, Professor of Medicine and Associate Division Head for Clinical Affairs, Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine and Medical Director of the Peer Mentored Care Collaborative.
Watch the Department of Medicine's August 30, 2023 Medical Grand Rounds: "Environmental Justice, North Denver, and You," presented by Katie Dickinson, PhD, MS, associate professor, Environmental and Occupational Health, Colorado School of Public Health.
Watch the Department of Medicine's August 23, 2023 Medical Grand Rounds: "Virchow's Social Medicine Today—Toward Health Equity through Community Engagement," presented by Donald Nease, MD, professor of family medicine, Director of Community Engagement and Health Equity, Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, Green-Edelman Chair for Practice-Based Research, Department of Family Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Dear Colleagues,
It was lovely to see many of you at our End of Summer Celebration last night. Between the delicious food, raucous games of ping-pong, and meeting/seeing so many members of our department, my cup is full with the power of community and connection. What a wonderful way to send off summer – thanks to those of you who made it out!
Watch the Department of Medicine's August 16, 2023 Medical Grand Rounds, "Updates in Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) Policy, Diagnosis and Treatment," presented by Joe Frank, MD, Director, VA Eastern Colorado Chronic Pain & Wellness Center, and Susan Calcaterra, MD, MPH/MSPH, MS, Director, Addiction Medicine Consultation Liaison Service, Associate Program Director, Addiction Medicine Fellowship, University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Watch the Department of Medicine's August 9, 2023 Medical Grand Rounds: "DEI – The Path to Meeting a Mission and Building a Workforce," presented by David Mafe, Chief Diversity Officer, UCHealth and Vice President of Human Resources, UCHealth System Metro Denver Region.
At the University of Colorado Cancer Center’s Office of Community Outreach and Engagement (COE), cancer center members are creating an interactive data platform to give researchers information on Colorado’s demographics, cancer burden, risk factors and health behaviors, environmental factors, and access to care across the cancer continuum.
Watch the Department of Medicine's August 2, 2023 Medical Grand Rounds: "Random Acts of Medicine," presented by Anupam B. Jena, MD, PhD, Joseph P. Newhouse Professor, Harvard Medical School, and author of Random Acts of Medicine.
Apparently, people love their red meat. Either that, or they find news of a rare allergy that can result from a tick bite juicy fodder for water-cooler chit-chat.
Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have officially identified a central conduit to obesity: fructose.
Denver-area magazine 5280 released its list of top doctors for 2023, and CU School of Medicine faculty members continue to be ranked among the best. Congratulations to the more than 200 CU School of Medicine faculty members honored with the title "Top Doctor."
One-hundred and eighty-four aspiring physicians officially began their journey at the University of Colorado School of Medicine on July 28, gathering on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus for the annual Matriculation Ceremony where they officially received their white coats. The annual tradition at medical schools around the country welcomes new classes of medical students to the profession.
We are honored to introduce the University of Colorado School of Medicine Class of 2027 at our annual Matriculation Ceremony on Friday, July 28, at 9 a.m.
Research Melanoma Immunotherapy
Melanoma cells can hide, but they can’t run from Eduardo Davila, PhD, associate director of cancer research training and education coordination at the University of Colorado Cancer Center.
New research led by Sharon R. Pine, PhD, director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center’s Thoracic Oncology Research Initiative, may help doctors understand why some lung cancer patients don’t respond to immunotherapy.
Dear Colleagues,
I was fortunate enough to begin this week by welcoming attendees to the 59th Annual Internal Medicine Program sponsored by the Division of General Internal Medicine in Estes Park, CO. It was wonderful to welcome attendees (some of whom have been coming to the conference 30+ years), meet colleagues from across the country, and enjoy the cooler mountain air.
Research Health equity Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The discussion around bias in artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer contained to data. Even the most impartial algorithm or analysis can encounter prejudice.
Research Patient Care Community
As Nicholas DiBella, MD, walked through the bright halls of UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, heading toward the first-ever reunion of physicians who served at the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center (FAMC), memories came flooding back.
Research Patient Care COVID-19
While long COVID remains shrouded in mystery, the ravages of the disease were on clear and painful display when Admiral Rachel Levine, MD, U.S. assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, visited the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus on July 11 to learn about the campus’s research and clinical care, and hear directly from patients.
COVID-19 COVID-19 Podcasts Clinical Research
Between leading-edge research and the region’s first clinic to specialize in treating patients with long COVID symptoms, the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is at the forefront of providing care while seeking to understand this still-mysterious disease.
In this issue:
Research Press Releases Cancer
A new study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institutebrings researchers and oncologists one step closer to better understanding the complexities of PD-1 inhibitors, a common type of immunotherapy, and their intracellular signaling on cancer behavior.
Colorectal Cancer Multidisciplinary Clinic Clinical
In the earliest days of specialized cancer care, two things often happened: either individual oncologists were burdened with the expectation to know everything, or patients were sent on treatment journeys that could involve multiple visits with multiple clinicians in multiple locations.
As the field of cancer care has grown and evolved, buoyed by tremendous strides in research and therapeutics, patients could increasingly and reasonably hope to live many years, rather than many weeks or months, after a diagnosis. A significant contributor to this hope has been the move toward multidisciplinary care.
Patient Care Community Pancreatic Cancer Multidisciplinary Clinic
Barb Spanjer lay on the floor of her office. She had never been so tired. Her stomach and left side ached, and the pain under her left shoulder blade was relentless. She had seen her doctor a couple of times that autumn of 2017, but the medicine for the ulcer he suspected she had wasn’t working. She had been too tired and too busy running the construction company she and her husband, Steve, owned to follow up with the doctor. But it was getting harder to ignore the symptoms. Something just wasn’t right.
Patient Care Colorectal Cancer
For Doug Scanlon, last year’s Walk to End Colon Cancer was a victory lap. This year, it’s more like a homecoming.
Cancer researchers have long been interested in the resistance that lung cancer patients develop to targeted therapies aimed at specific mutations. Though the therapies provide significant remission at first, the cancer eventually finds a way to return.
Dear Colleagues,
I want to begin by wishing everyone a beautiful, commemorative Pride Month. Pride's origin dates to the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, which sparked a liberation movement – a call to action – that continues today. The DOM celebrates the collective power, courage and resiliency of our LGBTQ+ faculty and staff. Happy Pride to all!
There is much good news to share this month!
Research Community Public Health Obesity
The diet a mother consumes while pregnant may increase the risk for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in the offspring, new research shows.
Patient Care Community Immunotherapy lymphoma
For a significant portion of his career, Arnold Levinson, PhD, MJ, has done work related to cancer.
Watch the Department of Medicine's June 14, 2023 Grand Rounds – Blount Lecture: "Attaining Health Equity; A Road We Must Travel," presented by Clyde W. Yancy, MD, MSc, Vice Dean of Diversity & Inclusion; Magerstadt Professor of Medicine; Chief, Division of Cardiology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
The good news for people with multiple myeloma is that treatments exist that almost always put the cancer into deep remission soon after it’s diagnosed. The bad news for people with the blood cancer, though, is that even though that remission can last several years, almost all patients eventually relapse — and the disease that returns becomes increasingly difficult to treat.
A new study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases this week has found that metformin, a drug commonly used to treat diabetes, reduces the risk of long COVID.
Research Innovation Patient Care
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus this week announced the Anschutz Acceleration Initiative, a program to advance cutting-edge healthcare innovations that are poised to reach patients within the next three to five years.
Watch the Department of Medicine's June 7, 2023: "The Importance of Penicillin Allergy Delabeling," presented by Anjeli Kalra, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Director, Drug Allergy Program, Director, Allergy/Immunology Resident Elective Rotation, Quality Lead, Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Community Prostate Cancer Bladder Cancer Kidney Cancer Testicular cancer
It’s one thing to develop cancer treatment guidelines in the U.S., where even the smallest health centers have access to the same basic technology for treatment and testing. But what about creating guidelines for oncologists in Sub-Saharan Africa, where access to medical resources can be limited and the disease can present differently?
The AB Nexus program has announced its sixth round of grant awards to researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the University of Colorado Boulder. From advancing new Alzheimer’s treatments to developing predictive computer models to help youth in crisis, the awarded teams are advancing a wide range of collaborative research projects aimed at improving human health and well-being.
Research Health equity Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Chatbots are increasingly becoming a part of health care around the world, but do they encourage bias? That’s what University of Colorado School of Medicine researchers are asking as they dig into patients’ experiences with the artificial intelligence (AI) programs that simulate conversation.
Research Community Cancer Magazine Mental Health
Cancer, the author Susan Sontag wrote, is “the disease that doesn’t knock before it enters.”
It’s the scary C-word that a large and continually growing body of research demonstrates has effects far beyond its physical symptoms. A cancer diagnosis, especially one made in the later stages of the disease, often impacts a person’s mental and emotional health in ways that can be unexpected and broad-reaching.
In this issue:
The Boettcher Foundation has selected eight researchers, including three from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, to receive funding through the Boettcher Foundation’s Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Awards program.
Watch the Department of Medicine's May 31, 2023 Grand Rounds: 7th Annual Department of Medicine Shark Tank Competition promoting high value care projects to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs of healthcare.
Research Community Philanthropy Magazine
Philanthropy is critical to the mission of the University of Colorado Cancer Center. Donors who are able to make gifts of any amount help CU Cancer Center members contribute to breakthrough research and improved patient outcomes.
Watch the Department of Medicine's May 24, 2023 Grand Rounds – "‘Bumpdate’: Optimization of Parental Leave and Family Support in Medical Trainees," presented by Chief Medical Residents Braidie Campbell, MD, Cara Saxon, MD and Emily Scott, MD/MPH.
Education Community Students Graduation
After a medical school experience mostly shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Class of 2023 graduates from the University of Colorado School of Medicine are ready to take the next step into their profession.
Dear Colleagues,
These unusual spring showers are bound to bring radiant summer flowers – and we have much to be excited about at the Department of Medicine as we spring into growth.
The legislative session has formally closed and House Bills 23-1215 and 23-1243 were significantly amended from their original versions. The prohibition on charging facility fees for telehealth, preventive care and clinics and services remain out of the bill. A study examining facility fees will be finalized by Oct. 1, 2024 and will be led by HCPUF.
We have several Division Head searches underway, all of which are moving forward smoothly.
On a trip five years ago, as he was about to check off the last of all 50 states he’d visited, Daniel Pastula jumped out of the car for a quick photo at the Maine state line. After memorializing the moment, Pastula glanced down to an unwelcome surprise – his pant legs were crawling in ticks.
Watch the Department of Medicine's May 17, 2023 Grand Rounds, Collins Lectureship – "Clinical and Administrative Borderland: Qualitative Analysis of the VA Wide Electronic Health Records of Veterans with Kidney Disease in the Era of the VA MISSION Act," presented by Ann M. O'Hare, MD, professor of medicine, Division of Nephrology, investigator, VA HSR&D Center of Excellence, affiliate investigator, Group Health Research Institute, University of Washington.
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (CU Anschutz), in partnership with the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration (BHA), launched the Hummingbird Initiative today, a program that aims to increase diversity in the state’s behavioral health workforce.
Education Community Students Graduation
It is with great pleasure that we celebrate the University of Colorado School of Medicine Class of 2023 with a hooding and oath ceremony on Monday, May 22, at 10:15 a.m.
Education Community Students Cancer Graduation
Steve Haberkorn knows he’s not the first person to pursue a career in medicine out of a desire to help people. That’s why he did it, though – to help where he can and work to improve people’s lives.
The University of Colorado School of Medicine’s Sickle Cell Treatment and Research Center entered its 50th year with a major research victory: An experimental gene therapy has been successful in curing a patient of sickle cell disease (SCD), which affects millions of people around the globe.
The University of Colorado School of Medicine is No. 8 for primary care and No. 26 for research, according to the latest Best Medical School rankings released today by U.S. News & World Report. This is the sixth time in the past eight years that the CU School of Medicine has ranked in the top 10 for primary care.
Watch the Department of Medicine's May 10, 2023 Grand Rounds, "Personality as Prognosis: Does Being Nice Increase Your Risk of Cancer?," presented by Chief Medical Residents Meryl Colton, MD, MSc and Yunan Nie, MD, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Watch the Department of Medicine's May 9, 2023 Research and Innovation Conference: “Transformative Learning in GME, COVID-19 & Beyond,” presented by Benjamin Vipler, MD, MEd, FACP, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Hospital Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine.
With each study into world-class cyclists being pushed to the physiological limit, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus researchers get deeper insight into high-performance metabolism. They are also gaining clues about how to head off serious diseases in the general population through early detection and personalized interventions.
Research Community Regenerative Medicine
One of the initially scheduled speakers at this spring’s “Transforming Healthcare” series on May 2 bowed out for a more spontaneous event: his own wedding. With his high-school diploma newly in hand and his little-known CAR T-cell therapy giving him time, the young man decided to embrace the future – now.
Paul Herzegh’s lung cancer story began six years ago on a beautiful April morning, roadtripping back home to Boulder from visiting friends in Virginia. He was 68, in otherwise good health, and felt some small kinks in his chest.
Hardly any time later, he had a diagnosis: stage 4 adenocarcinoma, a type of cancer that originated in the cells lining the outside of his lungs. At that point, he didn’t know much beyond “the conventional wisdom that 'lung cancer is a killer,’” he explained Saturday evening, emphasizing the air quotes because, well, the conventional wisdom was wrong.
Watch the Department of Medicine's May 3, 2023 Grand Rounds – Meiklejohn Visiting Lecture: "Thoughts on Healthcare Disparities in 2023," presented by Alicia Fernandez, MD, Professor of Clinical Medicine; Director, UCSF Latinx Center of Excellence; Associate Dean of Population Health and Health Equity, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine.
Research Esophageal Cancer Advancement
About 40 people recently gathered at the Anschutz Health Sciences Building to celebrate the newly named Katy O. and Paul M. Rady Esophageal and Gastric Center of Excellence and honor Sachin Wani, MD, as the inaugural center director and recipient of the Katy O. and Paul M. Rady Esophageal and Gastric Center Chair.
When discussing recent high-profile industrial chemical spills in places such as East Palestine, Ohio, and Philadelphia, the first step in public health response is identifying the harm these chemicals pose, according to Lisa Bero, PhD.
Watch the Department of Medicine's May 2, 2023 Research and Innovation Conference: "Cysteinyl Leukotrienes and Chronic Kidney Disease Progression," presented by Seth Furgeson, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Sixty-five-year-old actor and comedian Ray Romano revealed recently that he had a heart stent placed after doctors discovered a blockage in one of the arteries that delivers blood to the heart. Stents are small tubes that open arteries to restore blood flow.
Watch the Department of Medicine's April 26, 2023 Grand Rounds: "Don't Hate the Player, Hate the Game: Ethical Challenges in Heart Transplantation," presented by Prateeti Khazanie, MD, MPH, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Research Blood Cancer Immunotherapy lymphoma
For 30% to 40% of lymphoma patients who receive CAR T therapy, the treatment is a godsend. Typically given to lymphoma patients for whom other treatments have proven ineffective, CAR T therapy involves removing immune cells from the body via a blood draw, reengineering them to become better cancer fighters, then reintroducing them to the bloodstream, where they seek out and destroy cancer cells.
Dear Colleagues,
I have largely ditched my winter jacket and can start to see the colors of spring all around me! In that vein this communication will reflect a lot of positive change in the coming weeks.
On the leadership front, we are wrapping up semi-finalist visits for the Division Head of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. We also had our first Allergy and Clinical Immunology Division Head candidate visit this week. Division Head candidates for the Division of Cardiology will begin their in-person site visits in mid-May, and wrap in June. Finally, I am beginning to put together the contours of our pulmonary division chief search including committee members and engagement with a national search firm. Recruitment is never easy, but we are moving smoothly throughout these searches. I want to thank all of our search committee chairs, members and participating faculty and staff for their engagement with these hires. We could not do this without you!
Looking for events happening on campus? Wondering how to better promote your event? Need a one-stop-shop for all campus events? Look no further than the CU Anschutz Medical Campus Events Calendar.
Watch the Department of Medicine's April 19, 2023 Grand Rounds – Holocaust, Genocide and Contemporary Bioethics Program: "On Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity: from East West Street to the Rohingya and Ukraine," presented by Philippe Sands, international human rights lawyer, professor of law, University College London and author of "East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity".
Bad news, confirmed bachelors: If you’re diagnosed with heart failure, you’re at greater risk of dying sooner than women or previously married men who receive a similar diagnosis, new research shows.
Community Advocacy Palliative care
One of life’s greatest certainties is its uncertainty – that the unexpected, unplanned, and unpredicted may happen and we do the best we can to handle it.
Community Head and Neck Cancer Veteran and Military Health
When the PACT Act went into effect January 1, after being signed into law in August, many U.S. veterans were able to access benefits for an expanded list of health conditions presumed to be caused by exposure to toxic substances.
Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have partnered with UCHealth to pilot a streamlined way to conduct clinical trials that could cut down on costs, time and extra lab work, while enabling patients to more easily enroll in research studies.
Watch the Department of Medicine's April 12, 2023 Grand Rounds: "Rheumatoid Arthritis: Update on Treatment Strategies," presented by Larry W. Moreland, MD, professor of medicine and orthopedics, Division of Rheumatology, University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Cancer patients younger than 65 who are discharged to a skilled nursing facility following hospitalization are less likely to receive cancer treatment and hospice care before death, new University of Colorado Cancer Center research shows.
Watch the Department of Medicine's April 11, 2023 Research and Innovation Conference: "Making Fat from Fat: The Role of Maternal Triglycerides Driving Baby Fat and Childhood Obesity Risk," presented by Linda A. Barbour, MD, MSPH, professor of medicine and obstetrics and gynecology, Divisions of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes and Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Watch the Department of Medicine's April 11, 2023 Research and Innovation Conference: "Modeling Acute Bacterial Infection in a Host Compromised with Preexisting Kidney Disease," presented by John Montford, MD, associate professor of medicine and nephrology, Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Whether they are coming from across the state, across the region, or across the country, more than 1,000 people each year arrive at the University of Colorado Cancer Center for treatment, surgery, or a second opinion on their cancer diagnosis.
Can a smartphone app reduce the need for medication in patients with Type 2 diabetes? That’s what Marc Bonaca, MD, professor of cardiology in the University of Colorado School of Medicine, set out to discover.
Research Press Releases Addiction
Involuntary displacement of people experiencing homelessness will likely lead to a substantial increase in morbidity and mortality over a 10-year period.
In this issue:
Watch the Department of Medicine's April 5, 2023 Grand Rounds: Brettell Lecture – "Competency-based Medical Education and Coproduction: Partners on the Road to Transformation," presented by Eric S. Holmboe, MD, Chief Research Milestones Development and Evaluation Officer, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
Research Lung Cancer Radiation
Whole-brain radiation therapy used to treat brain metastases is a significant cancer treatment that, while generally well-tolerated, can have serious long-term side effects, including dementia. Neither clinicians nor patients undertake it lightly.
The University of Colorado School of Medicine honored seven clinicians with the school’s first-ever Distinguished Clinician Awards on Tuesday.
Patient Care Pancreatic Cancer Surgical Oncology Multidisciplinary Clinic
Before receiving a pancreatic cancer diagnosis eight years ago – a diagnosis that resulted from persistent self-advocacy – Carolyn Degrafinried spent one awful weekend wondering if she was losing her mind.
Research Patient Care Rheumatoid Arthritis
Many stages occur on the path to getting rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a chronic disease in which the immune system attacks the body, especially the joints. If providers could spot the predictive biomarkers and intervene early enough, there is a strong likelihood they could delay, or even prevent, RA from developing.
Research Blood Cancer Clinical Trials lymphoma
In a forthcoming memoir, actor Sam Neill of “Jurassic Park” fame reveals that he’s been battling angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, also known as AITL.
Cancer Clinical Trials cancer screening
Because early detection offers the best chance of surviving cancer, screening tests that involve one quick blood draw are generating excitement. If approved, rather than scheduling downtime and facing intimidating procedures, patients could undergo screening for multiple cancers at once, just by rolling up their sleeves during routine doctor exams.
Audrey Bergouignan, PhD, isn’t looking for people with obesity to start running marathons. She just wants them to walk across the room.
They are going to Pittsburgh and Providence, to Omaha and Oakland, to Santa Barbara and St. Louis. They will learn to be doctors at Travis Air Force Base, at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, at the Mayo Clinic.
Earlier this month, medical professionals, patient advocates, industry innovators, federal policymakers, and public health officials, including two members of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, gathered at the White House for the Cancer Moonshot Colorectal Cancer Forum.
Research Community Data analysis
For many, a necessary but often frustrating step in accessing health care services is determining whether a provider is in their health plan network.
For medical students, Match Day is the culmination of many years of commitment, hard work, and sacrifice as they discover the next phase of their journey to becoming future physicians.
Wells Messersmith, MD, specializes in gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, or cancers of the gut. As the division head of the University of Colorado School of Medicine’s Division of Medical Oncology, Messersmith is pushing the frontiers of anticancer treatments from the intersection of precision medicine and immunotherapy.
Research Faculty Regenerative Medicine
The Gates Grubstake Fund invokes the memory of Gold Rush prospectors who received seed money, “grubstakes,” for food and supplies so they could search for treasure. The funding supports the work of modern-day prospectors – translational researchers affiliated with Gates Institute – whose work developing cell- and gene-based therapies could make a difference in human lives. In 2022, four awardees received $350,000 each to support their work.
Abigail Lara, MD, is a pulmonologist and critical care medicine specialist with a subspecialty in scarring lung diseases. As an associate professor, physician and administrator on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, Lara deftly shifts focus between the “pure adrenaline” of caring for patients in the ICU and the serene tenacity she brings to her leadership roles in the classroom and administration.
Optimism. Intelligent risk-taking. Relentless incrementalism. These are but a few hallmarks of the leadership of Vineet Chopra, MMBS, MD, MSc. Chopra’s specialty is hospital medicine, with a research focus on patient safety and preventing hospital-acquired complications.
Research by a team that includes two faculty members from the University of Colorado School of Medicine may change the treatment paradigm for patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), an allergic condition that causes chronic inflammation in the esophagus that can lead to esophageal narrowing and dysfunction.
Research Diversity Health equity Equity Diversity and Inclusion
It’s a fact. Health disparities exist across all levels of the healthcare system. Kamal Henderson, MD, assistant professor, Division of Cardiology, takes a pragmatic approach to his work in the clinic and his research. He’s guided by a single question:
Research Heart Medical Marijuana
Not long after Colorado legalized marijuana for recreational use in 2012, Lori Walker’s daughter came home shaken from a party.
“Mom, what does pot do to the heart?” she asked Walker, PhD, an associate professor of cardiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
All Sophie Rosenberg and her parents should be worrying about is kindergarten and playdates. Instead, hospital visits and leg braces overshadow the 5-year-old’s life, and her parents dedicate their time to the search for a miracle.
Research Community Public Health
In May 2022, the Colorado Legislature passed, and Gov. Jared Polis signed into law, House Bill 1326 – the “fentanyl accountability” bill. Among other actions, the bill introduced stricter criminal penalties for possessing smaller amounts of fentanyl or other drugs laced with fentanyl.
Four early career researchers from the University of Colorado Cancer Center have received Institutional Research Grants (IRGs) from the American Cancer Society (ACS) for 2023 through the parent grant awarded to the CU Cancer Center. IRGs are intended to support junior faculty members to obtain preliminary results that will enable them to compete successfully for federal research grants.
Research Patient Care Diabetes
Ramona Koren remembers “falling apart” when she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a decade ago. Her life turned upside down, and she had “no clue” what to do next.
Diabetes Geriatrics Alzheimer's
An ancient human foraging instinct, fueled by fructose production in the brain, may hold clues to the development and possible treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), according to researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Even though the COVID-19 public health emergency classification will expire this spring, the lingering effects of the pandemic remain. A constant puzzle to solve since the first year of the pandemic has been “long COVID,” a condition in which those infected with the virus have symptoms that linger months or even years after they have cleared the initial infection.
When her PhD research project led to the discovery of a unique bacteria that might be responsible for triggering rheumatoid arthritis, Meagan Chriswell knew just what to call the newly discovered bacteria: subdoligranulumdidolesgii(Suhb-doe-lih-gran-you-luhm dee-doe-les-ghee-eye), named after the Cherokee word for arthritis and rheumatism.
Community Equity Diversity and Inclusion
About one in five people worldwide will develop cancer in their lifetimes and in 2020, the most recent year for which data are available, cancer accounted for nearly 10 million deaths worldwide.
Jason Persoff, MD, listens to storms in much the same way he listens to patients: unhurriedly, questioningly, observing details that indicate background and environmental elements influencing and shaping the present moment.
A project co-created by University of Colorado Cancer Center leader Jamie Studts, PhD, to boost lung cancer screening rates in Kentucky has proven so successful that Studts has received a grant from the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation (BMSF) to create an enhanced version of the program that will roll out in two more states in the coming years.
Innovation Patient Care Pancreatic Cancer
Bonnie Dahl knows chance and circumstance played key roles in halting her pancreatic cancer, one of the most deadly and insidious forms of the disease.
In addition to the research and clinical work she performs as a member of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, Swati Patel, MD, also just completed a one-year term as president of the Collaborative Group of the Americas on Inherited Gastrointestinal Cancer (CGA-IGC), an international professional medical organization dedicated to taking care of patients who may be at increased risk of GI cancer based on family history and genetics.
When his mom fell off a ladder on New Year’s Eve a number of years ago, after deciding that was as good a night as any to clean the leaves from her gutters, one of the first things Ross Camidge, MD, PhD, did after she got home from the hospital was take her pulse.
2022 was a year that saw significant new hires, the opening of a state-of-the-art health and sciences building, and the launch of a new Department of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, but it also was a year that offered plenty of challenges and new problems to solve.
Carey Candrian, PhD, associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, has received a five-year award from the NIH’s National Institute on Aging to develop a novel intervention to improve care for sexual and gender minority older adults in hospice.
Research Community Immunotherapy
When it comes to treating cancer, doctors have many tools in their arsenal. For decades, cancer was treated with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation — broad tools that affect healthy cells along with the cancer cells they are meant to eradicate.
Research Prostate Cancer Cancer
As growing numbers of people diagnosed with cancer receive testing to have their cancer genetically sequenced, researchers and clinicians are learning volumes more about specific mutations and genetic alterations that can occur in each type of cancer.
A necessary part of the scientific process is sometimes being wrong, and Eric Pietras, PhD, was wrong. He’s the first to admit it.
When Pietras, a University of Colorado Cancer Center member and associate professor of hematology, joined the CU School of Medicine in 2015, a significant body of research suggested that inflammation activated blood-forming stem cells, which normally are dormant in bone marrow.
Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have discovered a new mechanism for slowing scarring of heart tissue — a process known as cardiac fibrosis.
Community Head and Neck Cancer
On January 2, tennis great Martina Navratilova revealed that she has been diagnosed with two unrelated cancers: stage 1 throat cancer and early-stage breast cancer.
Patients with disabilities often face medical providers who make inaccurate assumptions about their quality of life that can lead to paternalism and substandard care, according to an essay published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
Depending on the day and the publication, the ideal number of steps to take daily is 10,000. Or 3,000. Or maybe an in between 7,000.
For many people, receiving a cancer diagnosis may require learning a new vocabulary – terms that can be useful guideposts for defining the disease and its treatment.
Campus Life Community Students Awareness
Colorado leads the nation in auto theft, and, unfortunately, Denver and Aurora are two of the prime targets for thieves. On campus thus far in 2022, there have been 106 recorded reports of stolen vehicles and 39 attempted auto thefts, more than double from last year. The rise was especially troubling during November, when criminals stole or attempted to steal 23 vehicles.
Research Community Palliative care
A good death can take many forms. Because each person is unique, with different personal and cultural beliefs and expectations, there is not a single definition of a good death.
Research Innovation Press Releases
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus has been named one of the top academic institutions in the world for innovation, according to Nature’s 2022 Innovation Index report. The report ranked CU Anschutz in the top four universities globally for forging the strongest innovations links.
Vice Chancellor for Research Thomas Flaig, MD, delivered the annual State of Research Address on Dec. 6 to an online audience of more than 500 scientists, students and staff from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
If any of the 86% of Americans lacking a current bivalent booster took a shot on the omicron-targeting vaccine right now, their chances of being sick with COVID-19 on Christmas Day would fall by as much as half.
Colorectal Cancer cancer screening
Actress Kirstie Alley, best known for her role as Rebecca Howe on the 1980s sitcom “Cheers,” died Monday at age 71. According to a representative for the actress quoted in People magazine, Alley died from colon cancer after a short battle with the disease.
Research Patient Care Esophageal Cancer cancer screening
Paul O’Hara grew up in a large Midwestern family where loyalty and toughness run deep. About nine years ago, Paulie, as he was called by his siblings, leaned into his family’s caring and stout nature when he was diagnosed with advanced esophageal cancer, which has a five-year survival rate of under 20%.
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus today announced the creation of the Katy O. and Paul M. Rady Esophageal and Gastric Center of Excellence, made possible by a $20 million philanthropic investment from Katy O. and Paul M. Rady.
Community Cancer Magazine Leadership
Two important numbers to keep in mind are that 50.5% of the U.S. population is female, and that cancer will account for more than 606,000 deaths in the United States this year, making it the second-leading cause of death.
Press Releases Head and Neck Cancer Cancer
A new study from researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus has identified a less invasive way to treat a subset of head and neck cancers that could potentially change the standard of care for patients.
Earlier this month, voters made Colorado the second state — after Oregon — to decriminalize psilocybin and psilocin, the psychedelic compounds found in so-called “magic mushrooms.”
Research Education Community Equity Diversity and Inclusion
Xander Bradeen began his undergraduate studies at the University of Colorado Boulder planning to major in neuroscience as a pre-med student, the first in his family to pursue a college education. Then he learned about prairie voles.
University of Colorado Cancer Center member Erin Schenk, MD, PhD, has been named one of the CU School of Medicine 2022 Translational Research Scholars and received four-year grant support to facilitate exploration and new lines of research.
Patient Care Community Faculty Bladder Cancer
Gifts of significance don’t always have to be large monetary contributions. Sometimes, the most impactful gifts don’t involve money at all.
Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have been awarded a $2 million grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to contribute to the creation of the Kidney Tissue Atlas that will help improve care to patients with life-limiting kidney diseases.
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus hosted its second annual Research Awards ceremony on Oct. 25. More than 125 people gathered to recognize the contributions of their fellow colleagues with cheers and standing ovations. With eight different award categories and over a dozen individual awardees, the event highlighted the significant depth, strength and teamwork of the CU Anschutz research community.
Corralling four research programs, 12 shared resources, a 28-member leadership team, and a $23 million grant is a huge job — but it’s one that Michaela Montour has performed at the University of Colorado Center with ease for more than 20 years.
Community Pediatrics Infectious disease
If it seems like many of your friends and family are sick right now, they’re not alone. Cold and flu season is off to a roaring start, and is on track to be especially fierce as respiratory viruses surge among children and older populations.
University of Colorado Cancer Center member Bryan Haugen, MD, always knew he was a science person. His question was if he wanted to be a MD or a PhD. After completing his bachelor’s degree at Saint Olaf College in Minnesota, he did a few years of research at the Mayo Clinic before starting medical school there.
Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have discovered that a unique bacteria found in the gut could be responsible for triggering rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in people already at risk for the autoimmune disease.
Much of the work of health care happens because of a strong support base – the childcare, household labor, and other jobs that allow health care providers to show up every day at the clinic or hospital.
Research Patient Care Education
Chancellor Don Elliman delivered his annual State of the Campus Address on Oct. 19 to an in-person audience for the first time since 2019.
When a Twitter follower praised Elon Musk’s new “awesome, fit, ripped and healthy” look, the billionaire entrepreneur replied that his secret was “fasting” and “Wegovy.” Given society’s obsession with celebrities and weight loss and Musk’s massive following on Twitter, a viral tweet was born.
Before “wellness” was a commonly discussed concept, before health care as a profession widely recognized that clinician well-being can correlate with patient well-being, Lotte Dyrbye, MD, MHPE, took a gap year between her undergraduate studies and medical school.
Colorectal Cancer Cancer cancer screening
The best screening test for colorectal cancer is the screening that gets done, because it decreases a person’s chances of getting colorectal cancer and significantly reduces their risk of dying from colorectal cancer.
Diversity Clinical Research Inclusion Leadership
As lead investigator or sub-investigator on numerous clinical trials at the University of Colorado Cancer Center — many of them investigating new treatments for head and neck cancer — Jessica McDermott, MD, has been instrumental in improving access to cancer clinical trials for patients from medically underserved communities.
Education Community Fellowship
A newly established fellowship program in the University of Colorado School of Medicine will help participants prepare for administrative leadership roles in academic medical centers, with a focus on providing guidance and understanding around health care leadership.
University of Colorado Cancer Center members Moumita Ghosh, PhD, and Eric Clambey, PhD, have received a grant from the American Lung Association (ALA) to study how epithelial progenitor cells and immune cells may impact each other to shape the outcome of lung cancer.
Researchers from the University of Colorado Cancer Center on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have created a new way of measuring cancer lesions’ response to treatment that could better inform the development of new cancer drugs.
Research Prostate Cancer Cancer
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men and, when caught and treated early, is considered curable. But when prostate cancer becomes metastatic, meaning it spreads to distant organs, it is no longer considered curable and novel treatment strategies are needed.
That pain when you walk could be more serious than you think. It could be a sign of peripheral artery disease (PAD), a condition in which a narrowing of the arteries results in reduced blood flow to the arms or legs. When the arms or legs — PAD typically affects the legs — don't receive enough blood flow to keep up with demand, it can cause pain when walking and other symptoms. PAD is usually a sign of a buildup of fatty deposits in the arteries, known as atherosclerosis.
The University of Colorado School of Medicine was one of 36 study sites for a clinical trial that shows that diabetes drugs liraglutide and insulin glargine, when taken with metformin, allow patients to achieve and maintain their target blood levels for a longer time compared to two other commonly used diabetes medications.
Research Patient Care Community
Among physicians who see at least one adult patient with significant intellectual disability (ID) in an average month, close to 75% of those surveyed report usually or always communicating with someone other than the patient during the visit, new research shows.
Research Colorectal Cancer Clinical Trials DOM Newsletter
A new phase 2 clinical trial led by University of Colorado Cancer Center member Robert Lentz, MD, may offer hope for patients with metastatic colon cancer for whom standard therapy is no longer effective. Lentz is mentored by Wells Messersmith, MD, associate director of clinical services at the CU Cancer Center.
As genetic counseling and genetic testing continue gaining importance in the world of cancer, the new co-director of hereditary cancers in the University of Colorado Cancer Center is aiming to increase awareness of these important resources for patients.
Education Community Students Diversity
Many college students enter their freshman year unsure of what they want to major in, let alone what they’ll do after they graduate. Then there are students like Hussna Yasini, who entered her first year of college at the University of Colorado Denver knowing she could earn a reserved spot at the CU School of Medicine after she completed her undergraduate studies.
Focused on warding off a cold-weather surge of coronavirus infections and on revamping the COVID-19 vaccine response, health experts approved a new and likely improved version of the vaccine for the first time since the virus emerged.
For children with pediatric-onset chronic conditions, the relationships they form early on with their doctors and care team members often turn out to be among the most important connections of their young lives.
Years later, when those youth are on the cusp of adulthood and required to transition to adult care, the doctor-patient relationship becomes even more important, and thoughtful transition of care is critical. The growing field of transitional care encourages collaboration among doctors to help young patients effectively manage the shift from pediatric to adult care, to encourage those patients to play a greater part in their own health care, and to improve health care systems to make those transitions more seamless.
Press Releases Education Faculty
Amira Del Pino-Jones, MD, associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, has been named the CU School of Medicine’s associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have discovered how to extract critical information about breast cancer tumors and disease progression by analyzing blood plasma rather than using more invasive tissue biopsies.
“This is simply a blood draw,” said the study’s senior co-author Peter Kabos, MD, associate professor of medicine in the medical oncology division at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and CU Cancer Center member. “This allows us to look under the surface to see the defining characteristics of the disease. The advantage is that we don’t need to do repeated tissue biopsies.”
Advance care planning — thinking about what kind of care you want and whom you want by your side at the end of your life — can be difficult under any circumstances. But for sexual and gender minority (SGM) patients — including individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, transgender, queer, or intersex — those conversations are often made even more difficult due to stigma, fear, and discrimination.
For many researchers, the end of a post-doctoral fellowship and entry into a junior faculty position can be a time without a map.
In November 2021, the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus was designated a Rare Disease Center of Excellence by the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD). CU Anschutz experts are highlighted in the latest edition of Denver magazine 5280 for their work in research and treating rare diseases.
A cancer diagnosis can be difficult to work through in the best of circumstances, but factor in barriers related to language, insurance status, educational achievement, geographic location, income level, and more, and the cancer journey — everything from prevention and screening to diagnosis and treatment — can become nearly impossible to traverse.
Denver-area magazine 5280 recently published its list of top doctors for 2022. On this year’s list, CU School of Medicine faculty members continue to be ranked among the best. We're proud to congratulate the 193 CU School of Medicine faculty members honored with the title "Top Doctor."
This week, members of the University of Colorado School of Medicine Class of 2026 became new medical students, entering medicine at a critical and often tumultuous time.
Research Press Releases Lung Cancer
A new study from the University of Colorado Cancer Center explores which lung cancer patients are the best candidates for novel therapies that directly target a gene identified as driving certain cancers.
Education Students CU Medicine Today
For residents training in specialties such as internal medicine, pediatrics, and emergency medicine, hands-on training is vital when it comes to practicing skills like stabilizing an airway or taking a patient’s medical history. When it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), however, training all too often happens in a classroom or online, with no real-world experience to reinforce the lessons or allow for learning opportunities.
BA.5, the latest omicron variant, now accounts for nearly every new SARS-CoV-2 infection in the state, and community levels are high across the Denver metro area, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE).
Research Press Releases COVID-19
Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have investigated how antiviral proteins called interferons interact with SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, focuses on how the innate arm of the immune system defends against this coronavirus. The work resulted from a collaborative effort by multiple scientists, including the laboratories of Mario Santiago, PhD, associate professor of medicine, and Eric Poeschla, MD, professor of medicine, both at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
What’s it like living when you are dying?
It’s a question palliative care provider and instructor Jonathan Treem, MD, fields so often, he derived an analogy in answer.
It’s like being in a perpetual horror movie, where a killer lurks inside your home, he says. You’re the main character, alone with the murderer, who lies in wait. As you creep from dark room to dark room, searching for a monster sure to overpower you, the dread builds.
Currently, there are no disease-modifying therapies for Parkinson’s disease that can change the progression of the disease. An international team of scientists led by faculty at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is hoping to change that.
Press Releases Community CU Medicine Today
Longtime Colorado innovation leader Lisa Neal-Graves has been named CEO of the Aurora Wellness Community (AWC), a partnership between the CU Anschutz Medical Campus and the Aurora community that aims to improve access to primary care for underserved populations in Aurora. The center also will offer services to promote physical, mental, and financial well-being within the community, with a particular focus on housing, food security, generational care, community building, and connection.
The bad news about endometrial cancer — cancer that begins in the lining of the uterus — is that it is one of the few cancers that is increasing in incidence even as most other cancers are on the decline, thanks to advances in treatment and prevention.
Research Immunotherapy lymphoma
Large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) is one of the most aggressive lymphomas and accounts for about 30% of all lymphoma diagnoses.
Research Patient Care Sarcoma Clinical Trials
Ward McNeilly thought he was a goner.
It was summer 2021, and the sarcoma that had started in the Denver resident’s left thigh seemed to be under control, subdued by radiation and chemotherapy following a surgery in 2018 to remove the initial tumor and another surgery in 2019 to remove cancerous tumors in his groin. McNeilly was doing so well, in fact, that his doctors at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital authorized a “chemo vacation” to give his body a break from some of the side effects of the treatment.
Research Community Awareness Mental Health
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many health care professionals admit they felt tired. Despite doing work they love, the days could be long or frustrating or very, very disheartening.
Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus discovered that while exercise activates muscles, which is critical for bone health, intense exertion over long periods contributes to a metabolic cascade that may lead to a loss of bone mineral density (BMD).
Patient Care Community Faculty Clinical Trials
It takes a certain tenacity to ride a bike across the country. That's even more true when a person is suffering from a rare disease. But Glenn Frommer is doing just that, and inspiring others along the way. Frommer is riding over 5,300 miles from San Francisco to Boston to raise funding and awareness for polycystic kidney disease (PKD).
Research Patient Care Press Releases COVID-19 Vaccinations Clinical lungs
A new study published in today’s issue of PLOS Pathogens is the first to link SARS-CoV-2 specific T cells to lung function and those who suffer from long-term COVID symptoms. Long COVID currently affects hundreds of millions of Americans.
Research Faculty Rheumatoid Arthritis
Although interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a common manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), it is a difficult condition to diagnose. By the time ILD is visible in a CT scan, it is often at an advanced state and difficult to treat.
During the May 27 spring convocation, the Graduate School announced the recipients of the dean’s awards, formally recognizing graduate students and faculty who have made a positive impact on the training environment and culture at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Today, the AB Nexus program announced its fourth round of grant awards to faculty from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the University of Colorado Boulder. From advancing new cancer and diabetes treatments to developing AI tools to diagnose dementia, the selected teams bring together experts from multiple disciplines to advance basic science and translational research that improves human health and well-being.
The median age for receiving a bladder cancer diagnosis is 73, and a significant number of those living with the disease are in their 70s and 80s.
Research Press Releases Community CU Medicine Today
In a recent survey of more than 6,500 physicians from across the United States representing a broad spectrum of racial and ethnic diversity, nearly 30% of respondents reported experiencing discrimination and mistreatment from patients or patients’ family members or visitors.
The term burnout has been tossed around frequently the past two years.
Most people know the feeling, but what can you actually do about it? Tyra Fainstad, MD, visiting associate professor of internal medicine, and Adrienne Mann, MD, assistant professor of hospital medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine decided they wanted to do something to address the root of the problem, so they created and implemented Better Together, a physician coaching program for trainees. The duo answers common questions and addresses misconceptions about burnout.
Editor’s note: This interview was edited for clarity and brevity.
Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have discovered an enzyme that regulates heart stiffness, setting the stage for developing novel treatments for heart failure.
Michelle Barron, MD, presented for the Women in Leadership Speaker Series on April 27, a perfect choice by organizers seeking a woman leader during the COVID-19 pandemic. Barron, a professor of medicine in the University of Colorado School of Medicine and a top infectious diseases expert in the state, was front and center of the public health crisis during the past two and a half years.
Women's Health Rheumatoid Arthritis
Well over 1.3 million Americans are living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to the Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Network. The potentially debilitating disease turns the body’s immune system against itself, attacking tissues and joints. Left untreated, the disorder can lead to deformed joints and disability.
Research Women's Health Mental Health
A coaching program aimed at decreasing burnout among female resident physicians significantly reduced emotional exhaustion and imposter syndrome while increasing self-compassion over a six-month period, according to researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Research Community Support Diabetes
For some people with type 2 diabetes, the E word can evoke dread: exercise.
Awareness Neuroscience CU Anschutz 360 Podcast CU Medicine Today
Moksha Patel, MD, is a busy man. He recently finished a fellowship in the Division of Hospital Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine where he is now a senior instructor. He’s been appointed lead physician informaticist for the Institute for Healthcare Quality, Safety, and Efficiency at CU Anschutz and is working toward an MBA at CU Denver.
Research Patient Care Press Releases COVID-19
Efforts by hospitals to protect people from COVID-19 by restricting them from visiting family members in ICUs may have contributed to a significant increase in stress-related disorders, according to a study led by University of Colorado School of Medicine researchers.
Each year we honor one of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus’s greatest assets – our remarkable faculty – with the faculty awards. These accolades recognize superior accomplishments in teaching and leadership.
The awards are special not only because they acknowledge outstanding performance in our core areas as a university, but also because they are recognition by colleagues and students of this exemplary work.
Patient Care Lung Cancer Prostate Cancer Melanoma Immunotherapy
To understand why Beau Gill built a mental cupboard for Jeff and Spike, first you must travel back with him to the small town of Catemaco in Mexico’s state of Veracruz.
Research Patient Care Community
U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper visited the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus on April 14, hearing from CU and UCHealth leaders on how they joined efforts in the battle against COVID-19 and touring the new Anschutz Health Sciences Building (AHSB). The senator’s aim was to take lessons learned back to the U.S. Capitol to help guide legislation and manage the country’s future health crises.
In 1986, Jill Norris had a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology in hand and pondered what to do next. She decided to pursue a doctorate in epidemiology and applied to a few schools. An invitation from a renowned figure in the field not only cemented her decision but also set her on a lifelong professional path to an elite position among her peers and now, international recognition.
Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer among adult men. In recent decades, however, research and treatment innovation for this disease have lagged. Thomas Flaig, MD, vice chancellor of research for CU Denver and the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, recently presented findings from a 10-year-long effort to study bladder cancer biomarker development and treatment.
Though irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common condition that affects around 10% of the population, there is a lot that patients and physicians still don’t know about it. What is known is that it is more common in women and people younger than 60, and it is often associated with mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. And it can cause life-impacting symptoms if not treated properly.
James Burton, MD, a transplant hepatologist, regularly sees the ravages caused by alcohol in patients. A decade ago, most severe alcohol-related liver cases were in older patients, but increasingly, and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, Burton and his colleagues are treating younger patients.
Adolescents with severe obesity may not pursue metabolic bariatric surgery for weight loss due to lack of information, difficulties with access to care, and because of social stigma, according to a newly published study led by a University of Colorado School of Medicine researcher.
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has once again recognized the University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center as one of the best cancer centers in the country. On March 31, the NCI officially renewed the CU Cancer Center’s “comprehensive” designation with a strong rating, the best ever received at the CU Cancer Center. The award recognizes the center’s strengths in basic, translational, clinical, and population science research, as well as leadership and resources devoted to community outreach and engagement and cancer research, training, and education.
As Americans cross their fingers, hoping the pandemic stays behind them, scientists across the country remain focused on the novel coronavirus, intent on combating its next move.
While conducting research for her doctoral dissertation, Channing Tate, PhD, MPH, spoke with 144 older Black adults about hospice care – what they knew about it, whether they’d consider it, what their experiences with hospice had been.
Research Community Awareness Colorectal Cancer
Colorectal cancer, the third most commonly-diagnosed cancer in the United States (excluding skin cancers) and second leading cause of cancer-related mortality, is increasingly affecting people in their 20s and 30s, recently published research shows.
As a young girl in the 1940s, Helen Morris, MD, saw a world rocked by atrocities and on the brink of momentous change. Eighty years later, Morris, who was among a small group of women doctors in Colorado early in her career, sees history repeating itself.
Research Patient Care COVID-19
Two faculty members at the University of Colorado School of Medicine are key contributors to a set of COVID-19 guidance for cardiologists released today by the American College of Cardiology.
While practicing medicine at Denver Health, Lilia Cervantes, MD, researcher and associate professor of hospital medicine and director of immigrant health at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, treated socially marginalized patients with kidney failure who had no access to standard dialysis care. These patients could only receive dialysis at the emergency room when their health was in critical condition.
Whether it’s dangerous side effects with Ambien or poorer heart health with type 2 diabetes, women often react to drugs and disease differently than men. Yet studies behind these sex and gender differences in medical science are still relatively scant.
Research Melanoma Surgical Oncology
For years, surgery for patients with stage III melanoma — melanoma that has spread to the lymph nodes — involved removing those lymph nodes along with the primary tumor. Known as completion lymph node dissection (CLND), the surgery was meant to ensure that no cancer remained after surgery.
Research Public Health Clinical Research Fellowship
The strength of the CU Anschutz Medical Campus is built in part on the ties between practitioners and researchers — field experts working regularly in hospitals or clinics using what they have seen in their practice to inform their research. This is where innovation and truly life-altering discoveries are made.
The Surgical/subspecialists Clinical Outcomes Research (SCORE) Fellowship at ACCORDS is a one-of-a-kind opportunity allowing physicians to gain skills and begin their work in outcomes-based research. The fellowship is designed to train outstanding physician-researchers in clinical translational and outcomes research. Since 2014, SCORE has primarily focused on surgeons and subspecialists interested in research training.
Research Community Kidney Cancer
March is Kidney Cancer Awareness Month, and to get the latest information on the disease, we spoke with University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center member Elaine Lam, MD, FACP, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Patient Care Sports Medicine Clinical Affairs
CU Sports Medicine — a multidisciplinary program involving the School of Medicine’s departments of orthopedics, physical medicine and rehabilitation, emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics — serves a wide range of patients: from toddlers to seniors, elite athletes to weekend warriors. To help dispel some misconceptions about the field and highlight what sets CU’s program apart from the competition, we interviewed three experts to learn from the pros.
Patient Care Education Clinical Affairs
“Quality over quantity.” It’s a familiar piece of advice for everything from shopping habits to food choices. But the concept is especially important when it comes to health care. In fact, it’s what led a coalition of CU Anschutz Medical Campus entities — the School of Medicine, the College of Nursing, UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, and Children’s Hospital Colorado — to establish the Institute for Healthcare Quality, Safety and Efficiency in 2012.
Every 40 seconds, someone in the United States has a stroke, which – if not treated quickly – often leaves victims with devastating disabilities. While clear stroke treatment guidelines in emergency departments have resulted in rapid care for years, for a unique patient population that suffers in-hospital strokes (IHS), the treatment hasn’t always been so speedy.
In celebration of Black History Month, CU Anschutz is launching the “Get To Know” series to highlight Black excellence on campus year-round – leaders, innovators and change makers who are accomplishing the extraordinary in their fields every day. The “Get To Know” series will expand throughout the year as an inclusive platform for voices on our campus.
Following up on a 2018 study that identified an epigenetic modifier known as histone deacetylase 11 (HDAC11) as a potential therapeutic target for treating obesity and diabetes, researchers from the University of Colorado School of Medicine have published new research that finds HDAC11 regulates G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) called beta-adrenergic receptors (β-ARs).
Research Patient Care Community COVID-19
For health care workers, one of the most troubling aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic is people who get and recover from the virus, only to have additional — often more severe — symptoms arise weeks or even months later. Known in medical journals by names like “post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC)” or “long-haul COVID,” the condition can have debilitating effects even among the previously young and healthy.
Asthma is a chronic condition that can cause airways in the lungs to become inflamed and narrowed. A common perception of obesity is that it involves low-grade systemic inflammation.
Press Releases Clinical Research
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus – home to Children’s Hospital Colorado, UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and the CU School of Medicine – has been designated as a NORD Rare Disease Center of Excellence for its research and commitment to advance care for patients with rare diseases.
In 2016, Colorado voters approved a new state law that provided medical aid in dying for terminally ill patients. This law authorizes a physician, who is identified as the attending physician, to prescribe a lethal dose of medications that results in death.
Research Rheumatoid Arthritis Autoimmune disease
Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have discovered that having one kind of autoimmune disease can lead to another.
As dawn broke over the South Pacific on Sept. 21, 1944, Jack Comstock, MD, stepped out of the officers’ quarters on his callused bare feet, wearing a G-string and little else. He stared at the specks on the pale horizon.
A troubling new variant of the COVID-19 virus first observed by South African scientists has now been found in other parts of the world, including Portugal, Botswana, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. It has been found in several U.S. states as well, including Colorado, New York, Hawaii, and Minnesota. Researchers are concerned, as the new variant — dubbed the Omicron variant by the World Health Organization — shows signs of being more contagious than previous variants. It may also be less susceptible to current COVID-19 vaccines.
Campus Life Community Students Advocacy
The wind kicked up as soon as everyone “died,” cold and fierce around the dozens of students, faculty members, and staff members lying on the concrete and browning grass.
COVID-19 Blood Clinical Research
Scientists at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, along with colleagues at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, have discovered specific genetic biomarkers that not only show who is infected with COVID-19, but offer insights into how severe the disease might be, filling a major diagnostic gap.
Patient Care Community Geriatrics
Elder abuse and neglect are major problems – they happen to one in 10 older adults in the United States – and often hide in plain sight.
Patient Care Community COVID-19 CU Medicine Today
From the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, communities of color have been hit hardest by the worst public health crisis in the past 100 years.
Press Releases Community Faculty
Carey Candrian, PhD, knew the statistics.
“Nearly 50% of older LGBTQ adults say their doctor doesn’t know that they’re LGBTQ, and the stress of hiding takes up to 12 years off their life,” Candrian says. “Seventy-six percent of LGBTQ older adults fear having adequate support as they age. Thousands still experience discrimination, harassment, and abuse when seeking or living in senior housing. These are big numbers.”
Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have been awarded a $3.7 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to support establishing a center that specializes in the study of the causes of rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, and other autoimmune diseases.
Research Patient Care Community COVID-19 Quality and Clinical Effectiveness
Ideas and innovation don’t always co-exist with convenience. On the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, the road to a novel mask design to address the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic took some unexpected twists and turns.
Celebrating exceptional women on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus? No problem.
Patient Care Community COVID-19
On Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave full approval to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for individuals 16 and older. The approval provides the FDA’s strongest endorsement to the Pfizer vaccine, which previously had been approved under an emergency use authorization.
As the country rides a new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, it faces a riptide that’s threatening its course. The delta variant, the now-predominant strain of coronavirus, prompted President Joe Biden’s call for booster shots for all vaccinated adults on Aug. 18 and underscored discussions at a research summit that ran parallel to the president’s nationwide address.
Vineet Chopra, MD, MSc, chief of the Division of Hospital Medicine at the University of Michigan Health System, has been named chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, effective Oct. 18, 2021.
Each year, Denver-area magazine 5280 publishes its list of top doctors. On this year’s list, which came out last week, CU School of Medicine faculty members continue to be ranked among the best. We are proud to congratulate the 138 CU School of Medicine faculty members honored with the title Top Doctor.
In March of 2020, thousands of scientists from around the world, including researchers from the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine, united to answer a pressing and complex question: What genetic factors influence why some COVID-19 patients develop severe, life-threatening disease requiring hospitalization, while others escape with mild symptoms or none at all?
In her second year on the job at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Carey Candrian, PhD, was shadowing a hospice admissions nurse as she interviewed a dying woman in the patient’s home.
Patient Care COVID-19 Vaccinations
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday recommended a nationwide pause on the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine because six women who received the vaccine have experienced a rare type of blood clot.
A lot has changed in the 20 years since University of Colorado School of Medicine researchers Meredith Mealer, PhD, RN, and Marc Moss, MD, started studying the effects of stress on critical-care nurses.
Patient Care Community COVID-19 Transplant Center
James Burton, MD, professor of medicine and medical director of liver transplantation at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, says he and his colleagues are already starting to see the effect pandemic drinking is having on patients.
Research Press Releases Education
A pilot program to offer mental health services offered resident physicians at the University of Colorado School of Medicine provides a model for confidential and affordable help, according to an article published today by the journal Academic Medicine.
Patients need and deserve the undivided attention of clinicians providing their care, but frequent interruptions and pressure to be responsive to colleagues can have detrimental impacts on the quality of care.
During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the stress and uncertainty weighed heavily on many of those on the front lines. Lilia Cervantes, MD, an associate professor of medicine at Denver Health and the University of Colorado Division of Hospital Medicine, and a physician-scientist, was one of the first to work in a COVID-19 unit. The night before her first shift at Denver Health, Cervantes, also a mother of two daughters, went online to make a will.
Innovation Patient Care Community
With the FDA emergency approval of the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer last week and Moderna approval due any day, immunizations against the deadliest pandemic in the past 100 years will begin this week.
Each year, Denver-area magazine 5280 publishes its list of top doctors. The annual list was recently released, and year after year, our CU School of Medicine faculty members were ranked among the best. We're proud to congratulate the more than 160 CU School of Medicine faculty members honored with the title top doctor.
By its definition, science is the systematic knowledge gained through repeated observations of the world around us. And, as history indicates, the first pioneers of scientists were Indigenous people, whose contributions in modern science must not be overlooked.
A research team led by scientists from the Consortium for Fibrosis Research & Translation (CFReT) at the University of Colorado School of Medicine has identified a potential target for treating heart failure related to fibrosis.
FOX News
September 27, 2023
Senior author Kristen Demoruelle, a professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, noted that with many diseases, neutrophils are abnormally overactive. “We found that ginger can help to restrain NETosis…It is a natural supplement that may be helpful to treat inflammation and symptoms for people with several different autoimmune diseases,” she said, according to the published study.
HealthDay
September 25, 2023
“There are a lot of diseases where neutrophils are abnormally overactive,” senior co-author Kristen Demoruelle, associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, said in a university news release. “We found that ginger can help to restrain NETosis, and this is important because it is a natural supplement that may be helpful to treat inflammation and symptoms for people with several different autoimmune diseases.”
Denver Gazette
September 23, 2023
“I am honored to help lead the CCTSI as we prepare to train the next generation of clinicians and scholars who will lead discoveries and solve some of the thorniest problems in human health,” said Janine Higgins, a professor of medicine at the CU School of Medicine. “We are energized and excited to continue this challenging yet critical work.”
CBS News
September 22, 2023
Officers subdued McClain using a carotid hold that restricts blood flow to the brain. Paramedics injected him with the sedative ketamine. He was taken unconscious to University Hospital and Marc Moss was later one of his doctors. He told the court, “like all my patients I take care of I wanted the best outcome for Mr. McClain. I wanted him to survive.” But he testified when he saw McClain four days after the incident the 23-year-old could only breathe with a ventilator.
Greg Glasgow
