“The Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome is so important because it's the first in the U.S. to tackle research and medical care for people with Down syndrome,” Sie Whitten said. That research is now paying off with some groundbreaking results. Dr. Huntington Potter is the director of Alzheimer’s Disease Research at the Institute.
“The ability to harness nature for new medicines is really, really promising,” Dr. David Kroll, a professor of pharmacology at the University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy, said. Dr. Kroll has been studying drugs that come from plants throughout his career.
Campbell oversaw two major clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and on the Anschutz Medical Campus. He says while the vaccines available are up to 94% effective, people with compromised immune systems are less responsive to the shot, and their effectiveness drops between 50 and 40%.
Scott Harpin is an associate professor at the University of Colorado College of Nursing, which operates CU’s Family Health Services Clinic in Sheridan. Clinic director Megan Champion said volunteers like the Harpins are helping the clinic accomplish its mission of providing equitable distribution of the COVID vaccine. “The weekend vaccination clinics really did an excellent job of targeting people who were falling through the cracks because maybe they didn't have reliable internet or English was their second language, so it was more difficult to navigate,” Champion said. “Coming to get a vaccine can be scary, so seeing kids and families helps make it a warmer environment.”
There are potential economic benefits for businesses that allow employees to call out sick, according to Glen Mays, a professor of public health policy at the Colorado School of Public Health. “We know from strong evidence that taking sick days significantly reduces the likelihood of transmission in the work settings,” Mays said.
Still, Dr. Glen Mays, a professor of health policy at the Colorado School of Public Health, says this strategy could work for Pitkin County. “It’s got a sound logic behind it because the main goal is to help people who may have the virus,” Mays said.
Medical professionals like Emily Cheshire, a family nurse practitioner and a University of Colorado College of Nursing assistant professor, said they’re fielding a lot of questions from patients wanting to know more about the safety of the vaccine. “I get questions around the safety because it came out so quickly,” Cheshire said. “I would say a wide variety [of questions], and I think they’re all very valid.”
“One research team has tried to make in yeast so you could grow cultures of yeasts similar to fermenting beer,” said David Kroll, Ph.D., a professor of pharmacology at the University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus. He says finding a cure for coronavirus will be the biggest vaccine undertaking in recent medical history.
