CU Anschutz In The News

Susan Potter wanted to make a difference in life and in death. “That was my last will and testament: to leave something behind that would have an impact on the whole human race,” she said in a video for the CU School of Medicine. So, she decided to donate her body to science. She had seen a newspaper article about the Visible Human Project. After their death, a man and woman were frozen, sectioned and photographed for the world to see and learn from on the internet. Susan decided she wanted to do that, too, so she tracked down the man in charge at the CU School of Medicine. Vic Spitzer, PhD, eventually agreed to take her on. “She just persisted,” he said.

It’s an all-time low for people trying to get high. Some are deliberately and intentionally harming their pets in order to get a prescription for opioids. According to a study by the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, people addicted to opioids are injuring their own pets, or even dogs not belonging to them, to satiate their opioid obsession. In response, CU Anschutz has created an online course for veterinarians to detect such cases.

“Only about half of the people who do this actually get out of the elevator,” said Matt Vogle, executive director at the National Mental Health Innovation Center at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. The exercise is part of a virtual reality simulation designed to induce stress. “For most people, fight or flight kicks in and even though people know they’re on the floor, their brain says no way, you’re not safe so I’m not going to let you go out there,” he said.

“It detects genetic mutations that are common in a number of different cancers and also a number of proteins that we see elevated in patients who have cancer,” said Dr. Alexis Leal, a medical oncologist at University of Colorado Hospital.

"We know the problem is huge and we need to consider all options," said Robert Valuck with the University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy.