If Colorado researchers have their way, cancer patients will someday be eating their way through chemotherapy.
CU Anschutz
Fitzsimons Building
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If Colorado researchers have their way, cancer patients will someday be eating their way through chemotherapy.
Fatal injuries are increasing at an “alarming” rate in the U.S., according to a new study from researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Denver Health Medical Center Colorado, as incidents such as suicide, homicide and car accidents continue to be one of leading causes of death in the nation.
Today, Milo lives with his wife and two children in Castle Rock and serves as the director of veterans programs, communications and strategic development for the Marcus Institute for Brain Health (MIBH) at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Like the NICoE and its satellite Intrepid Spirit Centers across the country, the MIBH offers a model to treat mild to moderate brain injuries, post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety. “Invisible injuries are so prevalent in the post 9/11 and war on terror,” Milo said.
“It may be something about facilities’ and providers’ comfort with prescribing as a tool,” said Dr. Joseph Frank, a University of Colorado School of Medicine professor who co-authored the study. Frank also works as a primary care doctor at Denver’s VA hospital.
The new study contradicts the results of one published last year by CDPHE, which found little evidence of health harms from living near oil and gas sites. That study found that lifetime cancer risk was not increased near wells due to exposure to benzene or other chemicals. Lisa McKenzie, a professor at the School of Public Health and the paper’s lead author, said her study used California guidelines for assessing benzene toxicity, which are stricter than the guidelines used in the CDPHE study. She said her study also incorporates newer research.
Her difficulties sparked Prabhakaran’s interest in finding more efficient and healthier ways to deliver cancer drugs. Cancerous cells express unique electrical properties, different from normal cells. Over more than a year of research at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences on the Anschutz Medical Campus, Prabhakaran discovered he could deliver a molecule named DiBAC4(3) via nanoparticles to better target cancer cells while leaving normal cells untouched.
“To the extent decisions like this protect public health, they send an important message,” said Michael Kosnett, a toxicologist at the Colorado School of Public Health. “Things like this have to be addressed. The presence of chemicals creates the potential for harm.”
Viewed in this historical context, Philip Morris’s new foundation is concerning, coming from an industry with a long record of documented misdeeds around science. Consequently, the Colorado School of Public Health has joined with 16 other public health schools to announce that we will not accept funds from the Philip Morris foundation.