CU Anschutz In The News

The University of Colorado Hospital Authority, based in Aurora, ranks among the top 20 U.S. hospitals, according to the Lown Institute Hospitals Index.

“We’re talking about degrees of risk in all these things, and I think sometimes that gets lost,” said Dr. Lisa Miller, a professor of epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health. “It’s not like there’s a black-and-white line between you’re either over 65 and you’re at risk or you’re under 65 and you’re not.”

Damage done by the coronavirus to the membranes of red blood cells that carry oxygen may explain why many COVID-19 patients have alarmingly low oxygen levels, according to new research. Specifically, the virus attacks the membranes' most abundant protein, called band 3, said senior researcher Angelo D'Alessandro of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

A good option: a mask made of two layers of a thick-weave fabric with a built-in pocket where you can place a filter, says May Chu, an epidemiologist at the Colorado School of Public Health who co-authored a paper published on June 2 in Nano Letters on the filtration efficiency of household mask materials. ... "If you go to Walmart, you look for Oly-fun, which is the brand name of that fabric. It's also called spunbond," says Chu, who's a scientific adviser to the World Health Organization and helped craft its recent detailed guidance on cloth masks.

Dr. Sean O’Leary, a pediatrics infectious disease specialist at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, helped write the academy’s guidelines. He is a father of two children, 12 and 16, and a survivor of Covid-19 who is still experiencing some symptoms after he and his wife contracted the coronavirus in March.

It’s always been easier for people in a behavioral health crisis to get access to alcohol and drugs than to a therapist, said Tanya Sorrell, a psychiatric and mental health nurse practitioner and associate professor at the University of Colorado College of Nursing Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora.

“We really just set out to ask the question, "how much of the concussions of girls lacrosse could be directly attributed to the fact that they are prohibited from wearing the hard shell helmet with the full facemask that’s required in boys lacrosse?" said [Colorado School of Public Health professor Dawn] Comstock.

Second lady Karen Pence stopped in Aurora on Thursday to meet military veterans and hear about an art therapy program at the Anschutz Medical Campus. Pence, a former art teacher and the wife of Vice President Mike Pence, heard from three veterans, their families and experts at the Marcus Institute for Brain Health, which cares for and researches traumatic brain injuries, primarily in veterans.