The impacts of climate change on human health are among the most profound and far-reaching issues in health care. Global ecosystems are under such stress that the effects of climate change on human health grow more widespread and damaging by the day.

Rachel Sauer | August 15, 2022

In an effort to make it easier for those experiencing a mental health crisis to get help immediately, the federal government in July launched the 988 Suicide and Crisis Hotline. The simple three-digit phone number works like 911 to connect callers with trained mental health professionals in their area. 

Greg Glasgow | August 09, 2022

Editor’s note: This is part of our periodic series of articles showcasing the creative talents of our faculty and students on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. If you know of someone who is a “Creator in the Classroom,” please send us a tip here.

Guest Contributor | August 08, 2022

The worldwide outbreak of monkeypox that started in May 2022 has now grown to such a degree that on August 4, the Biden administration declared a public health emergency to raise awareness of the virus in the United States and to free up funding and resources for a more robust response. More than 6,600 probable or confirmed cases have now been detected in the U.S., including in Colorado, and there are more than 28,000 confirmed cases worldwide. 

Greg Glasgow | August 08, 2022

Over the past 50 years, The Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect has changed the culture of children’s rights worldwide. Established in 1972, The Kempe Center became the first of its kind, providing research, training, education and innovative program development for all forms of child abuse, neglect and trauma.

Guest Contributor | August 04, 2022

Researchers from the University of Colorado School of Medicine have been awarded a federal grant to run an interdisciplinary training program in musculoskeletal research. The award provides $1.58 million in funding to support four predoctoral students and two postdoctoral trainees over the next five years.

Mark Couch | August 04, 2022

All cells in the human body secrete extracellular vesicles (EVs), tiny membrane-enclosed sacs that deliver important cargo – including RNA, proteins, lipids and DNA – to other cells. Cancer cells, notorious for rapid growth, are prolific EV creators.

Chris Casey | August 02, 2022

A new study released by the University of Colorado Cancer Center shows that more than 70 percent of breast cancer patients have reported changes that affect their sexual health during and beyond treatment.

Laura Kelley | August 02, 2022

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."

School of Medicine | August 02, 2022

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.

Rachel Sauer | July 29, 2022

Biotech founders in the making, get ready. A new life-science startup incubator is coming to the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

Guest Contributor | July 29, 2022

Bacteriophages, also known as phages, are viruses that infect a host bacteria and share traits with all viruses: They require a host cell to reproduce and are specific to particular hosts.

Rachel Sauer | July 27, 2022

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.   

Greg Glasgow | July 26, 2022

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).

Debra Melani | July 26, 2022

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.

Debra Melani | July 22, 2022

Space needs doctors, and a new joint MD-MS degree program between the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at CU Boulder is aimed at giving medical students the skills they need to advance human spaceflight.  

Greg Glasgow | July 22, 2022

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. 

Greg Glasgow | July 20, 2022

Demonized in the early 1960s despite promising research, psychedelic drugs are making a resurgence as therapeutic tools, capturing the eye of medical scientists and the public. Two initiatives destined for Colorado’s November ballot would open the door to treatment in the state and likely ease the launching of studies at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

Debra Melani | July 20, 2022

Melissa Haendel, PhD, professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and her team of data scientists have been working at a lightning-fast pace for two years, unlocking some of the mysteries of long COVID. Not only have they been instrumental in the development of the largest national, publicly available HIPAA-limited dataset in U.S. history – the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) – but their research using the data is making headlines and getting the attention of the White House.

Wendy Meyer | July 20, 2022

Can a simple phone call reduce the likelihood that a patient will have to return to the emergency room in the days just after being discharged? 

Greg Glasgow | July 15, 2022

Diane Gates Wallach has a head for business and a heart for science. When she pursues both – blending her knack for strategy with a desire to better the world – her imagination comes alive. No frontier looks insurmountable when the right talent is involved.

Chris Casey | July 14, 2022

Dave Young, MD, heard the call.

When Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 turned into a prolonged war between the two nations, Young was one of hundreds of medical professionals around the world looking for a way to help Ukrainian citizens displaced by the conflict.

Greg Glasgow | July 08, 2022

Connecting basic science and medicine with clinical and translational scientists, the University of Colorado School of Medicine is introducing the Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) to enhance clinical care through integrated computational technology, laboratory investigations, and artificial intelligence (AI).

Rachel Wittel | July 06, 2022

Susan Ingram, PhD, has been named vice chair of research in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, effective July 15. Ingram will be the inaugural Richard Traystman, PhD, endowed chair in anesthesiology.

Guest Contributor | July 06, 2022

An unusually late surge in flu cases this spring should remind everyone that, as far as nasty viruses go, these are unprecedented times. Since the novel coronavirus joined the picture in 2020, what doctors see in their offices and hospital beds has continually bucked the norm.

Debra Melani | June 29, 2022

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.

Rachel Sauer | June 28, 2022

As medical researchers dig for answers behind Long COVID, unexplained liver disease in children and unusual behaviors of common respiratory viruses including influenza, a rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine for the country’s youngest age group is underway.

Debra Melani | June 28, 2022

Fourteen undergraduate students interested in medicine from universities around the country got the chance Monday to sit down with University of Colorado School of Medicine Dean John J. Reilly Jr. to talk about the future of medicine. 

Greg Glasgow | June 22, 2022

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).

Chris Casey | June 21, 2022

As they both deal with a stage IV colon cancer diagnosis, Kacie Peters and Erik Stanley are focused on living a normal, happy life with their son.

Rachel Sauer | June 20, 2022

As Michael Corigliano peers through goggles and shifts the paddles in his hands, a digitized human body tilts and swivels on a giant flatscreen TV. Complex structures in the body – nerves, arteries, glands, organs and muscles – appear in bright colors.

Chris Casey | June 16, 2022

Children’s Hospital Colorado is once again ranked among the top 10 children’s hospitals in the country by U.S. News and World Report. The magazine released its 2022–23 Best Children’s Hospitals rankings this week, and Children’s Colorado is ranked number 7 nationally and number 1 in the Rocky Mountain region and state of Colorado.

School of Medicine | June 15, 2022

It happened so fast, and it was so unexpected.

In August 2020, Mario Carrasco got what he suspected was COVID-19 and took Tylenol to combat his high fever. When that didn’t work, he took an antibiotic he had received from Mexico and eventually felt better. For several months afterward, he felt fine. He felt like he always does.

Rachel Sauer | June 15, 2022

Pop singer Justin Bieber shocked fans last week when he posted a video on Instagram in which he explained he had been diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, a condition that causes paralysis on one side of the face. 

Greg Glasgow | June 14, 2022

In 2020, firearm injuries were the leading cause of death in U.S. children 18 and younger, accounting for 3,230 children’s deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Rachel Sauer | June 13, 2022

Although unconfirmed, legend has it that the pediatric ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialty emerged because of the prevalence of tots sticking foreign bodies (FB) in those orifices. At least that’s what Sarah Gitomer, MD, was told more than once during her training in the field.

Debra Melani | June 13, 2022

Men looking for information on their physical and sexual health often turn to the internet, where low testosterone is a commonly searched — and commonly misunderstood — topic.

Greg Glasgow | June 10, 2022

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.

Laura Kelley | June 09, 2022

An important step in addressing the growing crisis of suicide by firearm among active-duty military servicemembers involves asking not only why these deaths are happening, but how.

Rachel Sauer | June 09, 2022

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. 

Greg Glasgow | June 08, 2022

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.

Megan Lane | June 06, 2022

Michael Boysen didn’t know that a research award from the Endocrine Society was in his future when he started working in the lab of University of Colorado Cancer Center member Matthew Sikora, PhD, last fall. But earlier this month, Boysen — a first-year medical student in the CU School of Medicine — got word that he is one of the recipients of the Endocrine Society’s Research Experiences for Graduate and Medical Students Award for 2022. In addition to $2,500 in research funding, the award includes participation in a summer research project and seminars on career development. 

Greg Glasgow | May 31, 2022

Much of medicine has been transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two and a half years, and medical school is no exception. The 181 students who graduated from the University of Colorado School of Medicine today have seen their learning and training profoundly altered by the health crisis, and they enter residency in a medical landscape still dealing with the pandemic and its aftermath.

Greg Glasgow | May 27, 2022

For some time, the standard medical recommendation and treatment plan for a teen athlete who suffered a concussion was to sit in a dark room and do as little as possible until symptoms subsided. 

Greg Glasgow | May 26, 2022

News of a mysterious liver disease circulating in young children around the world – coupled with recent media reports of 13 cases under review in Colorado – has triggered alarm among some parents. While not surprising, especially on the heels of a pandemic that upended the lives of all ages, a general consensus among experts is that it’s not time to panic.

Debra Melani | May 25, 2022

Sanjana Bukkapatnam, a fourth-year medical student at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, scored a victory in April when her paper on her glioblastoma research took first place in the National Poster Competition at the American College of Physicians Conference in Chicago. 

Greg Glasgow | May 25, 2022

The unusual spread of monkeypox from West and Central Africa, where it has occurred sporadically, has health experts on alert. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week issued a health advisory asking clinicians to be on the lookout for the virus’s characteristic rash and fever.

Chris Casey | May 23, 2022

The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the Defense Health Agency (DHA) signed an official Educational Partnership Agreement on May 18. The agreement will facilitate collaborations between military personnel and CU, including joint research, internships and ongoing relationships with DHA experts.

Laura Veith | May 20, 2022

For the University of Colorado School of Medicine Class of 2022, the past two years have been filled with many twists and turns as normal life was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenges these students have faced to balance school, clinical training, and personal life have demanded much of them.

School of Medicine | May 20, 2022

It was in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, aboard a Navy ship bound for the Middle East, that Josh Abolarin’s journey to medical school began.  

Greg Glasgow | May 20, 2022

Molly the golden retriever was a fan of cookies. Whenever there was a plate of them nearby, she kept her eye on it, waiting for her chance to sneak one or five. She was a fan of water, too, even after she had surgery to remove her left front leg following an osteosarcoma, or bone cancer, diagnosis in April 2017.

Rachel Sauer | May 19, 2022

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.

Rachel Sauer | May 19, 2022

Fueled by a major investment by the Gates Frontiers Fund, a newly announced Gates Institute on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus will stand ready to transform the frontier of regenerative medicine and cellular and gene therapies in the Rocky Mountain region.

Debra Melani | May 11, 2022

Worldwide focus on the novel SARS-CoV-2 reversed momentum that was halting an age-old killer. Tuberculosis (TB) remains the world’s most-lethal infectious disease after COVID-19, and, according to an infectious disease expert at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, health experts had planned to end the TB epidemic by 2035.

Chris Casey | May 10, 2022

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.

Laura Kelley | May 09, 2022

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.

Kelsea Pieters | May 02, 2022

A star took center stage at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus on April 26, where the award-winning “guest” was presented by some of its greatest fans to a roomful of many new admirers.

Debra Melani | May 02, 2022

For more than 20 years, Richard Johnson, MD, has investigated the impact of sugar, especially fructose, on the human body and how we process it. He’s found that evolution has programmed us to overeat on the promise that we will lose weight during lean times. However, it’s no longer feast or famine – it’s just feast. 

Kelsea Pieters and David Kelly | April 27, 2022

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus are joining efforts to improve the lives and healthcare of the 61 million Americans living with disabilities, a number expected to rise in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Laura Veith | April 25, 2022

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.

Rachel Sauer | April 20, 2022

A joke about bald heads by comedian and presenter Chris Rock at the Oscars ceremony last month stung patients and providers of alopecia areata (AA) around the world. Actor Will Smith’s shocking slap to Rock’s face in response ignited public awareness of a disorder that steals the hair of nearly 7 million people in the United States, many of them children.

Debra Melani | April 12, 2022

At first, she was reluctant to talk about it – a little sheepish, even. The obvious question was, “Why are you doing this?” And though she had answers, none of them were quick or easy.

Rachel Sauer | April 06, 2022

Watching the Columbia space shuttle launch in 1982, a young Kjell Lindgren set his sights on becoming an astronaut. His appetite grew until, in 2015, he found himself tending to one of the first plants grown off-Earth on the International Space Station (ISS). The taste of that first space adventure – and the red romaine lettuce – was beyond anything he’d dreamed.

Chris Casey | April 05, 2022

Americans 50 and older who are four months post-booster shot received the green light last week for COVID booster No. 2. An unexpected age drop combined with a receding threat of infection have some people in the approved group asking questions before rolling up their sleeves for a fourth time.

Debra Melani | April 05, 2022

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.

Greg Glasgow | March 31, 2022

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and their international collaborators have discovered that a protein critical in the embryonic stages of life is reactivated in certain cases of mesothelioma, offering clues into the origin of this aggressive cancer.

Laura Kelley | March 30, 2022

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.

Debra Melani | March 28, 2022

Two things happen when Teri Schreiner, MD, MPH, diagnoses a 10-year-old with multiple sclerosis (MS): It breaks her heart and inspires her research.

Debra Melani | March 22, 2022

Almost a decade into his medical career, amid the daily traumas of war, Mohammed Al-Musawi, MD, began to love his job.

Rachel Sauer | March 22, 2022

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.

Chris Casey | March 21, 2022

A University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center researcher has found, through extensive data analysis, that the youngest patients with brain tumors – those ages birth to 3 months – have about half the five-year survival rate as children ages 1 to 19.

Rachel Sauer | March 18, 2022

Jayashree Kalpathy-Cramer, PhD, has been named chief of the new Division of Artificial Medical Intelligence in Ophthalmology at the University of Colorado (CU) School of Medicine. In her new role, Kalpathy-Cramer will translate novel artificial intelligence (AI) methods into effective patient care practices at the Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Eye Center.

Rachel Wittel | March 17, 2022

As office buildings refill with employees, and grocery stores bustle with mask-less shoppers, a question remains during the biggest lull in the COVID-19 pandemic yet: What about the children?

Debra Melani | March 17, 2022

More than one in nine Americans 65 and older are now battling Alzheimer’s disease, and the numbers are expected to greatly increase in the coming decades as our population ages.

Chris Casey | March 11, 2022

As the nation moves into the least-infectious period since the start of the pandemic, with Colorado’s governor last week ushering the healthy and fully vaccinated back into a mask-less and more normal life, some experts warn against moving too fast.

Debra Melani | March 11, 2022

Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have pinpointed for the first time a bacterium that could trigger rheumatoid arthritis. Their look at the gut microbiome’s potential role in the autoimmune disorder could offer clues in defining what patients are most at risk for the disabling disease.

Chris Casey | March 01, 2022

When Blake Martin, MD, packs up his two tots for preschool and outings, he knows their chances of ending up in the hospital with COVID-19 are slim. Many parents breathed huge sighs of relief when the mysterious virus of 2020 turned its focus away from the country’s littlest citizens.

Debra Melani | February 25, 2022

Melissa Haendel, PhD, has many goals as a prominent data scientist and the first-ever chief research informatics officer for the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. All research on the academic medical campus stands to benefit from her team, skilled in the emerging field of data science.

Debra Melani | February 25, 2022

There were a lot of things Jim White thought he’d never do: stay in one place long enough to feel roots grow beneath his feet, meet the love of his life, have a child whose daily joy in discovering the world reignites White’s own joy.

Rachel Sauer | February 22, 2022

Comedian Bob Saget’s death on January 9 was a shock to fans who loved him as Danny Tanner on “Full House” or for his stand-up comedy, and to those who admired and respected him as a colleague.

Rachel Sauer | February 10, 2022

Artin (Art) Shoukas, PhD, a Johns Hopkins University professor emeritus, would have never dreamed he’d be using marijuana every night in his retirement years. He melts the medicinal form – mostly cannabidiol (CBD) with just a touch of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – under his tongue before dinner.

Debra Melani | February 10, 2022

Children’s Hospital Colorado (Children’s Colorado), the University of Colorado School of Medicine (CU School of Medicine) and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (CU Anschutz Campus) are announcing that Ronald J. Sokol, MD, will become the inaugural Chief Scientific Officer, Child Health, effective May 1, 2022. As an experienced research leader and expert in pediatric liver disease and transplantation, Dr. Sokol will help formalize a joint research enterprise across the CU Anschutz Campus to promote discovery and increase understanding of childhood diseases, while also advancing clinical care to improve health across the entire lifespan. 

Staff | February 08, 2022

On this World Cancer Day, the University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center looks back to earlier this week when President Biden reignited his Cancer Moonshot initiative, setting ambitious goals to “reduce the death rate from cancer by at least 50% over the next 25 years and improve the experience of people and their families living with and surviving cancer — and by doing this and more, end cancer as we know it today.” 

Shelly Lange | February 04, 2022

By the time Karre Wakefield’s friends and classmates turned 16 and got behind the wheel, she had accepted riding as only a passenger. Wakefield was born with hydrocephalus, or excess fluid in her brain, which damaged her optic nerve and rendered her ineligible for a driver’s license in the state of Colorado.

Rachel Wittel | February 04, 2022

With signs of a retreating omicron surge, should people who escaped the pandemic’s most transmissible variant throw a party – with infected guests?

Staff | February 03, 2022

From Silly Putty to the microwave oven, there is a long history of consumer products “accidentally” discovered during the scientific discovery process. 

Greg Glasgow | February 03, 2022

“The University is under quarantine now, and no one is allowed in or out without a pass,” wrote a student to his mother during the summer of 1918.¹ Back then, school closures, bans on public gatherings and face masks were commonplace. The measures used today to stop the spread of COVID-19, which feel almost unprecedented, were the very same methods used to contain the 1918 influenza pandemic.

Guest Contributor | February 01, 2022

After hearing the phrase “dead in bed,” restful nights for Marc Bullion and his wife, Becki, disappeared. Their daughter, Lelia, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D) at age 8, and her low-blood sugar episodes were unusually frequent.

Debra Melani | January 31, 2022

University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center leader Wells Messersmith, MD, has been named chief medical officer of oncology services at UCHealth. In this new role, Messersmith will oversee cancer care at all UCHealth locations with a focus on expanding advanced treatments and the clinical trials UCHealth offers in partnership with the CU Cancer Center.

Cancer Center | January 27, 2022

Much has changed in the world since COVID-19 emerged and touched off a global health crisis. The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and other academic research institutions have been at the heart of the response to the pandemic, aggregating data, making discoveries, running clinical trials and developing therapies.

Chris Casey | January 26, 2022

While both patients and clinicians prioritize information transparency, a 21st Century Cures Act requirement for the immediate release of test and lab results is proving more controversial, according to recently published survey results of clinicians and patients.

Rachel Sauer | January 21, 2022

Beneath the SARS-CoV-2 membrane and its spikes lurks a squiggle of genetic material, or RNA, enveloped by a protein that acts like bubble wrap to protect the genetic material. This protein also acts as a “hotbed” for multiple interactions to control the infected cell.

Chris Casey | January 19, 2022

For more than a decade, Tom Poindexter managed his glaucoma with drops as routinely as brushing his teeth. Catching it early, he was diagnosed with open-angle glaucoma, the most common form, in his 50s.

Rachel Wittel | January 14, 2022

Omicron is hitting the nation hard, pushing delta out as it infects at a higher rate of speed than any SARS-CoV-2 variant so far. In past days, infection rates in some of Colorado’s mountain towns have topped the nation, even in areas with high vaccination rates.

Debra Melani | January 11, 2022

Hockey games announce goals with a hard-to-miss flashing red light. At a recent NHL game, a fan used the color for a more important purpose. She tapped on the plexiglass and showed an assistant equipment manager a message on her phone, including these red-lettered words: “cancerous,” “mole” and “doctor.”

Chris Casey | January 10, 2022

Emma Lamping, a second-year student at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, has received a $5,000 “Emerging Scientist Award” from the Institute of Cannabis Research in Pueblo, Colorado, for her work on a research study comparing postoperative pain medication requirements and surgical outcomes after major abdominal surgery for the treatment of cancer between daily cannabis users and nonusers of cannabis.

Greg Glasgow | January 06, 2022

Every day seems to bring news of another climate disaster.

Kiley Kudrna | December 20, 2021

With the quiet comfort of a caring partner, Sue Krummrei reaches over and pats her husband’s leg as he breaks down on camera.

Debra Melani | November 23, 2021

After 15 years of unauthorized vaping products being marketed across the country, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Oct. 12 gave its first-ever e-cigarette approval – three devices made by the company Vuse.

Debra Melani | November 19, 2021

With two female cardiothoracic surgeons in its ranks, the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine is ahead of the curve when it comes to gender representation in the field. By one recent estimate, just 8% of cardiothoracic surgeons in the country are female.

Greg Glasgow | November 17, 2021

The victory lap came 50 years after high school, in a female restroom at Denver’s East High School.

Rachel Sauer | November 15, 2021

The holiday season has always challenged mental health experts and their patients. Things like loneliness, depression and grief over lost loved ones don’t go away just because the ornaments and the mistletoe come out. In fact, they often get worse.

Debra Melani | November 12, 2021

The cancer diagnosis came at a time when it seemed as though everything was happening – he was only 37 and soon to become president of the Denver City Council; his three children were ages 4, 6, and 9; he had just run the BOLDERBoulder 10K.

Rachel Sauer | November 03, 2021

According to her dad, Mia McMurray hates needles. The 8-year-old dutifully gets her flu shot every year, but not without dread. So when his daughter jumped at the chance to take part in a clinical trial for the COVID-19 vaccine, Michael McMurray was surprised.

Debra Melani | November 02, 2021

Patient care doesn’t always happen within four walls or in buildings with controlled climates and cupboards full of supplies. Sometimes it happens in a parking lot, on the sidewalk, by a trail – wherever a person with need happens to be.

Rachel Sauer | October 28, 2021

Patient care doesn’t always happen within four walls or in buildings with controlled climates and cupboards full of supplies. Sometimes it happens in a parking lot, on the sidewalk, by a trail – wherever a person with need happens to be.

Rachel Sauer | October 28, 2021

On Oct. 27, Chancellor Don Elliman delivered the 2021 State of the Campus Address virtually. He detailed the growth and forward momentum of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, while highlighting the possibilities and challenges ahead. 

Staff | October 27, 2021

With the U.S. approval of another COVID-19 shot now expanded to Moderna and Johnson & Johnson recipients, the doors have opened for tens of millions of more Americans to boost their immunity against the coronavirus.

Debra Melani | October 26, 2021

The U.S. Department of Defense is funding a study by Arek Wiktor, MD, associate professor of GI, trauma, and endocrine surgery and interim medical director of the UCHealth Burn and Frostbite Center – Anschutz Medical Campus, to aid in treatment of military and civilian burn patients.

Greg Glasgow | October 19, 2021

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.

Chris Casey | October 19, 2021

In a grim reminder of the toll COVID-19 can take even among those who are vaccinated against it, former Secretary of State Colin Powell died Monday of complications from the virus. His family said Powell, who was 84, was fully vaccinated against the disease.

Greg Glasgow | October 18, 2021

For the nearly 190 million Americans vaccinated against last year’s holiday-crashing coronavirus, the 2021 season appears brighter. The chances of ringing in the New Year in a hospital bed because of earlier social merry-making are dramatically lower this year for people who took the shot.

Debra Melani | October 18, 2021

The first time Caley Kurchinski had to think about a double mastectomy, she was only 16. Her mother had died at age 36 from breast cancer, when Caley was 6. When she became a teenager, Caley’s family physician began telling her she needed to get genetic testing.

Rachel Sauer | October 15, 2021

Kirsten Stewart was just putting on lotion, like she does every morning after her shower. That particular morning, though, she noticed something different: a lump that hadn’t been there before and that definitely wasn’t normal. She was only 30 years old.

Rachel Sauer | October 07, 2021

Over the past five decades, childhood overweight and obesity has transitioned from public health concern to public health crisis. In 1971, 5.2% of U.S. children ages 2 to 19 were experiencing obesity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a number that increased to 19.3% by 2018.

Rachel Sauer | September 30, 2021

Recent findings linking COVID-19 and Alzheimer’s disease have sparked concern among experts, taking the spotlight at the July Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Denver and prompting an “urgent” call from the Alzheimer’s Disease International for “fast-tracking” research on the issue.

Debra Melani | September 27, 2021

Actor Willie Garson was probably best known for his role as Stanford Blatch on “Sex and the City,” playing one of Carrie Bradshaw’s New York-savvy best friends.

Rachel Sauer | September 27, 2021

Jonathan Fox happily entered his 50s with his identity, stress outlet and social life entwined in a heart-healthy activity – cycling – that would easily propel him into his golden years.

Chris Casey | September 20, 2021

Comedian and former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Norm MacDonald died Tuesday, after what his brother, Neil MacDonald, described as a nine-year battle with acute leukemia. Norm MacDonald, known for his intelligence and sarcastic wit, was 61.

Greg Glasgow | September 16, 2021

Visiting high-altitude locations may be dangerous for people with high blood pressure or certain heart conditions, according to a new report from the American Heart Association that offers guidance about engaging in recreational activities in mountainous regions.

American Heart Association | September 15, 2021

Labeled a “code red for humanity” in a United Nations report released early last month, climate change has continued to wreak havoc worldwide. In the United States, devastating fires in the West recently traded the spotlight for deadly flooding in the East, keeping the threat squarely on America’s radar.

Debra Melani | September 10, 2021

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.

Rachel Sauer | September 08, 2021

Images of the crumbling Twin Towers are invading American living rooms and cellphones, as the 20th anniversary of one of the worst days in the nation’s history nears. From Netflix and PBS documentaries to news reports of tribute events across the country, the swell of 9/11 coverage will give rise to uncomfortable emotions for nearly everyone.

Debra Melani | September 07, 2021

We are more likely to trust a familiar voice.

The New York Times published a dialect quiz that, by offering users a series of multiple-choice options of everyday life phrases and names, could pinpoint the exact U.S. region a quiz taker was from. Each of us comes from a community with its own dialect—how we talk is unique to not just our state, but our region, county, city, and even neighborhood.

Laura Veith - ACCORDS Writer | September 06, 2021

The diagnosis came as a shock. Although, looking back, Bill Mordecai says it shouldn’t have been. 

Valerie Gleaton | September 01, 2021

While stories about the delta variant flood the news, there may be some measure of relief in these tense times – at least for the vaccinated.

Chris Casey | August 30, 2021

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.

Debra Melani | August 24, 2021

Multiple sclerosis (MS) landed in the spotlight earlier this month when actress Christina Applegate announced that she had been diagnosed with the disease.

Chris Casey | August 24, 2021

David Kooyman transferred his care to University of Colorado Cancer Center member and associate professor of thoracic oncology, Tejas Patil, MD, to be part of a clinical trial to help with his rare lung cancer gene fusion.

Cancer Center | August 19, 2021

Richard Schulick, MD, MBA, director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, becomes close with all of his patients, but he has a special bond with Gerry Turner, one of Schulick’s surgical patients for pancreatic cancer.

Greg Glasgow | August 18, 2021

Comedian Kathy Griffin’s recently announced lung cancer diagnosis came early and arose from a non-related health screening. A lucky catch, and an understandable path to detection for a person who never smoked.

Debra Melani | August 13, 2021

Despite the growing threat of the Delta variant, many Americans who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 are living life much as they did pre-pandemic — traveling, shopping, going out to eat, and forgoing masks in many situations.

Greg Glasgow | August 13, 2021

You know how it is trying to leave for vacation – there’s always one last thing to do, one last note to write, one last end to tie up before committing to the rest and relaxation.

Rachel Sauer | August 13, 2021

Of all the lessons she learned during the eight-week Medical Student Summer Research Program (MSRP), Rose Castle, a rising second year at the University of Colorado School of Medicine who is interested in pursuing general surgery, drew her main takeaway outside the operating room.

Rachel Sauer | August 10, 2021

When you ask a classroom full of middle schoolers what they want to be when they grow up, you’re likely to get a range of answers, from “pro athletes” and “astronauts” to “musicians” and “movie stars.”

Valerie Gleaton | July 26, 2021

“Basketball, playing with sheep, playing with goats, playing with dogs, horse camp, friends ...”

Nine-year-old Danner Plumhoff is rattling off a list of her summer plans. Many of these activities wouldn’t have been possible for her last summer, when she was fresh off an intensive craniofacial surgery. It was her biggest surgery to date, but as a child with a rare variant of Crouzon syndrome, it was hardly her first.

Valerie Gleaton | July 20, 2021

It’s difficult enough when a loved one is diagnosed with cancer, but employed spouses of those who receive the diagnosis also are confronted with an array of practical problems. It’s now up to them to untangle issues around medical leave, health insurance, caregiving benefits, and more.

Greg Glasgow | July 14, 2021

As a race that pits vaccine against virus forges on, a stealthy move by one contender might have just pushed the finish line farther out.

Debra Melani | July 06, 2021

Using a grainy, black-and-white video image of a mouse brain, Fabrice Dabertrand, PhD, demonstrates how a disease responsible for upwards of 40% of all dementia cases today steals the brain’s ability to nourish cells by halting vessel dilation.

Debra Melani | July 06, 2021

Matthew Bartley, MD, MS, has gone viral (as in trending in the world of social media).

Greg Glasgow | July 01, 2021

Since a chance discovery by U.S. Army scientists studying mustard gas during World War II, chemotherapy has added countless years to cancer patients’ lives around the world.

Debra Melani | June 24, 2021

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.

Debra Melani | June 17, 2021

As controversy swirls around the first disease-modifying Alzheimer’s drug ever approved, top experts at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus see the move – for the most part – as a step forward.

Debra Melani | June 15, 2021

Patients’ rights advocates scored a major victory in April, when a provision went into effect that allows patients immediate access to all information in their medical records, including physician notes and test results. The change is part of the 21st Century Cures Act, which was passed by Congress in 2016 and continues to be updated.

Greg Glasgow | June 14, 2021

Research and treatment of head and neck cancers at the University of Colorado Cancer Center reached a new level this month with a highly competitive Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The SPORE was approved by NCI Scientific Program leadership for FY2021 funding; the projected starting date is July 1.

Greg Glasgow | June 07, 2021

On May 19, 2021, more than 20 medical students from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, along with a handful of residents, fellows, and faculty members from the Department of Surgery, gathered in the home of Yihan Lin, MD, MPH, a cardiothoracic surgery fellow.

Valerie Gleaton | May 27, 2021

One of the most difficult nights of Hank Baskett Sr.’s life was the night he told his wife he had been diagnosed with lung cancer.

Greg Glasgow | May 24, 2021

After seeing the tragic COVID-19 crisis unfolding in India, Saketh Guntupalli, MD, associate professor of gynecologic oncology in the University of Colorado School of Medicine and member of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, decided to do something about it.

Greg Glasgow | May 19, 2021

After seeing the tragic COVID-19 crisis unfolding in India, Saketh Guntupalli, MD, associate professor of gynecologic oncology in the University of Colorado School of Medicine and member of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, decided to do something about it.

Greg Glasgow | May 19, 2021

Long before RNA and mRNA became important parts of the COVID-19 vaccine conversation, researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine were studying how RNA biology can improve diagnostics and therapeutics for a range of diseases.

Greg Glasgow | May 18, 2021

Siri Lindley couldn’t swim. She had never learned how and the idea of competing in a triathlon seemed completely out of the question.

Cancer Center | May 16, 2021

It feels odd to use the phrase “perfect timing” when talking about a cancer diagnosis, but that’s exactly how Tonya Quinn describes her experience being diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago.  

Valerie Gleaton | May 12, 2021

Fredric Pieracci, MD, MPH/MSPH, an associate professor in the University of Colorado School of Medicine Department of Surgery, is the senior author on a new paper published in Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases that details the results of a public health initiative to provide affordable bariatric surgery to uninsured Denver County residents.  

Valerie Gleaton | April 28, 2021

Bryan Raymond was very nearly just another grim entry on the ever-growing list of COVID-19 fatalities. But thanks to efforts by faculty members in the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Department of Surgery, Raymond is a COVID statistic of a different sort — the first person in Colorado to receive a lung transplant related to the virus.

Greg Glasgow | April 26, 2021

Thirty days of radiation treatments — five days a week, with Saturdays and Sundays off — are difficult for even the toughest of adults. But for a child, they’re even harder to bear. They involve fasting, waking up early, and lying in a dark room alone, without even your parents there for support.

Greg Glasgow | April 21, 2021

April is National Donate Life Month — an awareness month that encourages Americans to register as organ, eye, and tissue donors and that honors those who have saved lives through the gift of donation.

Valerie Gleaton | April 09, 2021

For the past nine years, the Surgical Outcomes and Applied Research (SOAR) group at the University of Colorado School of Medicine has been conducting research on health services within the Department of Surgery. A large part of that research has to do with clinical outcomes for surgery patients and how patients fare — in the short term and the long term — after an operation.

Greg Glasgow | April 07, 2021

As they look back on one of the most challenging years in their medical careers, members of the Department of Surgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine remember the low points — the crowded emergency rooms, the delayed surgeries, the deaths from the disease — but they remember some high points as well.

Greg Glasgow | March 24, 2021

Ashton Villars has always been a problem solver. As a competitive athlete in basketball, waterskiing, and tennis and an actual rocket scientist, Villars has tackled every challenge in life head on — including his prostate cancer diagnosis. Now, he’s bringing that same problem-solving spirit to supporting cancer research. 

Valerie Gleaton | March 05, 2021

“Diversity and inclusion in medicine can save lives.” That was the message from Robert Higgins, MD, MSHA, director of the Department of Surgery and surgeon-in-chief at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Department of Surgery | February 25, 2021

As a resident in the Department of Surgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Heather Carmichael, MD, was accustomed to the emotional remove doctors have from their patients. The distance that allows surgeons to cut into someone without hesitation or to deliver bad news without falling apart.

Greg Glasgow | February 19, 2021

Eighteen physicians, residents, and medical students from the University of Colorado School of Medicine presented on their research this week at the Academic Surgical Congress, an annual convention hosted by the Society of University Surgeons.

Department of Surgery | February 05, 2021

For the past 20 years, the Union for International Cancer Control has designated February 4 as World Cancer Day — a day to raise awareness, improve education, and catalyze personal, collective, and government action around the deadly disease. The organization hopes to reduce the number of premature deaths from cancer and noncommunicable diseases by one-third by 2030.

Cancer Center | February 02, 2021

Edward Jones, MD, MS, an associate professor of surgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, is a nationally recognized expert on preventing operating room (OR) fires.

Department of Surgery | January 13, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought new attention to the safety of patients during surgery. But long before the concerns brought on by coronavirus, the CU Department of Surgery was working to make patient safety a priority.

Department of Surgery | January 06, 2021

In a normal year, vascular surgeons would never postpone surgeries for patients with aortic or carotid disease or other conditions.

Department of Surgery | December 30, 2020

COVID-19 is the most-talked-about health concern in 2020, but for many, it is not the deadliest disease. University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center leadership is bringing attention to the fact that more people will die from cancer than COVID this year.

Cancer Center | December 22, 2020

The racial reckoning occurring in America in a year that saw the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and others touches nearly every aspect of society. From corporate boardrooms and HR departments to police forces and universities, assumptions are being questioned and priorities reexamined as we are reminded of the inequities that still exist for people of color.

Greg Glasgow | December 14, 2020

Medical cannabis was legalized in Colorado in 2000, but 20 years later, Camille Stewart, MD, isn’t able to prescribe it to her patients. Nor is she able to dictate the dosage or frequency with which patients take the drug.

Greg Glasgow | December 07, 2020

Until you or a loved one are facing treatment for a cancer diagnosis, you may not realize the cost associated with treatment and doctor visits. Unfortunately, the cost is continuing to rise as new treatments are discovered and patients are responsible for more of those costs, even if they have health insurance coverage.

Cancer Center | November 24, 2020

Longtime “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek announced it to the world on March 6, 2019: Like 50,000 other Americans each year, he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

Greg Glasgow | November 11, 2020

A new movie streaming on Disney+ is shining a spotlight on a rare type of bone cancer that occurs most often in children and young adults.

Greg Glasgow | November 02, 2020

Knowing your family health history is one of the first steps to finding out if you may have a higher risk of cancer and might need early screenings. Ela Carta is no stranger to the struggles of having a family history of cancer. At the age of 30, Carta’s aunt, Audie, began urging Carta to get a mammogram. With a long family history of breast cancer and fibrocystic breast disease, Carta knew she had to be proactive with her health.

Chanthy Na | October 21, 2020

Growing up, Douglas “Bucky” Dilts was all too familiar with the dangers of cancer. “My mother ran a cancer tumor registry at St Joseph's Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia for over 25 years. She was always telling us about different types of cancer, so cancer was always at the forefront.”  

Department of Surgery | September 23, 2020

As a young child, Jennifer Falomir-Lopez just wanted to look “normal” like all the other kids. She knew she was different but couldn’t explain to her friends why she looked different. Jennifer was born with a cleft lip and cleft alveolus.

Chanthy Na | July 28, 2020