Education Community Cancer Student and Alumni
In 1995, Robb Gaffney left behind the life of a full-time dirtbag skier to attend the University of Colorado School of Medicine — or that’s how his brother Scott Gaffney puts it in “1999,” a ski film turned cult classic that Scott recorded on 16mm film as a tribute to one of the best winters in ski history.
COVID-19 vaccines for children received a good deal of scrutiny when they first became available in 2021. Chatter online and elsewhere indicated that parents were becoming less likely to vaccinate their children due to growing misinformation around the COVID-19 vaccines.
Patient Care COVID-19 Clinical Research
As the holiday and peak respiratory seasons collide, and COVID-19 cases continue a steady, weeks-long climb, doctors want high-risk people to remember: Should COVID catch them in the coming days, one call to the doctor could save Christmas – or more.
Like your home’s plumbing system, if a “pipe” clogs or corrodes and bursts within your vascular system, it can create a destructive mess, even leading to an all-systems failure if not addressed. Constant, high-pressure flow weakens arteries, and can knock corrosive plaque loose, creating a dangerous barrier. The best way to prevent a blowout? Take care of your house.
Most Coloradans look at winter as a time of excitement when the high country turns into our own winter wonderland with the opportunity to create lifelong memories. But for many who live with autoimmune diseases, the colder months may mean more pain, fatigue and unexpected disease flares that hamper the excitement of the snow and the holiday season.
Patient Care Brain and Spinal Cancer Oncology Radiation
Alex Cooper relishes a challenge. Armed with a New Yorker’s moxie, an entrepreneur’s savvy, and an athlete’s determination, he has launched startups, has competed in Ironman triathlons, and offers motivational messages in blogs, videos, and social media posts as the “Iron CEO.”
Everyone might be tired of hearing about COVID-19, but the fact is that Colorado’s long COVID clinics can’t meet the demand. Up to 500,000 Coloradans continue to experience long-term symptoms after COVID, or so-called long COVID. To address this issue, a group of health care providers, researchers and patient advocates came together for a roundtable discussion on long COVID care on Nov. 29 with Colorado’s Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera.
Between an uptick in social obligations, dealing with family tensions, and the pressure to have a Hallmark-worthy season of joy, the holidays can be one of the most stressful times of the year.
Education Community Cancer Student and Alumni
In 1995, Robb Gaffney left behind the life of a full-time dirtbag skier to attend the University of Colorado School of Medicine — or that’s how his brother Scott Gaffney puts it in “1999,” a ski film turned cult classic that Scott recorded on 16mm film as a tribute to one of the best winters in ski history.
A little boost from a morning cup of coffee may be a welcome stimulant on a busy day and even offer health benefits for some people, but how much caffeine is too much?
Patient Care Diabetes Clinical Research
With the largest universal screening programs in the country, researchers at the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes (BDC) have known for years that testing all children for type 1 diabetes (T1D) could prevent the heartbreak and life-threatening complications that late-stage diagnosis can cause. Yet, until recently, they have often felt alone in their educational efforts.
Education Community Students Equity Diversity and Inclusion
Last Friday was a valuable learning opportunity for some students and residents in the University of Colorado School of Medicine and other schools on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus.
Heart alcohol holidays atrial fibrillation
Having one too many toasts at a holiday celebration can lead to something much more serious than a nasty hangover the next day.
Research Patient Care Education Community
Chancellor Don Elliman delivered his annual State of the Campus Address on Nov. 16 to nearly 750 community members online and in-person, highlighting the campus’s strong stance at the forefront of innovation in health and medicine.
Clinical Research Autoimmune disease
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that damages the small intestine when gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye, is ingested. According to a recent study published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, the worldwide incidence rate among children is “extremely high,” but varies by region.
Research Plastic Surgery Retina
Doctors in New York this month announced the world’s first successful whole-eye and partial face transplant, a feat Kia Washington, MD, professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, says sets the stage for further advancement in the field and shows promise that patients may one day regain vision after an eye transplant.
Skin Cancer Dermatology skin damage
Colorado is a winter playground, whether your passion is skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, or just throwing snowballs. But the bright sun that helps make winter sports in the Rockies so delightful also poses a threat to your skin.
Jerica Berge, PhD, MPH, has been named director of the Adult and Child Center for Outcomes Research and Delivery Science (ACCORDS) at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, effective January 1, 2024. She will also hold a faculty appointment as professor in the Department of Family Medicine and the associate director of child outcomes research at Children’s Hospital Colorado. She will have secondary appointments in pediatrics and public health.
People with Down syndrome are more likely than the general population to develop serious respiratory infections. Often, symptoms are so severe that patients require hospitalization. As respiratory season moves in, researchers on campus are working to understand what unique genetic factors may contribute to this problem.
New research led by University of Colorado School of Medicine faculty members Fan Zhang, PhD, and Anna Helena Jonsson, MD, PhD, may lead to new targeted treatments for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an autoimmune disease that causes joint inflammation and destruction.
As a geriatrician, or physician specially trained to treat older adults, Kenneth Lam, MD, MAS, has many years of experience working with families to understand when their older relatives should move into a nursing home or assisted living facility, and what kind of services they might need.
Flu season has arrived, bringing with it questions about vaccines, symptoms, testing, and more. During the 2022–23 flu season, it’s estimated that there were as many as 670,000 hospitalizations and 58,000 deaths from the virus in the U.S.
Supporting professional teams from the outside, fans fixate on the black-and-white peaks and valleys they watch from the sofa or the stands – the big wins and triumphant seasons along with the painful losses and agonizing rebuilds. Sometimes, as in the case of last year’s Denver Nuggets and the 2021-22 Colorado Avalanche, their team delivers pure ecstasy – a long-awaited championship.
Funding from the Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine is helping Jasmine Ramirez, a third-year doctorate of audiology student at CU Boulder, pursue her passion for helping medically underserved communities.
With daylight waning, temperatures dropping, and snow starting to fall, winter is just around the corner. Each winter, approximately 5% of the U.S. adult population experiences a sharp downturn of mood known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), or seasonal depression.
Research Patient Care Community Lung Cancer Clinical Trials
A clinical trial for lung cancer at the University of Colorado Cancer Center saved Betty Moren’s life. Now Betty and her husband, Bill, are giving back, sharing their cancer journey and clinical trial experiences as patient advocates at the cancer center’s Thoracic Oncology Research Initiative (TORI), which brings together investigators from multiple departments and centers across the CU Anschutz Medical Campus to advance lung cancer research.
Education Community Leadership Conferences Mentoring
More than 240 people representing 20 institutions nationwide joined together last week on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus to address the value of mentorship and career guidance for health care professionals.
Maria Baimas-George, MD, MPH, first noticed it early in her residency — doctors, and surgeons in particular, aren’t always the best at explaining complex medical issues to young patients.
Research Clinical Trials Obesity
A new device for weight loss — a swallowable gastric balloon that requires no invasive procedures — may soon be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after a nationwide clinical trial that is being overseen by Shelby Sullivan, MD, professor of gastroenterology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and director of the Metabolic and Bariatric Program.
Education Community CU Medicine Today
In nearly every corner of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus – in clinics, in classrooms, in offices, and in laboratories – faculty members and students are thinking about the power artificial intelligence, or AI, holds in health care, from finding treatments for rare diseases to developing machine learning standards to helping ophthalmologists assess patients.
Altitude sickness can quickly turn adventures in Colorado’s high country into misadventures, especially for out-of-staters who flock to the state each year to ski. Last year, Colorado Ski Country reported a record number of 14.8 million visits to the state’s 27 lift-served ski areas, and that doesn’t include the backcountry. Those numbers are expected to grow even more this season.
New research from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus studies a new tool that will help medical providers identify patients who are failing epilepsy treatments earlier in order to change treatment to rapidly optimize positive outcomes.
There’s a lot to fear at haunted house attractions — wandering zombies, real life jump scares, demons lurking through the dark — but should adrenaline junkies add heart attack to that list?
Community Diversity Health equity Equity Diversity and Inclusion
A light rain began to patter on the yellowing fall leaves as, one by one, dozens of people – many in white lab coats and green scrubs – lay down on concrete benches or the grass. Others sat with their heads bowed, as if to meditate, or pray, or ponder the pain and injustice that had brought them there.
While the incubator was silent on Oct. 8 – no thin layer of cardiomyocytes contracted in a steady beat – national journalists still got a feel for the innovative pulse running through Jeffrey Jacot’s bioengineering lab.
Science Writers 2023 attendees were treated to a hands-on experience during a tour of the Center for Advancing Professional Excellence (CAPE) at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus.
Research Community Cancer Firearm Injury Prevention
The menu featured innovation and knowledge on Sunday as about 200 Science Writers 2023 participants attended a variety of talks during Lunch With a Scientist sessions. In small breakout groups, CU Anschutz researchers shared their expertise on a host of subjects, from psychedelics in medicine to AI in healthcare.
Emmy Betz, MD, MPH, has been elected as a new member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). Betz, director of the University of Colorado Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative and professor of emergency medicine in the University of Colorado School of Medicine, is the sixth faculty member from the CU School of Medicine to receive the honor from NAM. Becoming a NAM member is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine.
Tânia Reis, PhD, an associate professor of endocrinology, metabolism, and diabetes at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, is one of eight recipients of the National Institutes of Health’s prestigious Director’s Pioneer Award for 2023
Community Neuroscience Climate Science Alzheimer's
The effects of climate change continue to rise across the globe, with increased occurrences of extreme and intense weather. The consequences not only impact the environment, but the changes pose a significant threat to our health.
As a cardiothoracic anesthesiology fellow, Rizwan Nazarali, MD, keeps people safely asleep through major, open-chest surgeries. He monitors cardiopulmonary bypass when surgery patients’ hearts or lungs are outside of their bodies, and he manages patients on ECMO, a machine that keeps them alive while they wait for heart or lung transplants.
A research team led by Emma Robinson, PhD, and Timothy McKinsey, PhD, at the University of Colorado School of Medicine has identified a potential target for treating obesity and metabolic disease that could enhance the effectiveness of existing anti-obesity drugs.
It all started with the asylum-seeking mother who escaped violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2018, arriving barefoot and hungry at the border. By the time Lee Gelernt, JD, arrived in San Diego to represent the woman placed in a makeshift detention center, her 6-year-old daughter had been taken from her, shipped off to Chicago four months earlier.
Aimee Gardner, PhD, has been named associate dean of faculty development at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, effective October 1.
As new COVID-19 booster shots hit pharmacies and doctor offices this month, health care professionals say it’s as important as ever to keep up with the vaccine that can prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and death from the coronavirus.
She was only 22 when Kathleen Flarity began attracting attention. As one of nine women in a U.S. Army airborne class of 500 men, Flarity and her fellow female service members were being pushed hard in an environment not yet welcoming of their gender.
Patient Care Community Leukemia
When your life is about being outdoors — about making your way up and around complex rock formations, looking for that flow you get into as every foothold and ledge reveals itself — the last place you want to be is stuck in a hospital bed, enduring the side effects of chemotherapy.
Patient Care Magazine Ovarian Cancer
Amy Bibbey has two distinct lives. There’s the life she led before ovarian cancer, and there’s everything after diagnosis.
Fresh off CU’s victory in the Rocky Mountain Showdown this weekend, both college and NFL fans are ready to gear up and head to the stadium for more action-packed games this season.
Research Press Releases Funding CCTSI
The National Institutes of Health has awarded $54 million over a seven-year period to the CCTSI at CU Anschutz. The grant from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) will fuel biomedical research and training across the state. This is the fourth consecutive time the NIH has funded the CCTSI since 2008 through its Clinical Translational Science Award (CTSA) program.
Research Patient Care Cardiology
Lohit Garg, MBBS, grew curious about the workings of the heart from a young age. His interest was tinged with personal heartache as he watched several family members battle cardiac disease, especially his grandfather.
Research Public Health Climate Science ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz
Prolonged heat waves and the sweltering summer days that accompany climate change can be hazardous for human health, leading to conditions such as heat stroke and even causing permanent organ damage or death if not treated quickly.
When he was 4 years old, Angelo D’Alessandro clearly recalls a cartoon book about the peripatetic nature of red blood cells. Their adventures traveling through the body, visiting the brain, kidneys, lungs, liver, et al., mesmerized D’Alessandro in his native Italy.
Community Awareness Mental Health
As one of the leading causes of death in the United States, suicide has likely touched the lives of many people in some way. For nearly 50 years, National Suicide Prevention Week has served to raise awareness of this critical issue, increase empathy and knowledge, and break the stigma around mental health.
Trekking up the final leg of Fern Canyon Trail to Bear Peak, my quads were on fire, my heart was pounding, and oxygen was at a premium. Climbing to one of Boulder’s highest peaks has always tested my mental and physical stamina. But this time, I came armed with a new tool that would tell me more about the 1,700-foot vertical ascent and my health.
After battling skin cancer for four years before his death, "Margaritaville" singer Jimmy Buffett died on September 1, 2023, at age 76, from Merkel cell carcinoma, according to his website.
Addiction Community and Practice CCTSI
Scott Simpson, MD, MPH, is an emergency psychiatrist at Denver Health Medical Center and an associate professor of psychiatry in the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Several years ago, he and his colleagues were working with the Denver Police Department to expand the use of suboxone treatment for individuals with opioid use disorder.
Community Transplant Surgery Liver Transplant
Aiming to increase the number of living liver donors by making liver donation surgery easier and quicker to recover from, the University of Colorado Department of Surgery recently performed its first robotic hepatectomy (surgery to remove a portion of the liver) from a living donor. Using a surgical robot to perform the procedure results in a smaller incision, less scarring, less pain, and a faster recovery for the donor.
Research Education Community Blood Cancer
Growing up in Windsor, Colorado, Elijah Johnson thought he would grow up to be a professional musician. He never considered a career as a biomedical researcher. But that all changed when his mother was diagnosed with Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS), a rare genetic mutation that increases the risk of cancer.
President Joe Biden recently joined the likes of basketball great Shaquille O’Neal, “Saturday Night Live” star Amy Poehler and Grateful Dead legend Jerry Garcia – he went public with his sleep apnea disorder.
So far, nothing rivals the CPAP machine for treating obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a disorder that causes lapses in breathing throughout the night and robs people of oxygen and sleep. But for some of the estimated 30 million sufferers, the apparatus required – which includes headgear, face mask and a protruding tube anchored to a bedside machine – can be intolerable.
COVID-19 cases have continued a steady uptick that began over the summer in Colorado and across the nation, already contributing to school closures in some harder-hit Southern states. Meanwhile, with respiratory season fast approaching and a brand-new, highly mutated variant raising eyebrows, doctors are fielding questions about a yet-to-be released booster shot.
“Should I be taking a probiotic?” is a question that Maggie Stanislawski, PhD, assistant professor in the University of Colorado Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI), gets asked often.
In partnership with the UCHealth Mobile Stroke Treatment Unit, University of Colorado School of Medicine researchers are measuring blood samples of patients within minutes of stroke onset and discovering data that could change the way many stroke patients are treated.
As first responders across the nation headed to the fire-ravaged small Hawaiian island of Maui focused on halting the devastation, psychological experts were bracing for an aftermath of another kind.
In “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,” the “man,” identified as Mr. P., visits neurologist and author of the book, Oliver Sacks, MD, for a vision problem that has been perplexing his other doctors. On his way out, Mr. P. grabs his wife’s head, thinking it’s his hat, ultimately and unknowingly introducing the lay world to face blindness.
Patient Care Awareness Pediatric Cancer Retina
This summer, six-year-old Coleman Tawresey will go more than 12 consecutive weeks without a doctor’s appointment – something he hasn’t been able to do since being diagnosed with retinoblastoma when he was two.
With her favorite Taylor Swift songs playing in the background and her team of healthcare providers cheering her on, Chenille James stood up from her hospital bed. Her destination was just outside the door, her task a short walk down the hallway. But the feat would be celebrated for months to come.
Research Ovarian Cancer Multiple Myeloma
Many of the side effects of cancer treatment are well-known, including nausea, fatigue, and weight loss.
Research Patient Care Orthopedics
When Rachel Frank, MD, associate professor of orthopedics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, performs surgery on a patient with a knee injury, it’s more than professional. It’s personal.
There’s no such thing as perfect timing when it comes to lung cancer, but Kathy Ballard got pretty close.
Research Patient Care Community
As Nicholas DiBella, MD, walked through the bright halls of UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, heading toward the first-ever reunion of physicians who served at the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center (FAMC), memories came flooding back.
Research Patient Care COVID-19
While long COVID remains shrouded in mystery, the ravages of the disease were on clear and painful display when Admiral Rachel Levine, MD, U.S. assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, visited the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus on July 11 to learn about the campus’s research and clinical care, and hear directly from patients.
COVID-19 COVID-19 Podcasts Clinical Research
Between leading-edge research and the region’s first clinic to specialize in treating patients with long COVID symptoms, the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is at the forefront of providing care while seeking to understand this still-mysterious disease.
For geneticist Joanne Cole, PhD, food is life. Her love goes beyond trying a new recipe and seeking out new restaurants – it’s also in her work in the University of Colorado Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI), identifying the connection between genetics and nutrition.
Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have found that vaping nicotine during pregnancy may be no safer for a developing fetus than smoking cigarettes. The study suggests that vaping nicotine interferes with fetal bone and lung development.
Benzodiazepine use and discontinuation is associated with nervous system injury and negative life effects that continue after discontinuation, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Colorectal Cancer Multidisciplinary Clinic Clinical
In the earliest days of specialized cancer care, two things often happened: either individual oncologists were burdened with the expectation to know everything, or patients were sent on treatment journeys that could involve multiple visits with multiple clinicians in multiple locations.
As the field of cancer care has grown and evolved, buoyed by tremendous strides in research and therapeutics, patients could increasingly and reasonably hope to live many years, rather than many weeks or months, after a diagnosis. A significant contributor to this hope has been the move toward multidisciplinary care.
Obesity is an epidemic. It’s projected that by 2030, one in two adults and one in four children ages 5-9 in the United States will be obese.
Patient Care Community Pancreatic Cancer Multidisciplinary Clinic
Barb Spanjer lay on the floor of her office. She had never been so tired. Her stomach and left side ached, and the pain under her left shoulder blade was relentless. She had seen her doctor a couple of times that autumn of 2017, but the medicine for the ulcer he suspected she had wasn’t working. She had been too tired and too busy running the construction company she and her husband, Steve, owned to follow up with the doctor. But it was getting harder to ignore the symptoms. Something just wasn’t right.
Have you heard about a horse tranquilizer that rots flesh? A fungus that spreads between people? How do you know what is true? Should you be concerned or take any action?
Community Mental Health COMBAT
For one of Ian Stanley’s former patients, an unexpected firework blast sent him hurling across the room, pouncing on his children and shielding their bodies from the fallout of the “bomb attack” that left him trembling in fear.
Research Patient Care Mental Health COMBAT
No caring person would wish post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – or the likely terrifying event that led to it – on anyone. But for those people who develop the mental health condition and find treatment, the skills and lessons they learn can improve their lives in unexpected ways.
A new study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases this week has found that metformin, a drug commonly used to treat diabetes, reduces the risk of long COVID.
Research Innovation Patient Care
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus this week announced the Anschutz Acceleration Initiative, a program to advance cutting-edge healthcare innovations that are poised to reach patients within the next three to five years.
Community Prostate Cancer Bladder Cancer Kidney Cancer Testicular cancer
It’s one thing to develop cancer treatment guidelines in the U.S., where even the smallest health centers have access to the same basic technology for treatment and testing. But what about creating guidelines for oncologists in Sub-Saharan Africa, where access to medical resources can be limited and the disease can present differently?
The AB Nexus program has announced its sixth round of grant awards to researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the University of Colorado Boulder. From advancing new Alzheimer’s treatments to developing predictive computer models to help youth in crisis, the awarded teams are advancing a wide range of collaborative research projects aimed at improving human health and well-being.
The Boettcher Foundation has selected eight researchers, including three from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, to receive funding through the Boettcher Foundation’s Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Awards program.
A treatment offered by the University of Colorado School of Medicine Community Practice is giving hope to people with depression who haven’t found relief with other treatment options.
Fighting off a nasty headache after your cousin’s wedding? Stomach virus have you feeling fatigued? Gearing up for tomorrow’s half-marathon? Many of us might be tempted to pop into an “IV bar” to seek relief from minor ailments or to prep for an upcoming event.
Research Patient Care Cardiology
A promising new stroke drug that temporarily inhibits a key protein in the brain without causing lasting harm may significantly change the future treatment of cerebral and global ischemia, according to a new study by scientists at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
From analyzing the effects of social vulnerability and health disparities on postoperative outcomes to mitigating the effects of trauma to evaluating new treatment modalities for pancreatic cancer, the research presented at the annual University of Colorado Department of Surgery Research Symposium on May 22 posed a plethora of new possibilities for patient care.
Breast Cancer Public Health cancer screening
Driven in part by an increase in breast cancer diagnoses in younger women — particularly in Black women — the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) — has proposed lowering the recommended age for beginning regular mammograms from 50 to 40. The USPSTF recommends that women at average risk for breast cancer get screening mammograms every other year.
Kristyn S. Masters, PhD, has been appointed chair of the University of Colorado Denver Department of Bioengineering and the director of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Center for Bioengineering, following an extensive national search. These coupled roles provide the leadership to the unique cross-campus bioengineering program. For the past seven years, Masters has served as professor and vice chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Community Obesity GITES Bariatric surgery
Danny Naranjo was still several years from his 40th birthday, but he was increasingly aware of that milestone on the horizon.
His body mass index (BMI) was about 80. He had back pain and struggled with lymphedema. His knees hurt when he had to walk even short distances for his job at Elitch Gardens, and he did it only with a steady stream of Tylenol, ibuprofen, and sometimes tramadol. As 40 approached, he knew these concerns might only get more acute, with new ones possibly joining them. He wanted to change what was beginning to feel like an inevitable future.
Patient Care Community Kidney Cancer Urology
To start with, there was his usual schedule of national travel for his job as a Wall Street journeyman – he was always flying somewhere. Add to that moving to Castle Rock from San Francisco, plus a love for concerts and baseball games and whatever else life offers, and it’s no wonder that Lincoln Yersin was feeling run down.
But this run down? This exhausted? He went to see his primary care provider in San Francisco a few times, had a few tests, and the diagnosis was stress.
Exactly one month before the public release of a documentary on Michael J. Fox and his life with Parkinson’s disease (PD), the actor’s research foundation announced a landmark discovery – a novel test that can biologically diagnose the disease in live patients, even before symptoms emerge.
Research Cancer CU Anschutz 360 Podcast
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is a leader in bench-to-bedside research, and the Gates Institute and Gates Biomanufacturing Facility (GBF) are at the forefront of some of the campus’s most cutting-edge innovations in cell and gene therapy.
With each study into world-class cyclists being pushed to the physiological limit, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus researchers get deeper insight into high-performance metabolism. They are also gaining clues about how to head off serious diseases in the general population through early detection and personalized interventions.
Research Community Regenerative Medicine
One of the initially scheduled speakers at this spring’s “Transforming Healthcare” series on May 2 bowed out for a more spontaneous event: his own wedding. With his high-school diploma newly in hand and his little-known CAR T-cell therapy giving him time, the young man decided to embrace the future – now.
Paul Herzegh’s lung cancer story began six years ago on a beautiful April morning, roadtripping back home to Boulder from visiting friends in Virginia. He was 68, in otherwise good health, and felt some small kinks in his chest.
Hardly any time later, he had a diagnosis: stage 4 adenocarcinoma, a type of cancer that originated in the cells lining the outside of his lungs. At that point, he didn’t know much beyond “the conventional wisdom that 'lung cancer is a killer,’” he explained Saturday evening, emphasizing the air quotes because, well, the conventional wisdom was wrong.
Liver disease, heart disease and high blood pressure are among the conditions commonly associated with alcohol use disorder (AUD), but one condition that’s rarely discussed, and often overlooked, is Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, better known as “wet brain,” and can be the most challenging to identify and treat.
At least one in four women suffer with pelvic floor disorder symptoms that can range from urine leakage to organs falling out of place, sometimes protruding outside the vagina. Many women remain silent, embarrassed to share their issues even with their doctors.
A University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus research team has discovered that the immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies in the plasma of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients are toxic to neurons, a finding the lead investigator said could transform the field of study.
Patient Care Clinical Research
While some of his grade school classmates looked up to famous athletes or television characters, Will Osier’s childhood superhero was his ophthalmologist. Now, more than 15 years later, Osier is set to attend the University of Colorado School of Medicine where his doctor pioneered a treatment that saved his vision.
Firearm Injury Prevention COMBAT
The University of Colorado School of Medicine has officially launched the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative, bringing CU Anschutz experts together to serve as a trusted community and national resource for firearms-related research and solutions.
Innovation Patient Care Pediatrics
When Joel Friedlander, DO, MA, bioethics, travels to Vienna this month, he will check another box on a journey that’s been a series of peaks, and a few valleys, on the way to a breakthrough medical device that hit the healthcare trifecta: it opens access, improves care and lowers costs.
The American Urological Association (AUA) recently named Kerri Thurmon, MD, associate professor of urology in the University of Colorado Department of Surgery, as one of the recipients of its 2023 Young Urologist of the Year Award. The award is presented annually to recognize early-career association members for their efforts and commitment to advancing the development of fellow young urologists.
Not long after recovering from a frightening episode that culminated in their daughter’s type 1 diabetes (T1D) diagnosis at age 7, Doug and Laura Aeling turned their attention to their son.
In a three-year span, canned oxygen has become almost as available as the real thing. Buoyed by COVID-19, a “Shark Tank” deal, and a scene on “The Simpsons,” increased demand has resulted in a burst of the small aluminum cans on store shelves, from pharmacies to gas stations.
On Monday, the Center for Combat Medicine and Battlefield (COMBAT) Research welcomed NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, MD, to the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, where he presented at a distinguished leader seminar on “The Challenges of Medical Care in Space: A Perspective From Low Earth Orbit and the Future of Human Spaceflight."
Taking what’s learned in the lab and creating a viable commercial product to improve patient health is a journey many academics aspire to take yet few accomplish. At “Shattering the Glass Ceiling: Stories of Women-Led Innovation” on April 10, women scientists shared how focus, intention and a great team can assist in finding success.
Research Press Releases Pediatrics ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz pregnancy ColoradoSPH at CSU
A new study from researchers in the Lifecourse Epidemiology of Adiposity (LEAD) Center at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus shows that 90% of pregnant women do not receive adequate nutrients during pregnancy from food alone and must look to supplements to fill that deficit. However, they also discovered that 99% of the affordable dietary supplements on the market do not contain appropriate doses of key micronutrients that are urgently needed to make up for the nutritional imbalance.
A study published in Frontiers in Surgery finds that people with schizophrenia (SZ) and schizoaffective disorder (SAD) have overall lower surgical risk than people with Parkinson’s disease, which is reassuring when considering potential surgical interventions such as Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) for the treatment of SZ and SAD.
Patient Care Pancreatic Cancer Surgical Oncology Multidisciplinary Clinic
Before receiving a pancreatic cancer diagnosis eight years ago – a diagnosis that resulted from persistent self-advocacy – Carolyn Degrafinried spent one awful weekend wondering if she was losing her mind.
Research Patient Care Rheumatoid Arthritis
Many stages occur on the path to getting rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a chronic disease in which the immune system attacks the body, especially the joints. If providers could spot the predictive biomarkers and intervene early enough, there is a strong likelihood they could delay, or even prevent, RA from developing.
Research Blood Cancer Clinical Trials lymphoma
In a forthcoming memoir, actor Sam Neill of “Jurassic Park” fame reveals that he’s been battling angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, also known as AITL.
Cancer Clinical Trials cancer screening
Because early detection offers the best chance of surviving cancer, screening tests that involve one quick blood draw are generating excitement. If approved, rather than scheduling downtime and facing intimidating procedures, patients could undergo screening for multiple cancers at once, just by rolling up their sleeves during routine doctor exams.
Community Colorectal Cancer ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz
Earlier this month, medical professionals, patient advocates, industry innovators, federal policymakers, and public health officials, including two members of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, gathered at the White House for the Cancer Moonshot Colorectal Cancer Forum.
A 15-year, multicenter study has changed the course of care for youth with type 2 diabetes, enhancing treatments for this growing population and illustrating the scope of the work conducted on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. Called Treatment Options for Type 2 Diabetes in Adolescents & Youth (TODAY), the massive clinical trial included 699 participants and was led nationally by Phil Zeitler, MD, professor, pediatrics-endocrinology, University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Research Patient Care CU Anschutz 360 Podcast
Whether it’s accelerating research in the lab or augmenting physician decision-making in the clinic, artificial intelligence (AI) has seemingly limitless potential to transform healthcare.
Research Head and Neck Cancer Clinical Trials
Over the past decade, human papillomavirus (HPV) has increasingly been identified as a significant cause of certain head and neck cancers – for example, evidence suggests it causes 70% of oropharyngeal cancers in the United States.
A multi-institutional research project led by immunology researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus will focus on underlying disease mechanisms of inborn errors of immunity (IEI), which could ultimately help uncover therapies for these high-risk patients.
Research Diversity Health equity Equity Diversity and Inclusion
It’s a fact. Health disparities exist across all levels of the healthcare system. Kamal Henderson, MD, assistant professor, Division of Cardiology, takes a pragmatic approach to his work in the clinic and his research. He’s guided by a single question:
Many professions, including the mental health field, are greeting new AI technology like ChatGPT with excitement and fear, celebrating the possibilities while predicting the dark sides. For eating disorder experts, where everything from chatbot misdiagnoses to AI-generated body images can have devasting consequences for their patients, the concerns are high.
University of Colorado Cancer Center members Michael Leibowitz, MD, PhD, and Dan Regan, DVM, PhD, have received an $800,000 grant from the V Foundation for Cancer Research, co-founded by ESPN and legendary basketball coach Jim Valvano, to study a new potential treatment for pediatric osteosarcoma that spreads to the lungs.
Research Artificial Intelligence (AI)
As the world explores the new possibilities and uses of artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT, researchers at the University of Colorado Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) are integrating similar models into academic authoring.
Brooke Dorsey Holliman never thought she’d be a statistic for her own research.
Research Patient Care Diabetes
Ramona Koren remembers “falling apart” when she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a decade ago. Her life turned upside down, and she had “no clue” what to do next.
Research Patient Care Community CU Anschutz 360 Podcast COMBAT
Today’s world is riven by Russia’s war in Ukraine, dangers from biological and chemical weapons, increasing rates of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, and growing challenges for first responders and medics dealing with high-stress situations.
Research Patient Care Equity Diversity and Inclusion
It was only his first visit to a hospital’s ALS clinic, but already the Black patient’s amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) had progressed beyond a point for an effective intervention. This memory sticks with Zach Cox, DO, who at the time was a resident at the multidisciplinary ALS clinic in Richmond, Va.
Love is in the air, which must mean it’s Valentine’s Day. People around the world contemplate the grandest gestures of affection possible to show their significant other they care or write off the 14th as just a day invented by Hallmark. Polarizing as it may be, Valentine’s Day is a time to reflect on the root of love itself. What happens to us when we fall in love? What makes a couple successful? How can we ensure our relationships last?
While many people celebrate love and romance on Valentine’s Day, for some people, it can be a day shadowed by pain and loss. Mental health issues from depression, grief and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can all trigger harmful negative emotions.
Awareness Glaucoma Diabetic retinopathy Equity Diversity and Inclusion
Although Black Americans are the second-largest minority population in the United States, they remain underrepresented in vision health research. They also carry the highest burden of eye disease ranging from general visual impairment to glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and blindness.
The Center for Surgical Innovation (CSI) at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is one of the few facilities in the world equipped for 3D anatomic lectures and allows trainees to practice what they’ve learned in the cadaveric laboratory.
As the latest, more contagious subvariant of omicron makes its way across the country, Coloradans are left to wonder when XBB.1.5 (better known as kraken) will arrive in Colorado, if getting the newest booster will protect them against it, and what’s on the horizon for additional vaccines.
When his mom fell off a ladder on New Year’s Eve a number of years ago, after deciding that was as good a night as any to clean the leaves from her gutters, one of the first things Ross Camidge, MD, PhD, did after she got home from the hospital was take her pulse.
Community Cardiothoracic Surgery Cardiac Arrest
Editor’s Note: Since this story first published, Damar Hamlin was discharged from a Buffalo, New York, hospital January 11 and on January 28 released a video updating his fans and community on his recovery.
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, 24, remained in critical condition Wednesday after collapsing on the football field six minutes into the first quarter of Monday night’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
If any of the 86% of Americans lacking a current bivalent booster took a shot on the omicron-targeting vaccine right now, their chances of being sick with COVID-19 on Christmas Day would fall by as much as half.
Research Genetics CCTSI rare disease
You probably learned about cilia in high school biology class. The tiny hairlike structures line our nasal passages, ears and airways. Children born with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), a rare inherited disease, have problems with the cilia that prevent them from moving mucus and inhaled particles and germs out of their airways, causing mucus to build up, leading to ear, sinus and lung infections.
Community Cancer Magazine Equity Diversity and Inclusion ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz Leadership
Two important numbers to keep in mind are that 50.5% of the U.S. population is female, and that cancer will account for more than 606,000 deaths in the United States this year, making it the second-leading cause of death.
Superman had kryptonite. Thor has two copies of the gene ApoE4.
One is a fictional material. The other is a real-life genetic characteristic that signals a greater likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Chris Hemsworth, who plays the Norse warrior armed with a trademark hammer, recently learned he has copies of the gene, one from his mother and one from his father. The genetic rarity – carried by only 2% to 3% of the population – makes Hemsworth eight to 10 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s.
Research Community Equity Diversity and Inclusion
From the University of Colorado Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) offices on the top floor of the Anschutz Health Sciences Building, one sees sweeping views of Denver and the Rocky Mountains. DBMI Assistant Professor Katrina Claw, PhD, sees the lands that Native American tribes have called their home.
Prostate Cancer Magazine Urology
It was all his grandma’s doing, says University of Colorado Cancer Center member Paul Maroni, MD.
Head and Neck Cancer Cancer Oncology Immunotherapy
| A promising new study released by the University of Colorado Cancer Center suggests that recurrence of certain cancers can be significantly decreased by irradiating only a select set of lymph nodes near a tumor rather than all of them. |
Research Press Releases Public Health ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz
New research from the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative examined diverse viewpoints on reducing access to potentially dangerous situations among older adults due to changes in physical or cognitive functioning.
The “Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show” once again drew a large and star-studded crowd to raise awareness and funds for Down syndrome research.
AB Nexus announced its fifth round of grant awards to researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the University of Colorado Boulder. These teams are comprised of experts from a range of disciplines to advance basic science and translational research that improves human health and well-being, from taking on the most complex forms of cancer to exploring unexpected relationships between periodontal disease and stroke.
About 800,000 people worldwide take their lives each year, which is one death every 40 seconds, according to the World Health Organization. It’s estimated that for every one person who dies by suicide, there are up to 135 people who are impacted by the death. Survivors of suicide loss often feel stuck in the trenches fighting a battle alone in a war they were thrown into against their will.
Research Education Community Equity Diversity and Inclusion
Xander Bradeen began his undergraduate studies at the University of Colorado Boulder planning to major in neuroscience as a pre-med student, the first in his family to pursue a college education. Then he learned about prairie voles.
Christopher Schneck, MD, guardedly tuned in to a highly trumpeted documentary on celebrity Selena Gomez on a recent weekend. Unsure if “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me,” a six-year recorded journey of the pop star’s life that debuted Nov. 4 on Apple TV+, might amount to a publicity ploy, the top bipolar expert began watching with a skeptical eye.
Nine years ago, Miah Yager was an active, life-loving young woman who had made great strides overcoming Down syndrome symptoms when, very suddenly, she crashed. Linda Roan said her daughter changed from her “world-by-the-tail” self to someone completely different. She stopped talking to friends and family, started hallucinating and could no longer sleep, getting maybe an hour each night.
Visitors from a local high school held real human brains, virtually dissected a body donated to science and gazed at a 10-foot rendition of optic neurons during a recent anatomy lesson with an artistic twist at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Patient Care Awareness Pancreatic Cancer Surgical Oncology
Laura Foote is now three years out from her pancreatic cancer diagnosis, thanks to a surgery performed by Richard Schulick, MD, MBA, director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center and chair of the Department of Surgery.
Research Innovation Patient Care Community
Embracing their own vulnerability and telling personal stories, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus psychiatry faculty shared how they are innovating across disciplines and using digital technologies, novel drugs and deep brain stimulation to transform the mental health treatment landscape.
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus hosted its second annual Research Awards ceremony on Oct. 25. More than 125 people gathered to recognize the contributions of their fellow colleagues with cheers and standing ovations. With eight different award categories and over a dozen individual awardees, the event highlighted the significant depth, strength and teamwork of the CU Anschutz research community.
For many scientists, communicating their research involves turning data into stories. However, for Laura Vargas, PhD, MSW, MPA, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, her data already are stories.
Research Patient Care Breast Cancer Plastic Surgery
Amanda Vegter did not have time for whatever it was that she felt on the side of her left breast.
She was six weeks into her fourth year of veterinary school, she had backpacking trips to go on with her boyfriend, walks to go on with her two dogs, plus plans for a summer externship in South Africa. She was busy and happy and it was probably nothing.
But that firm spot she first felt on her breast in January 2021 while working out at her boyfriend’s house didn’t just go away. Now she can look back and shake her head – of course it was breast cancer.
Innovation Patient Care Clinical Trials
Just as Invisalign® plastic aligners have revolutionized orthodontic treatment, a team at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus hopes its project using 3D printed plastic molds can transform cleft lip and palate care.
A young woman’s TikTok video claiming that icing her chest with a bag of frozen peas conquered her until-then untouchable insomnia must have hit a nerve.
When a Twitter follower praised Elon Musk’s new “awesome, fit, ripped and healthy” look, the billionaire entrepreneur replied that his secret was “fasting” and “Wegovy.” Given society’s obsession with celebrities and weight loss and Musk’s massive following on Twitter, a viral tweet was born.
Firearm Injury Prevention COMBAT
A free Firearm Injury Toolkit was unveiled this week to help more states find voluntary firearm storage sites while setting up online support maps that can help save lives.
Education Community Public Health
It wasn’t his first stroll through a teeming Kathmandu market, his first taste of momos, or even his first view of the Himalayas that weaved a piece of his heart into the fabric of a country 12,000 miles from his Denver home.
In a bioengineering lab below Children’s Hospital Colorado, sugar water burbles softly as it flows from a beaker into a breadbox-sized unit connected to wires. The setup is small and inauspicious, but the “power harvest” taking place offers huge potential for millions of people living with implanted devices, including pacemakers, neurostimulators and prosthetic devices.
The National Institutes of Health will invest $130 million over four years, pending the availability of funds, to accelerate the widespread use of artificial intelligence (AI) by the biomedical and behavioral research communities.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) – an umbrella term for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis – often involves a difficult journey to diagnosis, particularly for children. Yet detecting IBD early in pediatric patients decreases risk of growth and puberty delay and the need for surgeries.
Patient Care Education Community ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz Patient-Centered Injury Prevention
An average of 130 people take their lives each day in the United States, making it the 11th leading cause of death.
Research Innovation Patient Care
Jeffrey Jacot, PhD, who oversees the Jacot Lab for Pediatric Regenerative Medicine, easily gets pumped about his work.
Research Pediatric Cancer Brain and Spinal Cancer
Initially, the big picture looks severe: Pediatric brain tumors are now the number one cause of death for children diagnosed with cancer.
Though leukemia is four times more common in pediatric patients than brain tumors, about 90% of children diagnosed with leukemia will experience a cure “because we’ve done such a good job of researching leukemia, and treatments have come so far that cure rates have improved significantly,” says Rajeev Vibhakar, MD, PhD, MPH, a professor of pediatric hematology and oncology in the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “We need to see that same level of support and advancement in finding cures for pediatric brain tumors.”
Energy drinks now constitute a multibillion-dollar industry, luring shoppers with their colorful cans and life-changing promises: “Clears brain fog.” “Burns body fat.” “Provides superhuman performance.”
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is pleased to add the Multidisciplinary Center on Aging at the University of Colorado as a Recognized Health Navigator Training Program. Recognized programs must demonstrate that their training curricula meet the entry-level core competencies for individuals to become credentialed health navigators in Colorado. Building the health navigator workforce is a core component of the state’s strategy to eliminate barriers to accessing health care and promote positive health outcomes for all Coloradans.
Research Education Faculty Awards
Joseph Gal, PhD, was trained in chemistry, is fluent in French, and spent most of his career in medical science research. More recently, he focused his activities on the history of science and more specifically on the renowned French scientist Louis Pasteur.
Research Patient Care Education
Human anatomy is a universe unto itself – fine-tuned and intricate, and quite delicate. The stakes are very high when a surgeon must navigate, as in the case of a base skull specialist, the labyrinth of miniscule cranial nerves and blood vessels deep within the brain.
Research Patient Care Cancer CU Anschutz 360 Podcast lymphoma
This episode of CU Anschutz 360 focuses on a promising breakthrough therapy for patients with large B-cell lymphoma, an aggressive subtype of the disease. The clinical trial was led by Manali Kamdar, MD, clinical director of the lymphoma program in the Division of Hematology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Over 60 years ago, Bill Wilson, the man behind the largest sobriety program in history, tried LSD and began publicly touting the psychedelic drug as a way toward recovery from alcoholism. Today, a growing number of studies suggest the Alcoholic Anonymous co-founder’s revelation might be right.
Patient Care Blood Cancer Clinical Research lymphoma
Family, friends and positive attitudes helped Katherine Haug through months of failed attempts at ridding her body of cancer. Then a passionate doctor with an experimental treatment gave the wife, mother and grandmother a big reason to smile.
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.
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.
Research Press Releases Education Clinical Research CU Medicine Today
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).
Patient Care Community Awareness Colorectal Cancer
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.
Patient Care Awareness Transplant Center CU Medicine Today
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.
Patient Care Community Mental Health
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.
Research Community Magazine Clinical Trials
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.
Patient Care Lung Cancer Prostate Cancer Melanoma Immunotherapy
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.
Patient Care Community Awareness Transplant Center
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.
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.
Education Community Faculty Vascular Surgery Cardiothoracic Surgery
Almost a decade into his medical career, amid the daily traumas of war, Mohammed Al-Musawi, MD, began to love his job.
Research Awareness Pediatric Cancer Brain and Spinal Cancer
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.
Innovation Press Releases Health Sciences
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.
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.
Community Awareness Trauma and Fractures GITES
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.
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.”
Patient Care Awareness Low Vision Rehabilitation
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.
Research Patient Care Plastic Surgery
From Silly Putty to the microwave oven, there is a long history of consumer products “accidentally” discovered during the scientific discovery process.
Research Faculty Magazine Oncology
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.
Research Patient Care Community Surgical Oncology
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.
Research Patient Care Awareness
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.
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.
Patient Care Community Cardiothoracic Surgery
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.
Patient Care Community Plastic Surgery
The victory lap came 50 years after high school, in a female restroom at Denver’s East High School.
Patient Care Community Sarcoma
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.
Patient Care Education Faculty
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.
Patient Care Education Faculty
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.
Research Patient Care Press Releases
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.
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.
Patient Care Community Breast Cancer Advocacy
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.
Patient Care Awareness Breast Cancer Surgical Oncology Plastic Surgery
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.
Patient Care Community Child & Adolescent GITES
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.
Community Pancreatic Cancer Surgical Oncology
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.
Patient Care Blood Cancer Leukemia
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.
Research Patient Care Community COVID-19 Quality and Clinical Effectiveness
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.
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.
The diagnosis came as a shock. Although, looking back, Bill Mordecai says it shouldn’t have been.
Patient Care Lung Cancer Clinical Trials
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.
Patient Care Pancreatic Cancer Surgical Oncology
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.
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.
Faculty Cardiothoracic Surgery
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.
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.
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.”
Patient Care Community Plastic Surgery
“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.
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.
Matthew Bartley, MD, MS, has gone viral (as in trending in the world of social media).
Research Patient Care Community
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.
Research Honors Head and Neck Cancer Magazine Funding
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.
Innovation Education Community
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.
Research Patient Care Community Lung Cancer
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.
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.
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.
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.
Patient Care Blood Cancer Leukemia Magazine Clinical Trials
Siri Lindley couldn’t swim. She had never learned how and the idea of competing in a triathlon seemed completely out of the question.
Patient Care Community Breast Cancer
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.
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.
Patient Care Community Cardiothoracic Surgery
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.
Patient Care Pediatric Cancer Magazine
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.
Patient Care Community Awareness Health equity Transplant Center
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.
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.
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.
Patient Care Philanthropy Prostate Cancer Magazine
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
Research Quality and Clinical Effectiveness
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.
Research Patient Care Quality and Clinical Effectiveness
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.
In a normal year, vascular surgeons would never postpone surgeries for patients with aortic or carotid disease or other conditions.
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.
Education Community Plastic Surgery
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.
Research Cancer Surgical Oncology
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.
Patient Care Community Publications
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.
Awareness Pancreatic Cancer Magazine Surgical Oncology
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.
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.
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.
Research Patient Care Community Prostate Cancer Cancer Urology
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.”
Patient Care Community Plastic Surgery
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.
Cardiovascular Business
November 29, 2023
Larry Allen, MD, a cardiologist with the University of Colorado School of Medicine, has received $7 million in funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to investigate the use of electronic resources among heart failure patients.
Radiology Business
November 28, 2023
Is granting patients immediate access to their medical images a worthwhile practice? Experts debated both sides during a panel discussion Monday as RSNA 2023.
Denverite
November 28, 2023
Denver’s current threshold to open emergency warming shelters or stop encampment sweeps that boot people from the warmth of their tents onto the sidewalk is 20 degrees. That’s far below the 32-degree temperature that can trigger hypothermia or frostbite that can lead to lost limbs and even lost lives.
Action News 5
November 28, 2023
The Alzheimer’s epidemic continues to cast a shadow over the lives of millions of people.
Greg Glasgow
