In the News

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May 2026

Joseph Schacht, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry, was featured in an article, “Can Ozempic Cure Addiction?” published by The New Yorker in February. Schacht is principal investigator of the country’s first randomized trial of semaglutide for heavy alcohol use, which began in 2023. “I fundamentally believe that a medication you can take in the privacy of your home—that doesn’t require disclosing to others that you have this problem—is essential to be able to offer,” he said.  

Stacey Fischer, MD, professor of medicine, was interviewed in February for a Science Friday segment about psilocybin therapy. Fischer is a palliative care specialist who co-leads the nation’s largest clinical trial for psilocybin use for advanced cancer patients facing mental health challenges. “We submitted a grant looking at, how do we conduct a large trial of psilocybin versus a placebo in conjunction with therapy to help people facing a serious cancer improve feelings of anxiety, depression, and existential distress?” she said. “The grant was funded, and the study began in 2021. And now we’re here in our fourth year of the study. We’ve now recruited more patients than have been enrolled in any other cancer-focused trial in this space.”  

Matthew Mishkind, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and deputy director of the Johnson Depression Center, in an interview in February with the ABC affiliate in Denver, discussed the mental health risks that Olympians and other elite athletes can face. “You're on this amazing high, and then it goes away,” Mishkind explained. “And if you don’t have those connections, if you don’t have sort of people around you that are really providing that ongoing support—not just that periodic support—that definitely can, I think, lead to some crashes for people. And a lot of identity issues, like, ‘Who am I without the sport?’”  

Yana Klein, MD, senior instructor of emergency medicine, was quoted in a February report by Associated Press about Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn’s decision to compete despite a torn ACL. “She might blow out her knee entirely,” she said. “At these really high racing speeds, the big risk is that the knee is just not stable enough to compete.”  

Bonnie Jortberg, PhD, associate professor of family medicine, was quoted in February by The New York Times in an article about a Super Bowl ad for Raisin Bran. In the spot, William Shatner of “Star Trek” fame beams from a spacecraft and tosses boxes of Raisin Bran to people. “Honestly, I’m glad the conversation is switching from protein to fiber,” Jortberg said. “What we know is that 90% of Americans don’t get enough fiber in their diet.”  

Michelle Barron, MD, professor of medicine, told Colorado Public Radio in February that she supports a move by the State of Colorado to join he Global Outbreak and Response Network of the World Health Organization. “It is extremely important for the scientific community to remain engaged and active with other scientific organizations in the world, especially those tracking emerging infections,” she said. “This is a great opportunity for learning, collaboration, and for preparedness.”  

Trevor Nydam, MD, professor of surgery, in February gave the Denver affiliate of Fox a breakdown of the total 10,000 transplant surgeries that have been performed at UCHealth. “We have done 5,000 kidney transplants, 3,000 liver transplants, 1,000 lungs, and 1,000 hearts. It takes a huge team to take care of these patients. Everybody makes a huge contribution. We take people with a very high morbidity and mortality rate, we transplant them, and they have a whole new opportunity at life.”  

Linda Cook, PhD, associate director for population sciences at the CU Anschutz Cancer Center and professor of epidemiology, explained in a report on the Denver affiliate of CBS the importance of the Vanguard Study. CU is one of eight hubs nationwide involved in the study, which aims to understand if multi-cancer detection tests can reliably identify signals in the blood that point to different cancers, including several with no current screening options. “It’s like one-stop shopping,” she said. “And the exciting part of this is that perhaps these can detect cancers that we don’t have screening for, right? So, pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer, and stomach cancer; we don’t have screenings for those cancers. Wouldn’t it be great if we could detect those along with the ones that we can already screen for?”  

Lilia Cervantes, MD, professor of medicine, discussed the importance of providing care to immigrant communities in an article published in February by The Colorado Sun. “The big picture is that when the most neglected and marginalized groups have no access to care, it’s not only that they’re more ill, but we are as a society more ill,” she said.  

James Burton, MD, professor of medicine, told the NBC affiliate in Denver in February that alcohol-related liver disease accounts for nearly half of all liver transplants at UCHealth. “I haven’t seen it start coming down, and it is still a major problem in the United States,” he said. “Now we’re seeing young women who might have children, living functional lives, but consuming too much alcohol. Women are more susceptible to the effects of alcohol than men.”  

Michelle Barron, MD, professor of medicine, was one of the physician experts quoted in an article about the flu that was published in February by The New York Times. While there were fewer cases in January than in December, the risk still exists. “It’s certainly gone down. It’s not gone by any means,” she said.  

Ben Hughes, MD, associate professor of clinical practice in pediatrics, was quoted in February in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, discussing a proposed cut in state funding that supports training programs for resident physicians. “We already have a shortage of doctors in general, pediatricians especially, so my greatest fear would be a decrease in the number of (people) who can train at Children’s Colorado, which, of course, would have a tremendous negative impact on access to pediatric care for Colorado,” he said.  

Lia Gore, MD, professor of pediatrics, was interviewed by the Denver affiliate of CBS for a report, “Colorado family prepares as funding to Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium comes to an end,” that aired in February. “Pediatric brain tumors are the second most common malignancy among children with cancer. They are the most deadly of childhood cancers,” she said, adding the ending of the federal funds “feels like it is a direct insult to those who have invested their lives in doing this.”  

Judy Regensteiner, PhD, distinguished professor of medicine and director of the Ludeman Family Center for Women’s Health Research, commented in The New York Times in December about a study finding that people with prediabetes who get their blood sugar under control may cut their risk of death from heart disease or heart failure by half. “It’s a good proof of concept,” she said. But, she added, “If these really well done studies have low success rates in getting people to those numbers, what do we do differently?” 

Suchitra Rao, MD, associate professor of pediatrics, was quoted by NBC News in December for a report about how flu season arrived earlier than usual and was hitting people – mainly children – especially hard. “I don’t think I ever remember seeing it this severe, this soon,” said Rao, who is an infectious disease specialist at Children’s Hospital Colorado. “Our emergency department is full of kids coming in with the flu.”  

David Higgins, MD, MPH, assistant professor of pediatrics, commented in the Washington Post in December on a decision by federal officials to scale back its recommendations for childhood vaccinations. “I have never been more concerned about the future of vaccines and children’s health than I am now,” he said.  

Jamie Studts, PhD, professor of medicine, was quoted by The New York Times in a January article about patients feeling shame after receiving a lung cancer diagnosis. Although not every cancer patient is well enough to tolerate surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation, those with lung cancer disproportionately count themselves out, he said. “‘I don’t deserve treatment, I don’t deserve palliative care, I deserve to suffer,’” he recalled patients saying.  

Kevin Messacar, MD, PhD, professor of pediatrics, discussed with NBC News in January the declining rate of vaccinations  and an increase in the number of cases of bacterial meningitis. “It’s really a devastating disease that keeps pediatricians up at night,” he said. “It’s difficult to recognize, and we often see patients who are too late to bring back.”