IN THE NEWS

October 2025

Jean Kutner, MD, MPH, Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Chief Medical Officer for University of Colorado Hospital, was quoted in Forbes in August about a new five-year, $64 million grant from the National Institutes of Health that creates the Advancing the Science of Palliative Care Research Across the Lifespan Consortium, which will be led by the CU School of Medicine. “While palliative care as a field has advanced significantly in the last few decades, there are still a lot of unmet needs. This consortium will serve as a springboard for filling gaps and offering resources to researchers who will ultimately improve the field,” she said. 

Lisa Abuogi, MD, MS, professor of pediatrics, was quoted by the Denver Post in August in an article about how some canceled National Institutes of Health grants remain stalled after being reinstated. Her grant to study ways of serving pregnant and postpartum women dealing with both HIV and common mental health conditions remained in limbo because the Kenya Medical Research Institute, the institution she’s partnering with, still hasn’t received its NIH grant, she said. “In effect, we still can’t restart the work,” she said. 

James DeGregori, PhD, professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics and deputy director of the CU Cancer Center, was interviewed by Colorado Public Radio in July about a study by his research team finding that respiratory viruses, such as COVID-19 or the flu, can wake up dormant cancer cells in the lungs. The peer-reviewed study was published in Nature. “Dormant cancer cells are like the embers left in an abandoned campfire, and respiratory viruses are like a strong wind that reignites the flames,” he said. 

Aubrey Armento, MD, assistant professor of orthopedics, was featured in a report on CBS Colorado about the Female Athlete Program that she founded at Children’s Hospital Colorado. The clinic addresses not only physical injuries but also underlying issues such as nutrition, hormonal imbalances, and mental health. “It’s a very collaborative approach,” she said. “If an athlete is not adequately fueling and is not having a regular period, that puts their bone health at risk.” 

Trevor Nydam, MD, professor of surgery and chief of transplant surgery, told Newsweek in August that patients in desperate need of transplants could be directly impacted if a trend of donor registration removals continues unabated across the country. “It's where it all begins," Nydam said of willing donors. “It’s extremely critical.” 

Ellen Burnham, MD, professor of medicine, was quoted in August in a Time article about poll findings that fewer people are drinking alcohol, noting that many Americans still drink and have alcohol-related health complications, and that alcohol consumption varies depending on geographic region. “I think it remains to be seen” whether the decline in alcohol consumption will continue, she said. “It’s encouraging to see that some of the educational messaging is hopefully reaching an audience, and hopefully it’s the audience that’s engaging in risky drinking and is really rethinking about their drinking habits and how to diminish them or decrease them.” 

Yanjun Gao, PhD, assistant professor of biomedical informatics, was interviewed in August by the NBC affiliate in Denver about the use of an artificial intelligence tool to analyze patient records. “Clinicians, especially in ICU or emergency settings, time is critical, time is everything,” she said. “So, we are making sure that these doctors and clinicians have the right information right away, but making sure that they are safe and accurate.” 

Josh Williams, MD, associate professor of pediatrics, was quoted on CNN in July in a report about a record share of U.S. kindergartners missing required vaccinations last year. “There are more and more states where even the potentially achievable coverage that we can get by catching everyone up who’s overdue is getting lower and lower,” he said. “So, we are now in a situation where in many states, and certainly in many communities within certain states, there’s simply not enough herd immunity to protect against outbreaks of these vaccine-preventable diseases, especially measles.” 

Janet Kukreja, MD, associate professor of surgery, was quoted in The New York Times in July in an article about performing surgery to remove an aggressive cancerous tumor from CU Boulder football coach Deion Sanders. “He is cured from the cancer,” she said. 

Jeffrey Jacot, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and bioengineering, was quoted in the Washington Post in July describing research finding that amniotic fluid stem cells can be safely collected from vaginal fluid after childbirth rather than relying on more invasive methods that can pose some risk to the mother and fetus. “We can then turn those cells into beating heart cells and use them later in treating congenital heart defects,” he said. “These results allow for an expanded and readily available source of amniotic stem cells beyond traditional collection through amniocentesis.” 

Cristin Welle, PhD, professor of neurosurgery, was quoted in a CBS News report about state laws that protect information generated by a person’s brain and nervous system. She said that AI's ability to identify patterns is a game changer in the field. “But contribution of a person’s neural data on an AI training set should be voluntary. It should be an opt-in, not a given.” 

Ian Stanley PhD, associate research professor of emergency medicine and psychological health lead for the CU Center for COMBAT Research, was interviewed by CNN in July in the aftermath of the deadly July 4 floods in the Texas Hill Country. “First responders will often tell us that some of the memories that really stick with them are the recoveries of bodies of children,” he said. “That’s not what we expect with the natural order of things. And it really sticks with the first responders.” 

Amy Feldman, MD, MSCS, associate professor of pediatrics, was quoted in a June article in USA Today about a father who donated a portion of his liver for transplant into his 8-month-old daughter who had biliary atresia. “There are millions of healthy adults in the world who could be living donors, and yet, every year, about 40 children die across the United States, because no liver is available for them,” she said. “I dream of a world where living donor liver transplant prevents any child from dying on the waitlist.” 

Naresh Mandava, MD, chair of ophthalmology and interim senior associate dean for strategic advancement, explained to Ophthalmology Times the impact of a $40 million gift received by the department. "We have a tremendous opportunity to fuel our research enterprise, which is fundamental to clinical care," he said in June. “This gift will allow us to translate technology from the lab to the patient faster than before.” 

Maya Haasz, MD, associate professor of pediatrics, commented in June on National Public Radio about a study finding that states with permissive firearm laws saw a rise in gun-related deaths in kids. “What it's showing is that states that have overall stricter gun laws, we are not seeing the same increases of death as states that have permissive gun laws,” she said. “This doesn't mean we should change all our laws at once, but it says, perhaps if we could look at these laws and see which ones are effective, then we could start moving towards safety.” 

David Kao, MD, associate professor of medicine, was quoted on CNN in June in a report about how moderate caffeinated coffee consumption during midlife was associated with a higher likelihood of healthy aging 30 years later. The same link was not found for tea, decaffeinated coffee, or caffeinated sodas. “This would imply that coffee in particular has health preserving or promoting effects,” Kao said. “As with other studies, they also appear to have found that coffee has a particular benefit over other caffeinated drinks.” 

Lia Gore, MD, professor of pediatrics, was quoted in a report on the impact of federal research funding cuts that aired on Colorado Public Radio in May. “We are on the cusp of curing a lot of diseases that have never been cured before, not just in cancer, not just in blood disorders,” she said. “We're going to go backward with cuts in funding. There is no question.” 

Yoni Ashar, PhD, assistant professor of medicine and co-director of the Pain Science Program, was interviewed by WBUR, a public radio station in Boston, in May. “Pain is an alarm system that lets us know that something is wrong in the body, but sometimes the wiring in the alarm system can get sensitized, so the alarm is going off again and again, even though there’s no fire,” he said. “A false alarm is just as loud and obnoxious and annoying as a true alarm, so no one’s making it up. But just this understanding that, ‘OK, my body may actually be OK, intact, healthy and safe,’ it can be a very powerful understanding for people to start to feel safe in their bodies again.”