Dear Colleague: 

This year marks the 40^th year of the establishment of the CU Cancer Center, and to celebrate, the CU Cancer Center has posted a series of articles in its newsroom about its illustrious history, its members, and the lives of some of our patients.

Soon after Paul Bunn, Jr., MD, now a Distinguished Professor of Medicine, joined the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 1984, he was tapped to lead the monumental effort to create a major cancer center. It became official in 1985, with Dr. Bunn as its inaugural director.

Growth came quickly in the CU Cancer Center’s early years at the school’s campus at Ninth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard. In 1986 it had 174 members, reported $22.8 million in grants and contracts to its members, and had 315 patients enrolled in its clinical trials. In FY24, those numbers had grown to 278 full and mentored members, $75 million in grants, and 6,108 patients in clinical trials.

Since the center’s creation, cancer treatment and care have advanced remarkably. In 1985, the death rate from all cancers in the United States was about 170.5 per 100,000 people; in 2022, the rate is 140 deaths per 100,000.

Every day, there are more stories about lives that have been saved thanks to the care received here. This article about Janet Freeman-Daily, who joined a clinical trial here in 2012, is an excellent example.

D. Ross Camidge, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine and the CU Cancer Center member who was the principal investigator on that trial, says Freeman-Daily’s case goes to show that the right drug, in the right patient, can have remarkable results.

“Janet is a great example of the fact that, if you find the right drug, just occasionally, your cancer can have real trouble finding a way around it,” says Dr. Camidge, the Joyce Zeff Endowed Chair in Lung Cancer Research. “The best scenario is to have a very dumb cancer that can't figure its way past whatever block you put in its way.”

CU Cancer Center member D. Ross Camidge, MD, PhD; Gerald Daily;
and Janet Freeman-Daily.

While much has improved, there’s still a lot of work to do. We won’t quit until we have that best scenario in every case.

Richard Schulick, MD, MBA, Chair of Surgery and current Director of the CU Cancer Center, offers his thoughts in this article on where we are today and his hopes for the future. We are energized by the center’s outstanding work and we’re looking forward to its collaboration with the Gates Institute, led by CU Cancer Center member Terry Fry, MD, which will take us further into the realm of cell and gene therapies, particularly CAR T-cell therapy.

Recent Publications
Edwin J. Asturias, MD, Professor of Pediatrics and Director of Latin American Projects, Center for Global Health, Department of Epidemiology, Colorado School of Public Health, is a co-author of a viewpoint article, “Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at a Crossroads,” published June 16 in JAMA.

Anne M. Lynch, MD, MSPH, Professor of Ophthalmology, is corresponding author of an original investigation, “Dynamic Risk of Systemic Complement Activation With Time to Progression to Advanced Age-Related Macular Degeneration,” published June 12 by JAMA Ophthalmology. Fifteen co-authors are from our campus.

Jason W. Stoneback, MD, Associate Professor of Orthopedics, is corresponding author of an article, “Colorado Limb Donning-Timed Up and Go (COLD-TUG) Test in Lower-Extremity Amputation,” published May 13 by The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Seven co-authors are from our campus. Additional details about the study are described in an article in the CU Anschutz newsroom.

Leah Webb, MD, Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, is corresponding author of an article, “Enhancing Access to Neuraxial Ultrasound Phantoms for Medical Education of Pediatric Anesthesia Trainees: Tutorial,” published May 12 by JMIR Medical Education. Kim Strupp, MD, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, is a co-author. Drs. Webb and Strupp are members of the Children’s Hospital Colorado Department of Anesthesiology.

Faculty Updates
The Program to Advance Physician Scientists and Translational Research has announced awardees for its 2025 CU Anschutz SOM Programmatic Incubator for Research program, known as CU ASPIRE. CU ASPIRE supports collaborative research groups with up to $100,000 per year for up to two years. Team leaders of the awardees and their projects are:

• Bruce Appel, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics and Section Head of Developmental Biology, Molecular mechanisms of activity-regulated myelination.
• Benjamin Bitler, PhD, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Translation of novel therapies to improve outcomes for individuals with ovarian cancer.

Rytis Prekeris, PhD, Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, Molecular mechanisms regulating cell division and genomic stability in cancer cells.

Help Wanted
The School of Medicine is seeking a Director of Student Progress. This position, reporting to the Associate Dean of Medical Education in the Office of Assessment, Evaluation, and Outcomes, will coordinate integrated support for students in academic difficulty as identified through the School of Medicine progress committee. The role requires careful coordination with leadership in the Office of Student Life, COMPASS guides, and all our clerkship phases. Nida Awadallah, MD, is chairing this search.

Have a good week,

John H. Sampson, MD, PhD, MBA
Richard D. Krugman Endowed Chair
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and
Dean, University of Colorado School of Medicine