Dear colleague: 

University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Chancellor Don Elliman announced recently that the Anschutz Medical Campus had a banner year, receiving record-high levels of private support, with donors giving $176.7 million in gifts and private commitments for the fiscal year ending June 30. Philanthropy is an important part of the success of our campus, seeding our scientific endeavors, improving the care we provide and strengthening our ties with the community. We are grateful for the support and will remain steadfast guardians of these precious gifts.

In his communique to campus, the Chancellor also noted that the Anschutz Medical Campus is more ethnically diverse than it ever has been. On Sunday, I joined a gathering of the University of Colorado Organization for Racial and Ethnic Support (UCOLORES) at the home of Brenda J. Allen, PhD, associate vice chancellor of the University’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion. UCOLORES was founded in 2010 to provide support for faculty, residents, staff and students of color through community dinners, where participants can make connections that lead to mentoring partnerships, career-development support and research collaborations. These kinds of events help make our campus and community stronger.

The DAWN Clinic celebrated Safety Net Clinic Week with an open house last Monday, Aug. 17. DAWN stands for “Dedicated to Aurora’s Wellness and Needs” and the clinic, at 1445 Dayton St., provides free testing and medical imaging services to qualified patients whose medical care would benefit from laboratory or imaging results. The clinic also provides physical therapy services and helps people who need health insurance enrollment and other assistance navigating the health care system. I attended the open house and was pleased to see a good turnout for this worthy effort. DAWN Clinic is the result of hard work and dedication of many students and leaders on the Anschutz Medical Campus and provides a critical link to our neighbors who need our help. Including DAWN Clinic, there are currently 43 Community Safety Net Clinics in Colorado. 

The CU Sports Medicine and Performance Center on the campus of the University of Colorado-Boulder opened last week. The center, a partnership between the School of Medicine and Boulder Community Health, will be open to the public, providing health and wellness care to community members and elite athletes. Services will include evaluation and treatment of sports injuries, physical therapy, sports nutrition, body composition testing and many other advanced care programs. The center is housed on the second floor of the five-story Champions Center, which will house the CU football program, several other Buffalo varsity sport teams and the athletic administration and ticket office. It is located on the northwest corner of the CU-Boulder campus adjacent to the Dal Ward Athletic Center.

The 4th Annual Jules Amer Lectureship, “The Impact of Global Climate Change on Children & Families,” is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 11, 2015. The event begins at noon and will feature discussions by Caspar Ammann, PhD, a project scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Nancy Krebs, MD, MS, professor of pediatrics, and Edwin Asturias, MD, associate professor of pediatrics and director of Latin America for the Colorado School of Public Health’s Center for Global Health. Nancy will discuss the impact of climate change on nutrition and social structure and Edwin’s talk addresses how climate change affects the risk of infectious disease. The event will be held in the Mt. Oxford Auditorium, 2nd Floor Conference and Education Center of Children’s Hospital Colorado. 

Saketh Guntupalli, MD, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, shared a byline with former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, MD, on an opinion article that appeared on the Forbes website earlier this month. The pair call for improved education and access to vaccination against HPV, the human papilloma virus that causes nearly all cases of cervical cancer. They note that only 35 percent of American girls and young women receive the vaccination, while vaccination rates in Rwanda are more than 90 percent. They write, “We now have a cost effective, easy method of cancer prevention, and the time for excuses has come to an end. We must ensure that our young women have the chance to enter this century free from preventable diseases such as cervical cancer, so they can realize their maximum potential.” 

Gerald Dodd III, MD, chairman of radiology, has been named a Distinguished Investigator of the Academy of Radiology Research, which recognizes imaging researchers for significant contributions to scientific progress and medical innovation. The academy will give the award at the Radiological Society of North America’s annual meeting in Chicago later this year. Congratulations.

Congratulations also to Ernest E. Moore, MD, vice chair for research in the Department of Surgery and editor of the Journal of Trauma, for receiving Honorary Fellowship in the Royal College of Surgeons of Thailand in Bangkok this past weekend.

Have a good week,

John J. Reilly, Jr., MD
Richard D. Krugman Endowed Chair
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and
Dean, School of Medicine