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Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have been awarded a $3.7 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to support establishing a center that specializes in the study of the causes of rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, and other autoimmune diseases . “The goal is to help trainees, early-career investigators, and established investigators improve their ability to do this kind of research, with the goal of intercepting and preventing disease and identifying new treatments.” - V. Michael Holers, MD
Outstanding Research Collaboration Award- The Colorado COVID-19 Modeling Group- Dr. Ashley Frazer-Abel recognized
Congratulations to all those nominated for the 2020-2021 University Research Awards focused on our response to COVID-19. There are countless members of the research community who have contributed to our research mission over the last 18 months. We had more than 100 nominations and the selection of these awardees was a very challenging task for the review committee. Click the link below for the list of those recognized.
Through this multidisciplinary approach, Kolfenbach and Palestine are providing efficient care, coming to a clear solution together, and helping patients return to their lives. CU Faculty Alan Palestine, MD, and Jason Kolfenback, MD, created the Ocular Inflammation Multidisciplinary Clinic to treat complex uveitis and rheumatic conditions. Click the link to read more.
Video highlighting top researchers including Exsera BioLabs
A video highlighting some of the top researchers and other collaborative COVID-related projects on campus included Ashley Frazer-Abel, PhD, whose lab was the final link in a massive campus-wide effort to create an antibody test that was supply chain independent. The successful effort accelerated research for CU Anschutz scientists who then had access to their own test regardless of national supply demand.
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Rheumatoid arthritis clinical trial sifts blood for disease risk
The StopRA trial has screened more than 20,000 people, looking for antibody that greatly increases the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that attacks the joints
CU Anschutz Researchers Roll Out COVID-19 Antibody Test
The group announced June 3 that the test was ready for rollout. “It’s been great to be a part of something so collaborative,” said Ashley Frazer-Abel, PhD, Director of Exsera BioLabs, and Assistant Professor in the Division of Rheumatology in the School of Medicine (SOM). “It represents what we’ve always wanted science to be.”
Fellowship Training Goes Virtual: COVID-19 Pandemic Creates Training Challenges
(May 18, 2020) -- “Our lecture series has, thankfully, been relatively preserved despite the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Jason Kolfenbach, MD, associate professor of medicine and rheumatology fellowship program director at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora. “We were kind of set up for that because we have a faculty member in our division, Duane Pearson, MD, who has [already] been using the Zoom platform for education of primary care providers in rural areas.”
CU Anschutz Scientists Launch Effort to Build COVID-19 Antibody Test
"'We have no idea right now how many Coloradans are walking around with antibodies,' said Ashley Frazer-Abel , PhD, an assistant research professor in the School of Medicine and director of the CAP-accredited Exsera BioLabs on campus. Without that information, critical questions for moving forward are left unanswered, she said."
Dr. Kristen Demoruelle named one of the Department of Medicine's 2019 Outstanding Early Career Scholars!
"Dr. Demoruelle has made groundbreaking discoveries that are highly relevant to our understanding of the molecular origins of rheumatoid arthritis. This is a very well deserved award that will help her advance the science as well as her career. I am very pleased that she has been named a Scholar in this innovative support program" said Dr. Mike Holers, head of the Rheumatology Division.
Drs. Deane and Holers receive support from the Rose Community Foundation for arthritis research.
Kristine Kuhn, MD, PhD receives 2018 SAA/Bruckel Early Career Investigator in AxSpA Award from the Spondylitis Association of America!
Created in 2001, the SAA/Bruckel Early Career Investigator Award, recognizes outstanding “contributions to the care and understanding of patients with spondyloarthritis.”
Partnering with the Allen Institute for Immunology, Drs. Kevin Deane and Michael Holers lead project investigating the underlying causes of rheumatoid arthritis!
“This important new partnership with the Allen Institute for Immunology will allow us to use the most advanced cutting-edge technologies to dissect on a molecular level this debilitating disease. We will be able to build on nearly 18 years of work by our research group to learn how to find individuals on their way to developing rheumatoid arthritis and work to understand and stop this process. We are very pleased to join this innovative Institute begun through the vision of Paul Allen,” said Holers, chief of the Division of Rheumatology. Adds Deane, “With these approaches, and consistent with the long-term view of the Allen Institute for Immunology, we hope these efforts in rheumatoid arthritis, as well as the other diseases studied across the Allen Institute for Immunology, will in the near future be applied to the study and prevention of other autoimmune diseases.”
Allen Institute for Immunology partner video