The IMAGE Group celebrates
another holiday season with
smashing success…

This year more than 160 people attended the IMAGE group’s annual holiday party. We celebrated in our new facility at Anschutz Medical Campus with trays of sandwiches, shrimp, sushi, and plenty of sweets.

Our annual holiday party, for all current and past research participants, is one way we are able to express our gratitude to you—our research volunteers. It is also an opportunity for our behind-the-scene researchers to meet you and visa versa. We hope all who attended the holiday party enjoyed themselves and aim for another wonderful turnout next December.

Did you know our name has changed?

A few years ago the University of Colorado Denver and the University of Colorado Denver combined into one institution. This past October the institution was given a new name, the University of Colorado Denver, which includes both the downtown campus in Denver and the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora.

The IMAGE Group is pleased to
introduce two new members:

Heather E. Brooks, MD, completed her residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Colorado Denver in 2004 and is currently completing a fellowship in Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes. She is working under the mentorship of Wendy Kohrt, PhD and Wendee Gozansky, MD MPH, on studies examining mechanisms of abdominal fat accumulation. Dr. Brooks eventually hopes to expand her research to incorporate an emphasis on menopausal hot flashes and weight maintenance after weight loss.

Karen L. Villalon, MD, completed her residency in Internal Medicine in June 2007, and then started her Geriatric Medicine fellowship at the University of Colorado Denver. Dr. Villalon is interested in strategies to optimize bone health in older adults. Specifically, she has been working with Drs. Kohrt and Gozansky to evaluate the impact of weight loss and weight regain on bone mineral density.

The FLARE Study:
Following femoral Lipectomy to
study Adipose Re-accumulation:

One of the IMAGE group’s new studies, FLARE, will examine where fat that is eaten in a meal (dietary fat) is stored after thigh fat tissue has been removed by liposuction. Because women tend to store fat in their thighs, it is possible that dietary fat will remain in the blood longer after a meal or get stored some place in the body other than the hips and thighs. This research study will determine whether removing thigh fat by liposuction changes how a woman’s body handles dietary fat. The study will further test whether there are differences between premenopausal and postmenopausal women in how they store their fat.

Qualifications to Volunteer:

• Healthy, non-smoking women aged 40-55 years either premenopausal (normal menstrual cycles) OR postmenopausal (no longer having menstrual cycles)
• Not using any birth control or hormone therapy
• No diabetes or other chronic disease
• No previous liposuction or gastric bypass surgeries
• Stable body weight (no large weight gains or losses in last 2 months)
• Willing and able to undergo (and pay for) hip and thigh liposuction surgery

Benefits of Participation:

• Screening for diabetes & high cholesterol
• Analysis of bone density and percent body fat
• Monetary compensation

Volunteers who meet the entry criteria and whose screening tests are within normal limits will be invited to participate in the research study. The plastic surgeon, Christopher Law, MD, must also agree that each study volunteer is a good candidate for hip and thigh liposuction surgery. Those who qualify and agree to participate will be randomly placed into either a surgery group or a control (delayed surgery) group. Random placing occurs by chance, like the flip of a coin. There is an equal chance of ending up in either group. However, surgery is available to both groups at the same cost. The surgery group will have surgery at the beginning of the study and the control group can have surgery at the end of the study. Those who qualify and agree to participate will undergo testing over the course of 14 months at the University of Colorado Hospital and General Clinical Research Center (GCRC).

The principal investigator for this study is Rachael E. Van Pelt, PhD. For more details about this research study, the costs of the liposuction surgery, and the testing involved, please visit our website at www.uchsc.edu/image/flare.php or contact Michele Barrasso at FLARE@uchsc.edu. This research study is funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and has been approved by the Colorado Multiple Institutional Review Board (COMIRB protocol #07-0339).

• The MOXI Study is examining how the use of ibuprofen in older, exercising women and men affects muscle and bone health. Eligible participants are 60-75 years of age who are not currently in a weight lifting program, have no history of peptic ulcers or stomach bleeding, and do not typically use acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or similar drugs more than 3 days per month. (COMIRB #06-0769)
• The DRIFT study is comparing the effect of two different diet methods - a normal, low calorie diet or intermittent fasting (not eating or drinking anything with calories every other day) - on weight loss and other health measures. Eligible participants are women and men, 18-55 years, who are obese based on a body mass index (BMI) ≥30 (to determine your BMI go to www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi). (COMIRB # 06-0383)
• The Lose-It Study will investigate the amount of exercise that health care providers should prescribe in order for patients to maintain weight loss. Eligible participants are healthy men and women between 18-45 years of age. Participants must be willing to engage in lifestyle changes including diet modifications and up to 100 minutes of daily physical activity. (COMIRB # 06-0369)

• The FLARE Study is examining how leg and hip liposuction surgery affects fat metabolism and cardiovascular health. Eligible participants are healthy pre- or postmenopausal women aged 40-55 years who are good candidates for leg and hip liposuction surgery and not using oral contraceptives or hormone therapy. (COMIRB #07-0339)
• The SHAPE study is examining how short-term changes in estrogen affect cardiovascular health. Eligible participants are premenopausal women 21-35, perimenopausal women 40-55, and postmenopausal women 45-70 years, who are non-smokers, have normal blood pressure, and who are not taking birth control or hormone therapy. (COMIRB # 06-0537)
• The MUSE study is investigating the effects of estrogen on changes in muscle due to lack of use. Eligible participants are women aged 21-40, who have regular menstrual cycles, are not currently using hormonal contraceptives, are physically active but not competitive athletes, and willing to wear a knee brace and use crutches for 9 days. (COMIRB #07-0379)

• The TEAM study is examining the effects of testosterone supplementation and exercise in men who have low-normal testosterone levels. Eligible participants are men, 60 years and older, non-smokers, in good general health, and not currently doing high-intensity weight lifting exercise. (COMIRB # 02-1056)
• The Mr. ACET study is examining how the use of acetaminophen and ibuprofen in older, exercising men, affects muscle and bone health. Eligible participants are men, 60 years and older, who are not currently in a weight lifting program, have no history of peptic ulcers or stomach bleeding, and do not typically use acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or similar drugs more than 3 days per month. (COMIRB # 06-0343)
• The PROXI study is determining if weight lifting helps to prevent the loss of muscle and bone mass that occurs in men with prostate cancer on androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Eligible participants are men, 45-85 years, with prostate cancer, who are taking ADT or plan to start ADT. (COMIRB #02-958)
• The Kinetics study is examining the ability of leg muscles to use oxygen during exercise in healthy men and men with peripheral arterial disease. Eligible participants are non-smoking men, 50-70 years of age. (COMIRB #05-0718)