Department of Medicine at the
University of
Colorado Denver
Third Quarter 2005 News
RESEARCH DAY 2005
The Department’s Third Annual Research Day was held on November 5, 2005 with more than 250 individuals in attendance. More than 150 posters were presented. A summary of poster titles and authors is available for your review - abstract listing - click here to view. Please join us in congratulating Research Day Poster award winners (all awards equivalent, not listed in order):
Students/PRAs-David Case (Cardiology/CVP) and Richard Rymer (Hematology)
Housestaff-Amrut Ambardekar (Cardiology) and Marvin Eng (Cardiology)
Fellows/Post-docs- Hasan Ahmad(Cardiology), L. Shorts-Cary (Endocrinology), J. P. Hannan (Rheumatology), and Noriyuki Homma (CVP)
Junior faculty-Mary Ann DeGroote (ID), Michael Gruber (Pulmonary), Nicole Spoelstra (Endocrinology), and David Wagner (Pulmonary, Webb-Waring and Barbara Davis)
Best-Of-Show-Heather Pangbur (student category, Gastroenterology/Hepatology)
Please extend your appreciation to this Year’s Research Committee members: Drs. Mark Geraci, Kate Horwitz, Wendy Kohrt, Chris Striebich, Carlin Long, Bob Eckel, David West and Madeleine Kane
Good News - several elements of “good news” have come to Department members recently. A selected sample of some positive developments over the past few weeks includes:
- The Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine (Marvin Schwarz, PI) received the top-rated priority score among all submissions to the NHLBI for their competitive training grant renewal.
- Judy Regensteiner, Director and JoAnn Lindenfeld, Associate Director were recently given a $600,000 donation toward the work of their Women’s Health Research Center.
- Hugo Rosen, Waterman Professor and Head, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, was recently notified by the NIH of his receipt of a grant establishing a Hepatitis C Center at the UCD. This 5-year, $3.2 M award establishes the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Division as one of a small handful of Hepatitis C Centers nationally. University of Colorado President Hank Brown announced last week the donation of $1M to the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Division from the Hewit Family Foundation for work on hepatitis research.
- David West put together a consortium of health services investigators (Drs. John Steiner, Jean Kutner, Andy Kramer and David West) that was awarded a five-year Master Contract with the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHRQ) to join a small handful of organizations in the DEcIDE Network. Master Contractor status in the DEcIDE Network allows bidding on several contracts put out by AHRQ to evaluate Medicare, Medicaid and Child Health Care programs.
- Andy Kramer was recently notified that he and his Division received a 5-year Master Contractor award from CMS. This is a singular honor awarded to 10 or fewer organizations within the country
- Hamid Razzaghi, PhD recently received a 1.8% priority score from the NHLBI for his grant entitled “Role of Endothelial Lipase in Atherosclerosis”. Dr. Razzaghi is the Medical Director of the Lindberg Center and has expertise not only in atherosclerosis research, but also in DNA Banking and molecular modeling.
- Han Myint, who assumed the position of Director of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Co-Director of Hematologic Malignancies on 1 July 2005, was recently awarded a $500,000 grant from the CDC for the establishment of a “University of Colorado Comprehensive Cancer Center Hematological Malignancies Healthcare Provider Educational Program”.
- Gail Eckhardt recently submitted an AP4 grant to the National Cancer Institute and this grant was awarded the best priority scores of all submissions.
The 2005 Q4 Featured Program is Pulmonary Hypertension (Clinical Director-David Badesch, MD / Director-Norbert Voelkel, MD )
The Pulmonary Hypertension Center at the University of Colorado is an internationally recognized, multidisciplinary, regional referral center for the care of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. The Center covers a geographic referral area of approximately 8 states, including much of the Rocky Mountain West and western plains states. The Pulmonary Hypertension Center has evaluated and treated approximately 1800 patients, follows approximately 700-800 patients regularly, and has approximately 1200-1300 patient visits annually. Approximately 250-300 new patients are seen each year. The Pulmonary Hypertension Center Clinic is staffed by five full-time faculty members (Badesch, Voelkel, Todd Bull, Karen Fagan, and Michelle Beutz), three clinical nurses (Susan Cartwright, Robin Hohsfield, Cathy Sunday), two research nurse coordinators (Deb McCollsiter, Megan Lederhos), and an administrative assistant (Gene Gafford). The Pulmonary Hypertension Center Clinic is staffed by four full-time faculty members, three clinical nurses, two research nurse coordinators, and an administrative assistant. The Center's efforts are truly multidisciplinary in nature, with participation from Pulmonary, Cardiology, Radiology, Pathology, Cardiothoracic Surgery / Lung Transplantation, and Interventional Radiology. The Center's faculty have held many national and international leadership positions in the field, and it is considered to be among the best clinical and research pulmonary hypertension programs in the world.
New Departmental Leadership Appointments
We are pleased to announce the appointment of several outstanding individuals to leadership positions within the Department:
E. Chester (”Chip”) Ridgway, MD - Frederic C. Hamilton Endowed Professor and Head, Division of Endocrinology Metabolism and Diabetes, and Vice Chair, Department of Medicine
Mark Geraci, MD - Head, Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine
Edward Janoff, MD - Tim Gill Endowed Professor and Head, Division of Infectious Diseases
Jean Kutner, MD, MSPH - Head, Division of General Internal Medicine
Moshe Levi, MD - Associate Chair, Research
Han Myint, MD, FRCP(Glasgow), FRCP(Edin), FRCPath(London) - Director, Blood and Marrow Transplant Program and Co-Director, Hematologic Malignancies Program
Hugo Rosen, MD - Waterman Endowed Professor, and Head, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
David West, PhD - Associate Chair, Departmental Affairs
US News and World Report - July 2005 rankings
The results of the US News and World Report rankings of 176 US medical facilities were published in July, 2005. The Department of Medicine is exceptionally proud of the national rankings achieved by several Departmental Divisions and entities. These national rankings include:
Pulmonary/respiratory disorders - 6
Kidney diseases - 10
Hormonal disorders - 15
Geriatrics - 20
Rheumatology - 21
Oncology - 25
Gastroenterology - 36
Heart/heart surgery - 48
New Center for Women's Health Research
Recently, the University of Colorado Board of Regents conferred official "Center" status on the Center for Women's Health Research (CWHR). Two Department of Medicine faculty members were appointed; Judith Regensteiner, PhD, as the Director, and JoAnn Lindenfeld, MD, as the Associate Director. Gay Cook was hired as the Managing Director, and the CWHR office at the Bioscience Park Center at Fitzsimons is operational.
The CWHR's mission is threefold:
1) Conduct pioneering research in women's health and gender- based medicine;
2) Train junior faculty in the study of women's health and gender-based medicine; and
3) Educational outreach to the public and health care professionals.
The initial areas of focus are cardiovascular disease and diabetes. As the CWHR expands, other research areas critical to women's health will be added. We applied for the Building Interdisciplinary Careers in Women's Health training grant for junior faculty with the help of 25 excellent potential mentors from the Health Sciences, Denver, and Boulder campuses. The Center has 3.2 million dollars in research funding for its current faculty and has received two substantial gifts from the private sector towards infrastructure this year.
Update on our Clinical Research Training Program
The Department has participated in the development of a novel program for additional training for individuals interested in academic careers.
This innovative program is designed for qualified individuals who are interested in pursuing either a Ph.D. (doctoral) degree, Master's degree, Certificate of training, or Clinical Research Training Program designation in Clinical Science. The primary applicant audience includes those having earned a health sciences graduate degree or a health care professional degree (e.g., physicians, MSPH graduates, biostatisticians, epidemiologists, nurses, pharmacists, and dentists).
Clinical Research Training Program
Purpose = Introduce Language of Research to Clinicians to Become Informed Consumers of Clinical Science Research.
Website: http://www.uchsc.edu/clinicalscience/crtp/overview.htm
Certificate Program
Purpose = Provide Basic Skill Set to Participate in Collaborative Research Projects.
Website:http://www.uchsc.edu/clinicalscience/certificate/overview.htm
Masters of Science in Clinical Science Program
Purpose = Develop Applied Skill Set to Conduct Collaborative Research Projects.
Website: http://www.uchsc.edu/clinicalscience/masters/overview.htm
Doctoral Program
Purpose = Develop Fully Proficient, Independent Investigator to Advance the Field of Clinical Science Forward as a Future Leader. Website: http://www.uchsc.edu/clinicalscience/phd/overview.htm
Awards, Acknowledgements, and Accomplishments of Departmental Full-time Faculty
We are proud of the numerous awards, acknowledgements, and accomplishments bestowed upon our faculty members. The complete listing of awards can be looked up here.
