Health Science Radio

Welcome to a special Halloween episode of Health Science Radio.  It opened in 1941 as “the last word in Army hospitals,” serving military families from World War II to Vietnam. Today, the Fitzsimons Building houses the administrative offices of CU Anschutz. It’s not uncommon for the community to ask, “Is the Fitzsimons building haunted?” Those who work in the bowels of the 480,000 square foot art...

Doctors Tyra Fainstad and Adrienne Mann had heard stories about  physician burnout before launching their careers in 2011. It wasn’t long  before the national crisis became personal, however, as the young doctors  and new mothers both struggled with work-life balance, self-criticism and  other challenges. In 2019, an idea sparked that would offer healthcare  professionals a path toward better life...

Pornography has never been easier to access and consume. While experts don’t agree on labeling its problematic use as “addiction,” its use targets the same areas of the brain as substances. And its use can be detrimental to health and well-being. We’re joined by licensed marriage and family therapist Danielle Sukenik, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical...

More than 1 in 10 adults over age 50 experience knee pain caused by osteoarthritis, and about 1 in 25 will go on to have knee replacement surgery. As our population ages, cases of osteoarthritis are expected to climb, meaning even more patients facing the prospect of knee replacement and rehabilitation. This episode of Health Science Radio features Jennifer Stevens-Lapsley, PT, PhD, FAPTA, profess...

Fueled by emotion-driven and easily shared social media, the current waves of online misinformation casting doubt on science have grown in size, frequency and intensity. This episode of Health Science Radio features two guests from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus who are passionate about preventing and reversing the trend: Aimee Bernard , PhD, associate professor of immunology a...

As a teenager, Joshua Gowin , PhD, remembers sitting through DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) classes and watching those frying pan-focused public service announcements: “This is your brain on drugs.” Gowin, assistant professor of radiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, is the lead author on a recent study published in JAMA Network Open that explored the effects of both r...

 Colorectal cancer has been upending the lives of younger people at disturbing rates in recent years, becoming the second most common type of cancer in people under age 50 in the U.S. today. By 2030, deaths are expected to double, and the disease is predicted to jump to the leading cause of cancer death in 20- to 49-year-olds. On this episode, we talk about epidemiological factors behind the rise...

 With mounting evidence about the dangers of alcohol to our health, just what is the impact of alcohol on cancer risk? On cardiovascular risk? On overall mortality? Those questions are answered on this episode of Health Science Radio , which features two University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus professors discussing the latest studies on alcohol and health. The two doctors also talk about th...

How the human body reacts to the transition to deep-space travel – and  then adapts, or doesn’t, to lengthy periods in a microgravity environment –  remains a largely understudied area. Our guest, Prem Subramanian, MD,  PhD, chief of neuro-ophthalmology at the University of Colorado School of  Medicine, talks about how space travel, including long-duration spaceflight,  affects the eyes and how ad...

The fact that men and women are not the same is no longer completely  overlooked in the medical world. Diseases, such as heart attacks, can  present differently. Yet, an absence of research that includes women prior  to the early 1990s has left studies into women’s health largely in “catch-up”  mode. Our guest is Judy Regensteiner, PhD, director and co-founder of the  Ludeman Family Center for Wom...

Influenza season is ramping up, SARS-CoV-2 and respiratory syncytial virus  (RSV) continue to evolve, and the bird flu outbreak is gaining steam in the  United States. Against this ever-changing landscape of infectious disease,  this episode centers on viruses and vaccines. Our guest is Jenna Guthmiller,  PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Immunology and  Microbiology at the University...

On this episode, two leading women’s health researchers provide a wide-ranging discussion on menopause – from basic science concepts and historical perspectives to hormone therapies and other clinical implications. Our guests are Nanette Santoro, MD, professor and E. Stewart Taylor Chair in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine (SOM), and Josh...

On this episode of Health Science Radio, Daniel Goldberg, associate professor and director of education in the Center for Bioethics and Humanities,  breaks down the importance of history and its place in a modern health sciences curriculum by examining the practical uses of thinking like a historian to better serve patients, inform research and build stronger bonds with the communities future heal...

On this episode, Fernando Holguin, MD, professor of medicine and  pediatrics in the Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine  at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, shares insights into the  health risks posed by increasing levels of air pollution. Dr. Holguin talks  about what happens when people are exposed to fine particulate matter,  how socioeconomic disparities co...

This episode features a discussion about autoimmune neurological diseases,  including the rare stiff person syndrome (SPS) that affects Canadian  superstar Céline Dion. Our guest is Amanda Piquet, MD, associate professor  of neurology and director of the autoimmune neurology program at the  University of Colorado School of Medicine. Piquet, whose team is conducting  groundbreaking research on auto...

In the wake of a loss, how do we reconcile the Five Stages of Grief with feelings that shift day to day? In this episode of Health Science Radio, licensed professional counselor and assistant professor of psychiatry Mandy Doria walks through some common misconceptions about grief, loss and healing.  Content warning: death and dying. 

This episode features a discussion about treating cancer through immunotherapy, including tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte, or TIL, therapy. Our guest is Eduardo Davila, professor in the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Davila’s team has devised a novel technique to enhance all forms of cellular immunology. The scientists rejuvenate T-cells and improve th...

This episode of Health Science Radio features a discussion about the fast-growing field of neurotechnology and what it means for patients with paralysis or neurodegenerative brain diseases including Parkinson’s and epilepsy. Our guest is Cristin Welle, associate professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine with joint appointments in the Department of Neurosurgery and the Department o...

 This episode features a discussion about a groundbreaking effort to restore vision in patients with age-related macular degeneration, or AMD. Our guest is Valeria Canto-Soler, associate professor of ophthalmology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Dr. Canto-Soler shares the dreams behind her research and why she chose the CU Anschutz Medical Campus to develop retinal transplants. H...

This episode features a discussion about osteoarthritis, a painful degenerative disease that affects 32.5 million Americans. With no existing effective regenerative therapy, treatments are limited to anti-inflammatory injections and, ultimately, expensive joint replacement surgery. Our guest is Karin Payne, PhD, associate professor of orthopedics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. S...

This episode features a discussion about the burnout crisis among physicians and other healthcare professionals. The Association of Medical Colleges estimates that the United States will face a shortage of between 38,000 and 124,000 physicians by 2034. Our guest is Dr. Lotte Dyrbye, senior associate dean of faculty and chief well-being officer at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and a...

This episode features a discussion about new and exciting neuroscience-based treatments that are aimed toward recovery from chronic pain. Our guest is Dr. Yoni Ashar, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, who shares the promising findings of a study that used pain reprocessing therapy, or PRT, for a sizeable group of chronic back pain sufferers. Dr. A...

In this episode of CU Anschutz 360, Daniel LaBarbera, PhD, director of the Center for Drug Discovery, talks about harnessing technology and innovation to speed the development of new therapies. He discusses robotic automation, quantum computing and building bridges over the ‘valley of death.’

In this episode of CU Anschutz 360, Angelo D’Alessandro, PhD, shares his fascination with blood science and how it led him into biochemistry, molecular genetics and metabolomics. A steadfast collaborator, D’Alessandro explains why multidisciplinary research is so important to science, especially in the area of personalized medicine. 

 This episode of CU Anschutz 360 focuses on the research into long COVID taking place at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. An important study involving CU Anschutz researchers ties into RECOVER, a national initiative seeking to uncover the long-term effects of COVID and develop treatments for long COVID patients. Kristine Erlandson, MD, an associate professor of medicine and infe...