Health Science Radio University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

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. She talks about an ambitious project that received an award of up to $39 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) and its aim to end osteoarthritis. The Colorado-based multidisciplinary team is on the forefront of developing a minimally invasive therapy that regenerates cartilage and bone cells – essentially allowing a joint to heal itself.

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 national thought leader in physician burnout. Dr. Dyrbye explains the magnitude of the problem, identifies the predictors of burnout, and shares ideas on reducing the stressors facing healthcare professionals. 

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. Ashar explains how PRT works and how it could offer a pathway to helping to relieve other common chronic pain, including migraine headaches.

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 infectious disease at the CU School of Medicine, shares insights into the study that developed a scoring system to help learn which adults, out of a cohort of nearly 10,000, may have long COVID.