University of Colorado School of Medicine

01/29/2026

In his second State of the School address, Dean John Sampson, MD, PhD, MBA, celebrated significant achievements across clinical care, research, education, and community engagement as the school progresses toward its goal of “Top 10 in 10.”

“The state of the school is strong. It’s strong because of you, our people,” Sampson told the audience. “Thank you for your leadership, your dedication, and your commitment to excellence across all our missions on this campus and far beyond. I am honored to serve as your dean, and most importantly, deeply grateful to work alongside you.”

Following the address, guests were welcomed to a reception celebrating the CU Anschutz School of Medicine's recent accreditation by The Liaison Committee on Medical Education.

Read the full event coverage: https://news.cuanschutz.edu/medicine/sampson-state-of-the-school-2026

01/28/2026

CU Anschutz School of Medicine professor John Steiner, MD, says that research is a “creative act.”

“You start to think of science as this hyper-rational discipline, but it requires enormous creativity,” he says. “It's just a different kind of creativity than painting a painting or writing a short story.”

Learn more about his writing courses blending scientific writing, AI, and research:

CU Anschutz professor John Steiner, MD, is taking on writing courses in retirement that prioritize a new skill set for many early and mid-career researchers.

01/27/2026

Watch Dean Sampson's message for the new year, where he talks about his vision for making the CU Anschutz School of Medicine top 10 within 10 years.

01/23/2026

Bo Nix had surgery this week to repair the season-ending ankle injury he sustained during the AFC divisional round playoffs on January 17.

Ahead of this weekend's AFC Conference Championship, we asked orthopedic surgeon, Rachel Frank MD, some of the most common questions about ankle fractures and what’s required to make a full recovery.

https://news.cuanschutz.edu/medicine/bo-nix-ankle-injury-fracture-qa

01/20/2026

VO2 max, the gold standard metric of fitness, measures how much oxygen the body consumes during exercise. Sports cardiologist William Cornwell, MD, says VO2 declines by about 10% per decade through adulthood and then more, about 20% per decade, as a person reaches their senior years.

“To enjoy your 60s, 70s, and 80s, from a health standpoint, you need to have invested in your health in your 30s, 40s, and 50s,” he says.

For most people, it's not too late to start improving their VO2 max and exercising to promote heart health. Understanding this score can be an overall marker for health and help improve fitness for the long haul.

Learn more: https://news.cuanschutz.edu/medicine/vo2-max-longevity

01/15/2026

Third-year medical student, Ariel Davydov, won a 3rd place award at the 2025 IJMS World Conference of Medical Student Research for her community outreach program, Exploring Careers in Healthcare & Onward (ECHO).

Davydov, along with Rebecca Altshuler, Zoe Van De Voorde, and Aimee Pugh Bernard, PhD, engaged youth in health care career-oriented learning experiences to promote interest in local K-8 students.

Post-survey results show an increase in health care career interest following completion of the ECHO career fair activities.

01/13/2026

After Leigh Perreault, MD, professor of endocrinology, metabolism, and diabetes, and her colleagues developed PATHWEIGH, it was put to the test with funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Perreault and her team found that PATHWEIGH mitigated population weight gain by 0.58 kg over 18 months and changed the trajectory from weight gain to weight loss — a meaningful metric for public health. Click the link in our first comment to learn how PATHWEIGH works and what it could mean for weight management.

01/09/2026

A research lab in the CU Anschutz Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation is pushing for standardized definitions and consensus-based guidelines for muscle health.

Learn about what this could mean for patients ⬇️

There is no definitive way to assess muscle health, but a research lab in the CU Anschutz Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation says it could improve research and clinical work.

01/08/2026

There is new hope for diabetes care in the form of a drug called teplizumab, the first-ever disease-modifying therapy for type 1 diabetes. This therapy has been proven to delay the onset of type 1 diabetes so that patients can have an extra three years, on average, before they start needing insulin.

“We can now start to treat type 1 diabetes like other autoimmune diseases,” says CU Anschutz physician-scientist Aaron Michels, MD. “I want more practitioners to know that this therapy is available, and I hope more patients will be connected to places where they can get counseled on its pros and cons to decide if this therapy is right for them.”

https://news.cuanschutz.edu/medicine/teplizumab-diabetes-drug-treatment

01/07/2026

Top 5 in the world and still pushing forward. 🔬🌍 was just ranked No. 5 globally for research hospitals in health sciences, according to Nature.

Home to two nationally ranked hospitals, UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and Children’s Hospital Colorado, our faculty collectively published more than 1,100 research studies in leading medical & clinical journals from 2022-2024.

This achievement reflects a culture powered by collaboration. By combining expertise to co-author studies, our team accelerates the journey from scientific discovery to real-world impact—shaping the future of health care.

Find our ranking here: https://go.nature.com/4q81vvR

01/07/2026

While common, especially in adults ages 55 and older, dementia isn’t a straightforward diagnosis. Landing on dementia often takes multiple tests and screenings, says geriatrician Hillary Lum, MD, PhD.

Neither a brain scan nor a survey tells a patient’s whole story. Instead, Lum encourages patients and their clinicians to have a robust conversation about the patient’s experience and how their cognitive abilities are changing over time.

Learn more about what makes up the larger story in cognitive impairment:
https://news.cuanschutz.edu/medicine/dementia-screening-diagnosis

01/06/2026

Despite affecting millions of people each year, there still is no curative treatment for osteoarthritis — the most common form of arthritis that causes pain in the hands, knees, hips, spine, and elsewhere when the cartilage that protects the ends of the bones wears down over time.

While researchers are hard at work on finding a cure, a new treatment has emerged to help a subset of osteoarthritis sufferers: GLP-1 agonist drugs like Ozempic, which have proven very effective as a weight-loss aid.

We sat down with Karin Payne, PhD, associate professor of orthopedics, to discuss the GLP-1 research and the drugs’ potential to help patients ⬇️

GLP-1 agonists have shown promise in easing symptoms in obese arthritis patients. Orthopedics researcher Karin Payne, PhD, talks about their potential.