Stop includes a tour of a CU Anschutz cancer research lab and a discussion with campus, National Jewish and CSU representatives.
U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper visited the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus to hear stories firsthand from its faculty, researchers, patients and leaders on how uncertainty and actions taken at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are impacting the broader education, research and patient care missions on campus.
Leaders from UCHealth, Children's Hospital of Colorado, National Jewish Health and Colorado State University joined the March 18 roundtable discussion, sharing similar stories. CU regents Illana Dubin Spiegel, Elliot Hood, Frank McNulty and Wanda James also attended the event.
"Fifty years ago, childhood cancer was uniformly fatal. Today, the majority of kids diagnosed with cancer are cured," said Lia Gore, MD, professor of pediatric oncology at CU Anschutz, the largest academic medical campus in the region focused on solving present and future healthcare challenges. Losing the momentum could create setbacks and stalls to scientific progress that compound year over year, said Gore, who completed her residency and fellowships at the University of Colorado.
Lia Gore, MD, (middle) speaking during the visit of Sen. John Hickenlooper to CU Anschutz.
Gore's comments echoed a consistent theme of the conversation, which was moderated by CU Anschutz Chancellor Don Elliman - that actions at the federal level are sending ripples across a fragile and interconnected ecosystem focused on hope, healing and health science education.
Campus community highlights potential impacts
For Thomas E. "Tem" Morrison, PhD, professor of immunology & microbiology, a chief concern centered on challenges the current environment creates for the scientific preparation and background work necessary to protect against future pandemics.
Attendees gathered around a conference table at a recent visit from Sen. Hickenlooper.
Judy Regensteiner, PhD, director and co-founder of the Ludeman Family Center for Women's Health Research and distinguished professor of medicine, spoke to how future generations of researchers could lose career-development mentorship through programs such as Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH), which supports early-career scientists exploring research related to women's health.
"We all do better when we all do better," Gore said, urging Hickenlooper to bring back to Washington, D.C. the message that NIH impacts could harm decades of progress on pediatric cancer and other diseases. She and her colleagues know they can cure childhood cancers and other conditions with time and support, Gore told the group. But the medical research education and healthcare system is fragile, she said.
The senator's visit included a tour of the Ford Lab - helmed by Heide Ford, PhD, professor and CU Medicine endowed chair in pharmacology. Ford and her team study the processes behind how normal, healthy cells transform into cancer cells. They shared insights into their current work on inhibiting tumor progression and how cancer cells manage to avoid attacks by the immune system.
As a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Hickenlooper is uniquely positioned to advocate for health science education, research and patient care in Washington, D.C. The senator's visit is part of a continuing relationship with CU Anschutz. Previous trips to campus in 2022 and 2023 helped inform federal legislation on pandemic preparedness based on lessons learned from COVID-19.
A researcher and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) clinical trial patient shares her story
Barbara Johnson, PhD, a former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researcher and an ALS patient who participated in clinical trials at CU Anschutz, shared how the only hope for others with the disease was to continue to push forward on research and clinical trials. Johnson's remarks came from a voice recording of her daughter, as the disease has progressed to her vocal cords. Johnson said she knew that a cure would not arrive in time for her, but that she didn't wish to see the same future for other ALS patients. "It has been my life's work and that of many, many colleagues around the world to improve the health of all people - to be the wave to lift all boats," Johnson said. "Even though I won't survive this disease, I want to be part of that wave. To contribute toward an ALS cure."
Barbara Johnson, PhD, shares her testimony via a voice recording made by her daughter. Sen. Hickenlooper and Chancellor Elliman sit in the foreground.
Johnson added the current environment has created a sense of unease for those with ALS. "Let me say there is a panic in the ALS community. Cuts to NIH funding for ALS research and clinical trials remove all hope that any of us with ALS will live beyond the two- to five-year expected survival. NIH funding cuts remove the hope that ALS will ever be a livable disease."
Participants from CU Anschutz at the event included:
- Cathy Bradley, PhD, dean of the Colorado School of Public Health and deputy director of the CU Cancer Center
- Thomas Flaig, MD, vice chancellor for research
- Heide Ford, PhD, professor and CU Medicine Endowed Chair in Pharmacology
- Thomas E. "Tem" Morrison, PhD, professor of immunology and microbiology
- Judy Regensteiner, PhD, director and co-founder of the Ludeman Family Center for Women's Health Research and distinguished professor of medicine
Also in attendance were Thomas Gronow, EdD, MHA, president and CEO of UCHealth; Michael Salem, MD, president and CEO of National Jewish Health; Greg Ebel, ScD, professor and director of the center for vector-borne infectious diseases at Colorado State University; Gregory Downey, MD, FRCPC, executive vice president for Academic Affairs at National Jewish Health; and Barbara Johnson, PhD, a former microbiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CU regents Illana Dubin Spiegel, Elliot Hood, Frank McNulty and Wanda James also attended.
