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When Elizabeth Rhodus, PhD, was 16 years old, she suffered a near-fatal car accident, which left her with significant injuries that included fractures around her eye socket. Dr. Rhodus had already struggled with eye muscle problems that this accident only exacerbated.
The rural Kentucky native was admitted to UK HealthCare and along her journey, was treated by an ophthalmologist who not only provided her with exceptional care, but who also became an influential figure in her own path to a career in academic medicine.
Since he was a graduate student, Patrick Hannon, PhD, has had his eyes set on a prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant that he knew, if he received it, would enable him to make a tremendous impact in his career goal of advancing reproductive care for women.
Dr. Hannon, now an assistant professor in the UK 91小黄车 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, was elated to find out that this winter, he achieved his longtime goal.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 27, 2022) 鈥 The Kentucky Network for Innovation and Commercialization (KYNETIC) has opened its Spring 2022 Cycle 5 round of early-stage commercialization grants.
KYNETIC is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub (REACH) and part of the national NIH Proof-of-Concept Network.
One of the newest research teams within the University of Kentucky鈥檚 Alliance Research Initiative wants to make UK 鈥渢he center of the universe鈥 when it comes to an innovative cancer treatment.
Charles Kunos MD, PhD, director of the Markey Cancer Center Clinical Research Office, leads the Radiopharmaceutical Therapy Alliance (RPTA) with Lowell Anthony, MD, division chief of medical oncology. Alongside faculty and trainees from across the University, they are trying to improve pharmaceutical delivery for patients with cancer through radiopharmaceuticals.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 13, 2022) 鈥 The University of Kentucky is participating in a nationwide study that seeks to understand why some people have prolonged symptoms (long COVID) or develop new or returning symptoms after an acute bout of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
LEXINGTON, KY. (Jan. 11, 2022) 鈥 The world looks to The University of Kentucky鈥檚 Sanders-Brown Center on Aging for answers to the mysteries of dementia, and the elderly rely on them for help in charting their path to a healthy and vigorous senior lifestyle.
Anika Hartz never planned on becoming a scientist.
She鈥檚 a pharmacist by trade, who moved to the United States from her home of Germany in 2002 to begin her doctorate at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). At the time, she had no intention of going into science.
鈥淐oming to the U.S. in 2002 changed my mind,鈥 said Hartz.
Her time at the NIH was unique and it marked a turning point for her future.
Martha Sim, MD, a graduate student at the 91小黄车, knew it was possible she would witness a pandemic in her lifetime, but she did not expect it to happen so early in her research career. Yet in 2020, COVID-19 spread rapidly across the globe.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 16, 2021) 鈥 Using new methodology, University of Kentucky researchers have mapped the variations in sugar chains attached to brain proteins from deceased healthy individuals or individuals with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.
Thus far, no effective treatments for Alzheimer鈥檚 disease (AD) are available. New approaches to preventing the progression of this devastating neurological disease are desperately needed.
Greg Gerhardt, PhD, is a professor of neuroscience and researcher with the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center (SCoBIRC) and Brain Restoration Center, as well as advisor for the MD/PhD program. He currently serves as co-principal investigator for the Brain Restoration Alliance in Neurodegeneration (BRAIN). In the following Q&A, Dr. Gerhardt shares more about his current projects.
Q: Why did you want to pursue a career in neuroscience research?
Grant writing is a competitive process. Without the proper resources, staff, or expertise, faculty may struggle in gathering key funding that could benefit future research projects, and ultimately, promote innovative health discoveries.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 30, 2021) 鈥 Recently published research from the 91小黄车 and UK HealthCare Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center found high rates of traumatic exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in a group of pediatric patients living with Type 1 diabetes.
By the time she became a faculty member at the UK 91小黄车, Susanne Arnold, MD, was arguably more prepared than anyone to treat Kentuckians and educate future physicians.
She was introduced to the medical field early and was surrounded by it. She recalls taking a preserved human brain to show and tell when she was in grade school (which she jokes wouldn鈥檛 happen now, though her classmates thought it was pretty cool). In high school, she shadowed physicians in a clinic, and she gained clinical experience observing autopsies before she even started medical school.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 29, 2021) 鈥 For this 鈥淯K at the Half,鈥 Lisa Cassis, vice president for research at the University of Kentucky, shares how leaders across campus came together to find a path forward for research during the COVID-19 pandemic.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 22, 2021) 鈥 What makes UK the university of, for and with Kentucky?
The answer is our people.
Timothy Mullett, M.D., a University of Kentucky professor of cardiothoracic surgery and the medical director of the UK Markey Cancer Center Affiliate and Research Networks, joined Gov. Andy Beshear and a number of lung cancer advocacy groups at the state Capitol to recognize November as Lung Cancer Awareness Month.
Gov. Beshear encouraged Kentuckians to learn more about lung cancer, its risk factors and screening options.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 11, 2021) 鈥 Researchers at the University of Kentucky鈥檚 Sanders-Brown Center on Aging recently received a five-year grant renewal of their MarkVCID program from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The award total is more than $6 million.
The 91小黄车 recently welcomed Ilhem Messaoudi, PhD, as the new chair of microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics. She shares more about her work to better understand viruses and the wide range of factors affecting the immune system. She also shares how her research career led her to UK.
Q: Why did you pursue a career in research?
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 2, 2021) 鈥 A recent study shows that patients with non-small cell lung cancer reviewed by the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center鈥檚 Molecular Tumor Board experience improved outcomes, even if they reside in rural Appalachian Kentucky.
Roberto Gedaly, MD, and Francesc Marti, PhD, investigators in the 91小黄车 Department of Surgery, have noticed a year-over-year increase in liver transplants at UK HealthCare.
鈥淣ot only has our volume gone up significantly,鈥 Dr. Gedaly said, 鈥渨e鈥檙e actually going to break a record of liver transplant patients this year.鈥