When we think of research, our minds may possibly conjure up an image of a scientist in a white coat, hunched over a lab table, pouring chemicals into beakers. But research takes a multitude of forms, and flourishes in many different fields. From clinical trials for new cancer medication, to composing and recording an album of original music, and even to studying and refining the most effective ways to cure a country ham. Research often leads us toward answering questions we didn’t even think to ask. 

When a major earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale hit the country of Ecuador earlier this year, Dr. Mauricio Villamar and his wife, Dr. Ana Cristina Albuja, both neurology residents at the University of Kentucky and both from Quito, Ecuador, knew they had to do something to help. The lives of thousands of Ecuadorians were devastated by the destruction of the quake. The damage was significant as were the casualties; 272 killed and over 2,500 injured or missing. Homes, businesses, roads and highways were destroyed.

The University of Kentucky Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) announced today that it received a four-year, $19.8 million Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the National Center for Advancing Clinical and Translational Sciences at the National Institutes of Health. CTSA grants support innovative solutions to improve the efficiency, quality, and impact of translating scientific discoveries into interventions or

Nika Larian, a PhD student in Lisa Cassis's lab at the UK Superfund Research Center, is studying the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, or AHR, a transcription factor with roles in drug metabolism and detoxification. She explains that if you knock out AHR in the fat tissue of mice, you can prevent the development of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-induced diabetes. PCBs are toxins that are present in the environment and have been linked to type 2 diabetes.

When Lisa Cassis isn’t in her cardiovascular research lab, you’ll find her leading the research enterprise at the University of Kentucky. 

How does the UK researcher balance her time in the lab and in the office? What motivates her each morning? 

Watch the video below to find out what keeps Cassis motivated and why a special talent is her favorite way to relax after a long day of work.

Multidisciplinary researchers unified by a mission to develop therapies, interventions and evidence-based solutions to substance use disorders delivered snapshots of their work to National Institute on Drug Abuse director Dr. Nora Volkow on Oct. 7. The series of presentations and roundtable discussion concluded Volkow’s two-day tour of Kentucky.

Alex Wade, a third year medical student in the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, wanted to give at-risk high school students opportunities they may not have known about and the chance to learn that they have the skills necessary to solve complex medical and surgical problems, even when they’re not taught how up front. To provide these opportunities, Wade founded the Medical Technologies Innovation Team. Students who participate in the program are not given a set format for solving the design problem, they choose their own groups to work in and set their own goals.

U.S. Rep. Harold "Hal" Rogers along with top leaders from the National Institutes of Health spent Thursday in Hazard discussing and examining efforts to combat high rates of cancer and substance abuse disorders plaguing Kentucky's Appalachian region.

Third-year medical student Perry Hooper won big at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine’s annual Academic Convocation and Awards Day held recently. Hooper won four awards, the most of any student, including the Cobern E. Ott Award and Anatomy Student Mentor Program Award. Hooper earned two degrees during his time as an undergraduate at the University of Kentucky, a Bachelor of Science in Spanish and Biology. When the time came to decide where to continue his medical education, UK was high on Hooper’s list. “I knew immediately after my interview here that this where I wanted to be.

Multiple Chronic Conditions (MCC) affects one in four Americans overall and about three in four Americans age 65 and older. While health care aims to relieve suffering and alleviate burden, it sometimes makes burdensome demands of patients. Patients must invest capacity — time, emotion, and attention — to do the work of being a patient, which competes with other important tasks in their lives.

Because Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia, many people use the two terms interchangeably. But inadequate blood flow to the brain due to microinfarcts, mini-strokes, or strokes is a hallmark of a disease called Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Dementia (VCID).

The NIH Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) on Obesity and Cardiovascular Diseases, in collaboration with the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS) announce the availability of limited funds to support pilot projects focused on research examining obesity-associated diseases (cardiovascular, diabetes, others). These pilot grants are intended to assist investigators new to this area of research to generate sufficient data to be competitive for extramural funding. 

Six teams of researchers and physician scientists have become the inaugural recipients of pilot funding from the new Multidisciplinary Value Program (MVP), which aims to boost team science that will impact University of Kentucky patients and wellbeing in the Commonwealth. Each MVP team will launch a new clinical trial that brings cutting-edge science to patients and communities.

More than 200 scientists and clinical investigators gathered last week to share insights and learn more about translational and clinical neuroscience research underway at the University of Kentucky. The 2016 Clinical-Translational Neuroscience Research Symposium, hosted by the Kentucky Neuroscience Institute, featured nearly 100 poster and oral presentations focused on the latest scientific advances in a wide variety of topics related to the neurosciences being conducted by UK research groups. According to Dr. Larry B.

When most people think of the "fight against cancer," mental images of doctors counseling patients or white-coated researchers looking through a microscope often come to mind. However, clinicians and researchers across the country wouldn't be able to make major strides forward in cancer care without the critical information provided by cancer registries. In the Commonwealth, the Kentucky Cancer Registry (KCR) has been dedicated to providing medical personnel with valuable cancer data for 30 years.

Drs. Darren Johnson and Christian Latterman, both professors in the University of Kentucky Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, have been ranked as two of the “16 Standout North American Sports Knee Surgeons” by the publication Orthopedics This Week, the most widely read publication in the Orthopedics industry. “I am truly honored and humbled to be recognized at this level. I have always strived to provide the best care to the patients I serve," said Johnson who has been working at UK since 1993 and serves as chair of the department.

Award honors lifetime contribution to rural health in Kentucky 

For Immediate Release

Media Contact:
Tina McCormick
krha@twc.com
(270) 577-1707

September 21, 2016 – The Kentucky Rural Health Association (KRHA), which is dedicated to improving the health status of rural Kentuckians through education and advocacy, has announced the 2016 Dan Martin Award recipient, Dr. Fran Feltner.

Concerns about privacy, safety, stigmatization and quality of care have deterred members of the LGBTQ community from accessing health care services and resources. Disengagement from the health care system has contributed to many health disparities affecting the LGBTQ population.

The Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Bluegrass (RMHC) recently honored Dr. Carmel Wallace, chair of the University of Kentucky Department of Pediatrics and physician-in-chief of Kentucky Children’s Hospital, with the 2016 Elizabeth Carey Nahra Legacy of Love Award. The award recognizes an organization or individual whose exceptional contributions or projects have enabled the Ronald McDonald House of the Bluegrass to assist families of children hospitalized at Kentucky Children’s Hospital (KCH).

University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging (SBCoA) is hosting its sixth annual Markesbery Symposium on Aging and Dementia on Nov. 4-5. This two-day program will offer sessions for both the scientific and community audiences. Clinicians and researchers from UK and other institutions will come together to share current findings, trends and the latest updates on dementia and aging disorders, particularly as related to Alzheimer’s disease. The Markesbery Symposium is in honor of the late Dr. William R.