The Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA) presented several awards during the Association’s Awards Luncheon on May 19, at the 88th Annual KHA Convention in Lexington. KHA’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, was bestowed upon University of Kentucky’s Executive Vice President for Health Affairs Dr. Michael Karpf who has given untiring and exceptional service to their hospital, community, the state and the Association. Since coming to UK in 2003, his leadership has led to unprecedented growth and expansion.

Each day brings something different for Dr. Christian Lattermann; that’s one of the things that keeps him passionate about his job. As director of the Center for Cartilage Repair and Restoration at UK Sports Medicine, Lattermann treats patients, does community outreach, conducts research and mentors students.

Even though he’s a leader in the field, he’s not done learning; he says his patients teach him every day.

If you’ve driven along Virginia Avenue, toward main campus, you’ve seen the steel skeleton of the new research building under construction. This is Research Building 2 (RB2), a precious resource and a vehicle for the University of Kentucky to reduce the health disparities that most impact Kentucky.

The University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center Research Day is an opportunity for researchers to share their work, and receive feedback from colleagues across campus. An estimated 400 people were in attendance at the event, with about 45 staff members tasked with judging posters. While many posters are presented by seasoned researchers, high school, undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students, as well as junior researchers and staff, can also submit work and have their poster presentation judged by faculty members.

 Colorectal cancer incidence rates have declined by 25 percent in Kentucky in less than 10 years. Death rates have dropped by 30 percent.

Why?

Among other reasons, screenings have increased significantly, led by University of Kentucky researchers along with changes in state policy.

University of Kentucky Surgical Oncologist Dr. Mark Evers was recently elected into the Association of American Physicians (AAP). AAP is a nonprofit organization founded for the purpose of advancing scientific and practical medicine and is composed of members who are leading senior physician-scientists. Its goals include the pursuit of medical knowledge and the advancement through experimentation and discovery of basic and clinical science and their application to clinical medicine.

Pulling away the seal of a fresh aromatherapy patch, Dr. John Daniel took a deep inhalation as the fragrance of lavender and chamomile essential oils permeated his surroundings. Daniel was ending an overnight shift in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and one waft of lavender was enough to calm his senses and induce a state of relaxation.

Even when it’s your job, it’s not easy to ask people about substance use. Kalea Benner’s current research is based on this fact.

The utility of emergency medical services in the healthcare delivery spectrum is undisputable, as speedy access to medical intervention increases survival for desperately sick people. However, factors such as a shrinking supply of primary care doctors have increased the burdens on emergency rooms and the EMS personnel tasked with responding to 911 calls. Emergency departments are overcrowded and waits to see a provider can be long.

Celebrating 10 years of continued success and commitment to the Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas community in Ecuador, the University of Kentucky’s Shoulder to Shoulder Global (STSG) and the Hombro a Hombro Foundation are hosting a health care brigade from May 12 to May 21 at their clinic in Santo Domingo, Ecuador.

The University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) recently hosted their sixth annual "Meet the Researcher Day" on April 27- 28. Meet the Researchers Day is a field trip given as a prize to schools in the region who successfully raise more than $1,000 for the LLS's Pennies for Patients campaign.

University of Kentucky College of Medicine Dean Dr. Robert DiPaola, in conjunction with UK Provost Dr. Tim Tracy, has announced the appointment of two key positions at the new UK College of Medicine - Bowling Green Campus. Longtime UK faculty member and administrator Dr. Todd Cheever will serve as the first associate dean for the Bowling Green campus. Cheever has been serving as the college’s associate dean for student affairs for the past 16 years. Dr.

By Vice President for Research Lisa Cassis 

Recently, we celebrated a new grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), within a program called the Institutional Development Award (IDeA), for a Center for Cancer and Metabolism. This Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE), which is headed by Daret St. Clair in collaboration with Peter Zhou, is anticipated to have an amazing impact on our ability to fight the cancer scourge that plagues Kentucky.

The Barnstable Brown Kentucky Derby Eve Gala, internationally recognized as the “premier” Kentucky Derby gala, and counted among the “Ten Best Parties in the World” by Condé Nast, has announced the celebrity lineup for its 29th annual gala being held Friday, May 5 in Louisville.

They've hosted astronauts, entrepreneurs, national champions, politicians and world leaders.  But this year, the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging opted to tell "Our Story" at its annual dinner.

Instead of a keynote speaker from outside the organization, Sanders-Brown featured the stories of six families whose lives have been ravaged by Alzheimer's disease.

After years outside of Kentucky, Dr. Agatha Critchfield returned to her home state to find a patient population inundated with opioid use disorders. As an obstetrician at UK HealthCare, Critchfield was attending to the deliveries of women addicted to opioids and whose babies were diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), a constellation of symptoms often arising in babies after opioid exposure in the womb.

Mechanosensory hair cells in the inner ear pick up the softest sounds, such as whispers and distant noises. 

Unlike other cells in the human body, these sensory cells are fragile and finite. At birth, the human ear contains approximately 15,000 of these cells. They do not regenerate or divide and, therefore are susceptible to permanent damage from exposure to loud sounds. Scientists believe understanding the molecular mechanisms that maintain the structure of these cells throughout the lifespan can provide insight into the fundamental causes of hearing loss and deafness.

The University of Kentucky was recently awarded a prestigious Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant to study the metabolism of cancer from the National Institutes of General Medical Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health. The $11.2 million grant will fund UK's Center for Cancer and Metabolism over the next five years.

Neurosurgeon Dr. Craig van Horne came to Kentucky from Boston to pursue an idea:  Could peripheral nerve tissue implanted in the brain reduce the symptoms of Parkinson's disease?

He says the teamwork and support at UK HealthCare – plus a healthy dose of Kentucky hospitality – fostered the atmosphere he needed to bring DBS+ to fruition.

(And having a lucky cap doesn't hurt.)

Watch this episode of "Five Questions" to learn more about Dr. van Horne's aspirations and secret talents.

Three first-year medical students from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine who have a passion for expanding health care access have produced an original and creative video, “Nosotros Para Vosotros,” meaning “Us for You” that explains the health care needs of underserved populations at home and around the world.