LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 21, 2021) – A new University of Kentucky College of Medicine study will examine how policies that restrict the sale of flavored tobacco products including menthol cigarettes impact health disparities among vulnerable populations. 

A five-year, $2.8 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) will support the study on how local policies impact at-risk groups – including communities of color, low-income populations and youth – that are more likely to use flavored tobacco products.

When his parents drove from their home in rural Lincoln County to drop Michael Rankin off at Haggin Hall on the University of Kentucky campus in August 1967, it was one of the biggest places he had ever seen.

His high school math teacher had encouraged his love for math and science and in 1971 he received an engineering degree. His dream was to go on to medical school, but he feared achieving this goal was out of reach. Today, he wants to make sure that young men and women from rural areas who aspire to be physicians have the support they need to make their dreams come true.

Juneteenth is observed on June 19, 2021, to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people in the U.S. On this day, enslaved African-Americans in Galveston, Texas, were notified they had actually been freed almost 2.5 years earlier.

Members of the College of Medicine were asked a series of questions on how they honor Juneteenth.

Kaylin BateyClass of 2023

Q: When did you first become aware of Juneteenth?

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 17, 2021) ­— In January 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, declaring more than three million slaves living in the Confederate states to be free, unbeknownst to many of those enslaved. It was not until Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, more than two years later, on June 19, 1865, that the last enslaved U.S. populations were informed of the proclamation. 

Memory Sunday is designated nationally as the second Sunday in June. Memory Sunday was established to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and its impact on the African American community, since their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease is two to three times higher than white Americans.

Em Neiport, MA, is project manager at the College of Medicine and staff co-chair of the LGBTQ* Advisory Committee.

Q: What are your roles at the UK College of Medicine?

A: I’m a project manager in the College of Medicine. The projects I’ve worked on are so varied and have allowed me to see just how expansive academic medicine really is. It’s fascinating! The best part of my role is having a chance to work with so many amazing people in all areas of the college.

University of Kentucky Provost David Blackwell has announced Dr. Charles “Chipper” Griffith III has been named the acting dean of the UK College of Medicine, effective July 1, 2021.

Griffith will serve as acting dean while Dean Bob DiPaola serves as acting provost, from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022. At that time, DiPaola intends to return to the College of Medicine and Griffith will return to his current roles.

A study by several researchers at the University of Kentucky’s Sanders-Brown Center on Aging (SBCoA) was recently highlighted in AlzForum. The study focuses on polyamines, the nitrogen-packed aliphatic molecules produced by our own cells and found in the foods we eat. They have been described by some as anti-aging generators.

Meriem Bensalem-Owen, MD, and Brian Gold, PhD, might not have ever had the chance to work on projects together. Dr. Bensalem-Owen is a physician who spends much of her time at the patients’ bedside, reviewing video-EEG monitoring studies, or in clinic treating patients with epilepsy, and Dr. Gold is a researcher who studies age-related brain and cognitive changes in the lab.

But thanks to the University of Kentucky College of Medicine’s Alliance Research Initiative, they have joined forces to better localize, and ultimately treat, epileptic seizures.

In his 40 years at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Michael T. Piascik, PhD, has mentored hundreds of medical students and graduate students while bringing key funding to the college as a researcher to help produce groundbreaking discoveries in pharmacology.

After a long and distinguished career, Dr. Piascik has announced he will retire, effective July 1.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 4, 2021) — University of Kentucky Department of Neuroscience Professor Greg Gerhardt, Ph.D., hypothesizes that the balance of glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) — two main neurotransmitters in the brain — contributes to Alzheimer’s disease and age-related declines in cognition and memory.

Cheavar Blair, PhD, a 2017 graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, is now a postdoc at the University of California-Santa Barbara. 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 1, 2021) — Thanks to a $5.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a University of Kentucky College of Medicine team will study the culprit behind thoracic aortic aneurysms, which could lead to a treatment for the potentially deadly disease.

1 in 5 Americans will face a mental health condition in a given year, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It's #MentalHealthAwareness month, and at the UK College of Medicine, wellness is a priority. "Physicians and physicians-in-training have higher rates of burnout, depression and even suicide than the general population," said Dr. Angela Dearinger, assistant dean for student affairs - wellness.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 26, 2021) — University of Kentucky College of Medicine researcher Cassandra Gipson-Reichardt, Ph.D., has received the College on Problems of Drug Dependence’s (CPDD) 2021 Joseph Cochin Young Investigator Award for Excellence.

The annual award recognizes an investigator under 40 years old who has demonstrated excellence in their field of research and authored several publications. It is one of the most prestigious honors awarded by the CPDD, the longest standing group in the U.S. dedicated to addressing issues of drug dependence and abuse.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 26, 2021) – It’s no secret the sun can be damaging to the skin. About 10 years ago, Betty Graham began to learn this the hard way.

After noticing an unusual spot on her leg, a skin cancer screening found eight precancerous lesions. When caught early, these types of lesions can be removed and cured. Graham, at the time an avid tanning bed user, now regrets that behavior.

“Tanning beds are the world’s worst thing for skin cancer,” said Graham.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 25, 2021) — The University of Kentucky Advising Network has recently announced the recipients of the 2021 Ken Freedman Awards during the Ken Freedman Day of Recognition virtual awards ceremony. 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 25, 2021) – The University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center announces that radiation oncologist Dr. Charles Kunos will join the center and serve as medical director of Markey’s Clinical Research Office (CRO).

It is with excitement that after an extensive, nationwide search, the University of Kentucky College of Medicine will officially welcome Ilhem Messaoudi, PhD, to campus as the new chair of the department of microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics. This appointment will be effective Nov. 1. As chair Dr.

Beth Garvy, PhD, and Sidney Whiteheart, PhD, originally planned to study blood clotting in HIV-positive patients when they first approached one another to establish a unified research team. Then COVID-19 emerged, and their focus shifted on the disease that started a global pandemic.