News
While completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Kentucky, Jonathan Davies, MS, found himself at a crossroads. He had stretched himself too thin with involvement in organizations and programs, and he started suffering burnout. He then missed the window to take his medical school entrance exam junior year.
The UK College of Medicine is excited to announce that Sarah Hall, MD, PhD, and Eleftherios Xenos, MD, PhD, have been elected to represent the college on the University Senate.
The University Senate is the faculty voice in the governance of our college and the University and determines broad academic policies of the University. Dr. Hall and Dr. Xenos will serve as College of Medicine representatives for three-year terms beginning in August.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 3, 2022) — The University of Kentucky’s UNited In True racial Equity (UNITE) Research Priority Area will host its inaugural research showcase on Wednesday, May 4. The 2022 UNITE Research Showcase is centered around elevating and promoting the importance of racial equity research at UK, across the Commonwealth and beyond.
In 2020, high-profile murders of Black civilians by police garnered national attention, shining a light on the growing need for social change. Learners at the UK College of Medicine collaborated to compose a letter to their leadership, advocating for solutions to combat systemic racism. The College of Medicine administration engaged with learners to implement strategies and initiatives that would address their concerns.
The University of Kentucky College of Medicine is pleased to announce the faculty, staff, and learner winners of the inaugural Mission, Vision, Pillar, and Enabler Awards.
A new division has been established in the UK College of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology to improve the coordination of care in labor and delivery.
Assistant professor Andrea Tucker, MD, collaborated with department chair Wendy Hansen, MD, knowing that laborist services would be crucial for ensuring safe, quality care for patients and enhanced mentorship for future physicians.
Dr. Tucker spearheaded efforts to create a laborist division, which was officially established in July 2021.
Graduates say the online certificate program is “1,000-percent worth doing.”
Cathryn Benson, APRN, has worked 13 years in health care, most recently in hospital medicine and anesthesia. She wanted to learn how she could further help her patients with nutrition, but as a mom who worked 14-hour days, she never thought additional schooling would be an option.
Then she heard about an online program offering flexible scheduling and a well-rounded nutrition-related curriculum – that was also, conveniently, run on the University of Kentucky’s campus.
The best solutions begin when you listen to the people whose problems you’re trying to solve. That community-based focus — the crux of what Nancy Schoenberg, Ph.D., says is her approach as a medical anthropologist — has been a guiding value through her 25 years at the University of Kentucky. In this “Research Made Possible” podcast, Schoenberg shares what drives her work on diabetes and cancer in rural communities across Kentucky.
The motivation driving the work of Pete Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., is personal. His grandmother, Sylvia Becker, died with Alzheimer's disease, and he says his mother then grew terrified of developing the disease.
“It gives me purpose in life to attack that,” Nelson said. As an experimental neuropathologist at the University of Kentucky’s Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, he is guided by that motivation. “It is most every researcher’s dream to help identify and classify a disease, and then to go on and help beat it.”
The Gill Awards, given each year through the generous support of the Gill Foundation of Texas, honor individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of cardiovascular medicine, both through research and clinical care. The awards are based on nominations and assessment by a committee of prominent cardiovascular researchers from across the nation.
Housed in the UK College of Medicine Department of Toxicology and Cancer Biology is a new professional master’s degree program that is the only one of its kind in the state of Kentucky, and the fifth of its kind in the country.
And due to its unique educational experience and strong curriculum, this new program is seeing a jump in its number of students.
Shulin Zhang, MD, PhD, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, began his career as a clinical molecular geneticist when the famous Human Genome Project was in its final stages. A 23-year international research effort, the project was revolutionary as it determined the full DNA sequence of the human genome.
Jordon Burdette, a senior neuroscience and psychology major, was minutes away from presenting to a crowd of University of Kentucky scientists when the nerves set in. Her presentation, focused on cellular regeneration and spinal cord injury, was a culmination of a year of research she had worked on with her mentor, Warren Alilain, PhD, associate professor of neuroscience.
Burdette pushed through those nerves, and Dr. Alilain said she “crushed” it. She left feeling proud of her accomplishment and thankful for the opportunity to study a topic she didn’t expect to ever pursue.
Urim Geleta is only into her senior year of her undergraduate degree, yet she has already played a key role in neuroscience research at UK.
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 College of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, was elated to find out that this winter, he achieved his longtime goal.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 27, 2022) — 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’s Alliance Research Initiative wants to make UK “the center of the universe” 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) — 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.