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This is where dreams live
Turning dreams into life-changing discoveries to change the face of medicine. Together.
Dreamers Never Quit
We push ourselves to see how far we can go. How high we can climb. What we can overcome. At the University of Colorado Anschutz, we push further because what lies beyond the limits of today could change someone’s tomorrow.
Dreamers Never Quit reflects the relentless spirit of CU Anschutz: pushing beyond the boundaries of medicine to pursue new discoveries, transform lives and make untreatable a thing of the past.
Read on to learn more about three areas of campus excellence highlighted in our Where Dreams Live campaign.
Expanding the Possibilities of Neurosurgery
The CU Anschutz Department of Neurosurgery is the largest academic neurosurgery department in the region, with over 20 labs advancing research at an important period of discovery and growth for the field.
Teams here are advancing critical patient-centered work. This includes mapping the brain using new technology that records brain activity in significantly more clarity than previous decades – from a single neuron to now hundreds. Researchers are putting those findings to work in understanding everything from how to better treat Parkinson’s disease, to returning sensation to paralyzed patients.
“The human brain is probably the single most complicated thing nature has ever produced,” said Daniel Kramer, MD, an associate professor of neurosurgery at the CU Anschutz School of Medicine. “We have some patients that we are collaborating with on this research who are paralyzed and can’t feel anything from the neck down. Our larger goal is to give them feeling again in their hand.”
Harnessing the Immune System to Treat Aggressive Cancers
CU Anschutz collaborates across disciplines to push the boundaries of what’s possible in cancer treatment. From research and innovation to providing compassionate care, our renowned team of physicians and scientists are advancing prevention, early detection and cutting-edge treatments for all cancer types – especially rare, aggressive and hard-to-treat cancers.
This includes experimental CAR T-cell therapies developed in our labs and manufactured on campus at Gates’ Biomanufacturing Facility. A current clinical trial is testing genetically engineered immune cells in adults with advanced colorectal cancer who have exhausted standard treatment options.
“Colorectal cancer is now the number one cause of cancer deaths in people under age 50,” said Christopher Lieu, MD, professor of medicine and medical oncology at the CU Anschutz School of Medicine. “This trial is so important because it utilizes a target and an engineered T cell to be able to recognize and fight colorectal cancer, giving these young people more options than the standard of care.”
Breaking Mental Health Ground
CU Anschutz is among an elite group of academic medical campuses in the United States that performs deep brain stimulation (DBS) on patients with severe, treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
A multidisciplinary team of psychiatrists, neurologists and neurosurgeons is breaking ground with DBS in the mental health field, reducing symptoms for many OCD patients who have failed all other standard therapies. DBS involves placing electrodes in specific areas of the brain that disrupt disordered networks. The signals are controlled and adjusted using wireless communication with a pulse generator implanted in the chest wall, potentially offering long-lasting results.
“These are patients who have tried everything and not responded,” said Rachel Davis, MD, director of adult psychiatry and of the OCD Program at CU Anschutz. “That’s what drives me to keep pushing the boundaries of what we can offer and to try things outside the box. Deep brain stimulation has a 70% response rate, which is remarkable in these patients who have suffered their entire lives. My dream is to make these therapies more accessible to patients.”
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Where Dreams Live
View our videos below to learn about more areas of CU Anschutz innovation and collaboration highlighted in our Where Dreams Live campaign.
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Dreamers Never Quit
Dreamers Never Quit exemplifies the tenacity and grit of our CU Anschutz community – the researchers, doctors and patients whose persistence pushes us forward.
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Never Dream Alone
In partnership with the world-class Colorado Symphony, Never Dream Alone underscores the power of collaboration and the CU Anschutz mission: innovating together to advance discovery and improve people’s lives.
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Where Dreams Live
Where Dreams Live brings the CU Anschutz mission to life through the dreams of the people and patients who inspire it: working together to accelerate breakthroughs, transform health and create a brighter future for all.
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About the University of Colorado Anschutz
The University of Colorado Anschutz is a world-class academic medical campus leading transformative advances in science, medicine, education and patient care.
The campus includes the University of Colorado’s health professional schools, more than 60 centers and institutes, and two nationally ranked independent hospitals - UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and Children's Hospital Colorado - which see nearly three million adult and pediatric patient visits each year.
Innovative, interconnected and highly collaborative, CU Anschutz delivers life-changing treatments, exceptional patient care and top-tier professional training. The campus conducts world-renowned research supported by $890 million in funding, including $762 million in sponsored awards and $128 million in philanthropic gifts for research.