Who We Are

About CU Anschutz

Today, CU Anschutz is drawing upon science, technology, and top talent to build upon its incredible forward momentum. We are speeding progress to novel therapies and innovations with transformative potential for our state, our region, and our world.

Discoveries at CU Anschutz have led to new medical devices, pharmaceuticals, diagnostic methods, treatment of debilitating conditions, and improved quality of life for people worldwide. CU Anschutz is the largest academic health center in the Rocky Mountain region. The campus combines interdisciplinary teaching, research, and clinical facilities. We prepare future medical professionals to redefine the health care of tomorrow and provide the best available health care today at two nationally recognized hospitals.

Anschutz Medical Campus Office of Advancement

The CU Anschutz Office of Advancement is bringing people together to solve real problems. People like you are supporting breakthrough treatments for cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and a wide range of other illnesses. New developments in medicine have placed once-unattainable treatments within reach. We now have the opportunity to advance medicine further in the next ten years than it has advanced in the last one hundred. That’s why right now is the most exciting time to get involved.

Our Expertise

Rather than thinking in terms of departments and diseases, we revolve around the core, game-changing ideas in medicine that can impact and improve the most lives. These themes intersect at the most pressing medical needs of our time including cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and cardiovascular disease. These themes are:

Driving Innovation

Advancing Discovery

Transforming Patient Care

Training Future Leaders

A History of Innovation

1960: Dr. Harold C. Heim conducted a groundbreaking study on the toxic effects of the drug emetine on the heart.
1962: Drs. Henry Kempe and Henry Silver were the first to identify "battered child" syndrome.
1963: Dr. Thomas Starzl performed the first successful liver transplant in the world.
1963: One of the first pediatric genetic counseling clinics in the U.S. was opened by Drs. Arthur Robinson and Jean Priest.
1965: CU became home to the first Nurse Practitioner education program in the country, started by Dr. Henry Silver and Loretta Ford MS, RN.
1968: CU became home to the first Nurse Practitioner education program in the country, started by Dr. Henry Silver and Loretta Ford MS, RN.

1992: Researchers developed methods of saving newborns with severe lung disorders, including treatment of pediatric pulmonary hypertension using inhaled nitric oxide.
1993: CU participated in pioneering pediatric AIDS research, as one of a handful of AIDS clinical trial groups in the U.S.

2003: 3D images of the human body derived from anatomical sections for teaching anatomy
2005: The CU Cancer Center was designated one of only three consortium cancer centers in the U.S.
2006: Developed a new vaccine for shingles.
2007: Dr. Kevin Lillehei was awarded a patent for the "surgical cannula" - a thin tube that enables surgeons to access deep-seated brain tumors
2007: A multi-university effort with CU Anschutz, Colorado State University, and the University of Nothern Colorado created the first and only collaborative school of public health in the region.

2010: Dr. J. Mark Petrash was the first to identify therapeutic agents in certain foods effective against diabetic eye disease.
2011: Researchers discovered that the chemical resveratrol found in red wine and peanuts, uses differences between healthy cells and cancer cells in the head and neck to target cancer cells selectively
2012: The Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Institute was the first academic eye center in the U.S. to commercially perform femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery.
2012: Dr. Peter Anderson discovered that HIV-treatment drug Truvada can be up to 90% effective in preventing HIV in high-risk populations.
2013: Drs. Barish Edil and Richard Schulick were the first to perform a laparoscopic Whipple procedure, a highly complex surgical operation to treat cancerous tumors in patients with pancreatic cancer.
2014: Drs. Edwin Liu, Marian Rewers and George Eisenbarth's pioneering efforts showed screening infants can lead to early diagnosis of celiac disease.
2014: Drs. Tom Anchordoquy, Raj Agarwal, Theresa Pacheco and Michael Glode pioneered breakthrough lotion that prevents skin cancer and repairs DNA damage from sun exposure.
2017: Researchers at CU Anschutz created a new and more effective shingles vaccine called Shingrix.

Tools & Resources

CU Campuses

CU Anschutz Medical Campus

Office of Advancement

About CU Anschutz

Anschutz Medical Campus Office of Advancement

Our Expertise

A History of Innovation

Office of Advancement (CU Anschutz)

Who We Are

About CU Anschutz

Anschutz Medical Campus Office of Advancement

Our Expertise

A History of Innovation

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Office of Advancement (CU Anschutz)