NEW COVID-19 OUTPATIENT TREATMENTS PART OF CLINICAL TRIAL AT KU MEDICAL CENTER
Three new outpatient treatments are being tested at the University of Kansas Medical Center in an effort to broaden options for COVID-19 patients. These new therapies may make it easier to receive COVID-19 treatment outside a hospital because they include an oral pill, an injection and a medication inhaled through a home nebulizer. This new trial is open to most adults who have a positive COVID-19 test. There’s no need to have a pre-existing condition or meet a certain age limit. KU Medical Center is partnering with The University of Kansas Health System to recruit participants through its outpatient clinics and swab clinics as well. All of the drugs are being tested as part of a unique nationwide clinical trial known as ACTIV-2 — Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines — which allows multiple drugs to be tested under the same trial protocol, saving time and effort. KU Medical Center is one of at least 95 sites across the nation that will be participating in this clinical trial, sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH.
JAYSTART CLINIC SWITCHES TO VIRTUAL PHYSICAL REHABILITATION
Physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech pathology students at the KU School of Health Professions have benefited from the weekly JaySTART Clinic, which offered them a chance to practice what they’ had learned in the classroom and help patients from underserved communities who might otherwise not receive therapy. But when the COVID-19 pandemic closed the in-person clinic, faculty turned to telehealth to keep the therapy — and the learning opportunity — going. After restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic prohibited the traditional way of treating patients, JaySTART appointments were conducted using Zoom videoconferencing. The virtual therapy program began in the spring of 2020 with four patients and has grown to students and faculty seeing the about 30 patients a week, which is close to the number of patients served when the clinic was face-to-face. Dave Burnett, Ph.D., KU School of Health Professions associate dean for faculty practice and community partnership, said he believes some portion of telehealth may remain a part of JaySTART even after the pandemic.
NIH-FUNDED EFFORT SEEKS TO IMPROVE COVID-19 TESTING IN UNDERSERVED KANSAS COMMUNITIES
The University of Kansas Medical Center was chosen as one of 32 institutions nationwide to receive a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through the RADx-UP program to support projects designed to rapidly implement COVID-19 testing strategies in populations disproportionately affected by the pandemic. KU Medical Center is partnering with community efforts in 10 Kansas counties, six rural (Crawford, Finney, Lyon, Riley, Saline and Seward) and four urban (Douglas, Johnson, Sedgwick, Wyandotte). The goal is to establish community-led, health department-linked Local Health Equity Action Teams in 10 counties in Kansas disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and provide them with the training and resources to identify and respond to COVID-related inequities in their communities.
JUNTOS DELIVERS COVID-19 INFORMATION TO KANSAS CITY’S SPANISH-SPEAKING POPULATION
When a language barrier prevents people from getting critical information about the COVID-19 virus, including guidelines for prevention, it puts them at a higher risk of infection. Many of these residents rely on community services, such as free school lunches for children. The JUNTOS Center for Advancing Latino Health at the University of Kansas Medical Center, whose mission is to eliminate health disparities in under-served Latino communities in Kansas, is working to deliver COVID-19 information to these communities in their native language. In addition to creating and sharing materials about the coronavirus in Spanish through JUNTOS social media, JUNTOS worked with the Unified Government Public Health Department, which serves Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, to create a Spanish version of the COVID-19 section of its website. In the Kansas City area, nearly 6% of the population speaks Spanish as their primary language. In Wyandotte County, home to the Kansas City campus of the University of Kansas Medical Center, the percentage is far higher. Nearly one-quarter of residents are Spanish speakers — and close to 15% report that they can speak English “less than very well,” according to data from the American Community Survey of the U.S. Census.
KU MEDICAL CENTER OPENS NEW CTSU UNIT
A new research unit that will greatly expand the capacity for scientists to conduct clinical trials has opened at the University of Kansas Medical Center. It is the first clinical and translational science unit (CTSU) on the main KU Medical Center campus in Kansas City, Kansas. CTSUs are central to the mission of Frontiers: University of Kansas Clinical and Translational Science Institute, which was established by the KU Medical Center in 2011 with a five-year, $20 million Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health. As part of a network of more than 50 such hubs across the country, Frontiers accelerates research by connecting scientists to resources, providing training and facilitating collaboration among researchers, institutions and communities. Frontiers was awarded a second five-year CTSA grant, for $25 million, in 2017. The new CTSU has five exam rooms; six infusion bays for intravenous drug delivery; two phlebotomy bays for blood draws; a kitchen; a sample processing laboratory with refrigerators, freezers and centrifuges; a conference room; and workspace for coordinators. It also has a pulmonary testing laboratory with equipment to test lung function. A nurse trained in clinical research protocols, a medical assistant and an administrative assistant will staff the unit.
KU CAMP GIVES KIDS WITH ADHD THE ATTENTION THEY NEED
Spurred by the initiative and expertise of faculty and staff from KU School of Medicine-Wichita, a new summer camp aims to help youngsters with ADHD modify their behavior and thrive using a program unavailable for hundreds of miles around. Jointly sponsored by the KU School of Medicine-Wichita’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Pediatrics, the ADHD Summer Treatment Program serves up to 28 children ages 6 to 10 with its 13 full-time staff. The camp is built on the belief ― and developing research ― that teaching kids how to adjust their behavior and cope is a powerful tool alongside medications that help but can’t entirely do it alone. Each day at the camp consists of a brief morning session where counselors go over the behavioral goals and plan for the day. Students have about two hours of classroom time, where they’ll work on academic materials while learning appropriate classroom behaviors. Several sports drills and games will take place each day, giving children additional opportunities to practice social skills and behavioral goals.
CLINICAL TRIALS HOPE TO INCREASE TREATMENT OPTIONS FOR STROKE PATIENTS
Researchers at the University of Kansas Medical Center are testing the boundaries of stroke care with their participation in two international clinical research trials that could lead to more treatment options for stroke patients and an expanded window of time to treat them effectively. KU Medical Center is one of 99 sites worldwide for the TIMELESS study, funded by Genentech, looking at the effectiveness of treating patients with a clot-busting drug within 4.5 to 24 hours of the onset of stroke symptoms. Meanwhile, in the SELECT 2 study, KU Medical Center is one of 30 sites around the world testing the effectiveness of performing thrombectomies, the surgical removal of blood clots, in stroke patients with ASPECT scores between 3 and 5 and/or a core infarct size of greater than 50 cubic centimeters, both of which are a greater amount of tissue damage than previously thought treatable as shown on advanced perfusion imaging. Both TIMELESS and SELECT 2 will be conducted in acute care settings. Anyone who comes to the Emergency Department at The University of Kansas Health System or who is transferred to the health system with stroke symptoms may be eligible for participation in the studies with KU Medical Center if inclusion criteria are met.
WOMEN IN ACADEMIC MEDICINE REMAIN LESS LIKELY TO BE PROMOTED
Female physicians are more likely to pursue careers in academic medicine than their male counterparts but are less likely to be promoted to senior faculty and leadership positions, and that gender gap is no narrower than it was 20 years ago, according to a study published by researchers at the University of Kansas Medical Center in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The study, Women Physicians and Promotion in Academic Medicine, is an expansion and update to a landmark study published in the NEJM in 2000 by a researcher at the Association of American Medical Colleges. The earlier study demonstrated that female graduates of U.S. medical schools working at academic medical centers in the United States were advancing from assistant to associate professor, and from associate to full professor, at lower-than-expected rates. The new study shows that gender differences have not diminished since the 2000 study was done — the same era during which women have closed the medical school admissions gender gap. The authors of the study were: Kimber P. Richter, Ph.D., MPH; Lauren Clark, M.S.; Jo A. Wick, Ph.D.; Erica Cruvinel, Ph.D.; Dianne Durham, Ph.D.; Pamela Shaw, M.D.; Grace H. Shih, M.D.; Christie A. Befort, Ph.D.; and Robert D. Simari, M.D.
DRUG AFFECTING HIGH CHOLESTEROL FROM GENES, NOT LIFESTYLE, SHINES IN CLINICAL TRIAL
Individuals who have an inherited condition that cause them to have high cholesterol regardless of diet or other lifestyle issues might one day benefit from a new drug recently tested at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Patrick M. Moriarty, M.D., director of clinical pharmacology at the Atherosclerosis/ Lipid-apheresis Center, is a professor of internal medicine for the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Moriarty co-authored a multisite clinical trial study published in The New England Journal of Medicine. The article shares the results of a drug trial. This particular drug targets the creation of a protein that carries cholesterol. If eventually approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the drug could help lower a specific type of cholesterol found in the blood, which in turn lowers the risk for life-threatening conditions. The new drug, referred to as APO(a)-I, affects a particular lipoprotein within the body called lipoprotein(a), also known as Lp(a). Lp(a) is a close cousin to LDL, since it causes similar problems. But unlike LDL, this particular lipoprotein can’t be managed by lifestyle changes, such as quitting smoking or starting and maintaining an exercise program. Since Lp(a) contains LDL, it can cause atherosclerosis, but it can also increase blood clots and inflammation.
GRANT SUPPORTS ADVANCE PRACTICE NURSES IN RURAL AND UNDERSERVED AREAS
Advance practice nurses will have an opportunity to gain additional training in rural and underserved areas with support from a nearly $2 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The University of Kansas School of Nursing is using the four-year grant to fund a post-doctoral fellowship program for recent graduates of doctor of nursing practice (DNP). Cara Busenhart, Ph.D., CNM, APRN, FACNM, clinical assistant professor in the KU School of Nursing and project director for the post-doctoral fellowship program, said the fellows might come from various specialties, including nurse practitioners in family practice, pediatrics and primary care, or other specialties such as nurse-midwife or women’s health. For one year, the fellows will balance didactic learning with clinical practice in primary care. The first fellowships were awarded in the fall of 2020. The School of Nursing’s primary clinical partner in the grant is The University of Kansas Health System.
KU CANCER CENTER RESEARCHERS IDENTIFY BREAST CANCER PREVENTION DRUG WITH FEWER SIDE EFFECTS
Women with a high risk for breast cancer can be prescribed drugs to help reduce their risk of cancer, but many don’t take the drugs because of their problematic side effects. Researchers at The University of Kansas Cancer Center have identified a drug that may keep the preventive punch but lessen the strong side effects. The result could mean that more women will stay on the preventive therapy and see better results. The drug is called Duavee, a medication containing estrogen and anti-estrogen bazedoxifene. Duavee is FDA-approved for hot-flash relief and prevention of osteoporosis, but it is rarely used in women with a high risk of breast cancer because it contains estrogen (a higher lifetime exposure to estrogen has been linked to increased breast-cancer risk).
Carol Fabian, M.D., founder of the KU Cancer Center’s Breast Cancer Prevention and Survivorship Research Center, and her team conducted a six-month pilot study of Duavee after studies of the drug’s components in animal models suggested it may help prevent breast cancer. The results of the study, published in Cancer Prevention Research, show that women who took Duavee had a reduction in risk biomarkers for breast cancer. These biomarkers — early warnings that something is not right — can include breast density as seen on a mammogram, for example. While taking Duavee, study participants had decreased mammographic breast density. Moreover, participants reported an improvement in one key side effect: temperature fluctuations, also known as hot flashes. They listed their median hot flash score at a 15 at the start of the trial but zero at the end of the trial. Most women had complete relief of their hot flashes by two weeks into the study.
Hot flashes can develop or intensify with all of the standard drugs currently used to reduce the risk of developing cancer for women considered at increased risk for breast cancer. Tamoxifen is one well known example. Less than 5% of women advised to take chemoprevention drugs actually do, however, because the side effects can initiate or aggravate their menopausal symptoms. Fabian said women most likely to be interested in taking chemoprevention medicines are in their mid-40s to early 60s ― the peak time for menopause transition, where 75% of women experience hot flashes and night sweats. For many, menopause symptoms are severe enough to interfere with their quality of life, and women are not likely to take a medicine that might worsen them.
EIGHTH COMMUNITY COLLEGE JOINS NURSING PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM
The University of Kansas School of Nursing welcomed Cloud County Community College to the school’s Community College Nursing Partnership, the eighth community college in the state to join the innovative program. The Community College Nursing Partnership allows students to enroll in both community college and the KU School of Nursing to receive both an associate degree in nursing (ADN) and a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN). Face-to-face courses are completed on Cloud County Community College’s main campus in Concordia, Kansas, a community 50 miles north of Salina, Kansas. Classes from the KU School of Nursing are offered online, allowing students to remain in their home communities for the extent of their enrollment and practice clinical skills in nearby medical centers. KU faculty members have worked with the community colleges to develop a curriculum that contains all the necessary elements required to sit for nursing licensure. By taking advantage of resources that are already in place at the community colleges, the program is designed to be completed in four years (including summers). Students pay tuition to the respective school through which a course is offered.
KU MEDICAL CENTER OPENS THRIVE FOOD PANTRY FOR STUDENTS IN NEED
The KU Medical Center Office of Student Life has opened Thrive, a food pantry for students who are experiencing food insecurity. A fundraiser for the pantry raised more than $13,000 in the first month, and more than 1,300 individual food items were donated to stock the pantry shelves. National studies indicate that anywhere from 30- 45% of college students experience some type of food insecurity. The Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness reported that students experiencing food insecurity often have difficulty paying the rent, mortgage or utility bills. The stress of dealing with food or housing can impact a student’s educational success. The study found that 55% percent of students responding reported that these problems caused them to not buy a required textbook and 53% percent reported missing a class.
ATHLETIC TRAINING PROGRAM COMES TO KU MEDICAL CENTER
KU’s athletic training program has a new home at the University of Kansas Medical Center. The Master of Science in Athletic Training (MSAT) program classes will begin in the summer of 2021. Founding program director LesLee Taylor, Ph.D., said athletic training will benefit from a synergy with similar but long-established programs such as physical therapy, occupational therapy and dietetics and nutrition in the KU School of Health Professions. The program comes to KU Medical Center after University of Kansas leadership decided to close its undergraduate athletic training department in Lawrence and move the master’s degree program to the medical center campus. MAST will take two years and 68 credit hours to complete. Year one will be filled with classroom learning and some clinical experiences. In the first semester of year two, students will increase their time in clinics, and by their last semester, they will be off campus in a practicum, practicing what they have learned.
JOURNAL PUBLISHES ANALYSIS OF KU MEDICAL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION’S FUND FOR TEACHING EXCELLENCE
A history and analysis of the KU Medical Alumni Association’s Medical Alumni Innovative Teaching Fund (MAITF) program was published in the academic journal Medical Science Educator: The Journal of the International Association of Medical Science Educators. The fund provides grants to KU School of Medicine professors who need money to pursue a specific project that might be difficult or impossible to fund through more traditional avenues. Giulia A. Bonaminio, Ph.D., senior associate dean for medical education, co-authored the Medical Science Educator article with five KU School of Medicine colleagues and investigated the prevalence of funding for medical education. Bonaminio said research showed that nationally, 70% of medical education research projects went unfunded, and the 30% that did receive funding were often underfunded. In the 10-year history of MAITF, the program has dispersed $1 million to fund 69 different projects. Funding for these research projects came from the University of Kansas Medical Alumni Association.
EIGHT KU MEDICAL CENTER PROGRAMS MAKE THE TOP 50 IN U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT
The University of Kansas Medical Center had 8 graduate programs ranked in the top 50 among public universities in the latest rankings from U.S. News and World Report. The programs making the top 50 included: Physical Therapy (#6); Speech-Language Pathology (#6); Occupational Therapy (#9); Audiology (#10); Nursing-Midwifery (#11); Family Medicine (#14); Medicine-Primary Care (#22); and Medicine-Research (#31)