Like most physicians, I have had to work with many of my patients to help control their acute and chronic pain. An estimated 50 million Americans are now living with chronic pain, but health care providers are learning that masking pain with opioids is not necessarily the best solution. In our cover story for this issue of Kansas Medicine + Science, we look at how non-opioid treatments are driving the new era of pain management at KU Medical Center. Our talented clinicians and researchers are having great success using a more holistic approach to pain, treating the entire patient rather than just the symptoms of pain.

Elsewhere in this issue, you can read about the vital contributions our biostatisticians are making to the scientific research being done at our three schools. Not only are our biostatisticians working with our scientists to design, analyze and implement targeted statistical studies and clinical trials, but they are also training the next generation of biostatistics professionals.

I also hope you will also check out the article on how our team at the KU Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center is working hard to recruit and enroll minority populations into the numerous Alzheimer’s clinical trials going on at KU Medical Center ― and a story on the ways we are trying to make our students coming from a military background have the best educational experience possible.

Please let us know what you think of this issue of Kansas Medicine + Science. You can email us at kmands@kumc.edu. We look forward to hearing from you!

Robert D. Simari, M.D.
Executive Vice Chancellor
University of Kansas Medical Center