FOR RELEASE:
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2008
6:00 AM, MST
Contact:
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Casey Nikoloric Chairman, PR and Media Relations, BOD, Rocky Mountain MS Center 303.320.6242 (direct) 303.507.0510 (cell phone) Casey.Nikoloric@ten10group.com www.mscenter.org |
Jacque Montgomery Director of PR and Media Relations University of Colorado Denver 303-724-1528 (office) 303-928-9093 (cell phone) Jacque.Montgomery@ucdenver.edu www.ucdenver.edu www.uch.edu |
Rocky Mountain Multiple Sclerosis Center at Anschutz Medical Campus
AURORA, CO (September 7, 2008). The University of Colorado Hospital, the Rocky Mountain Multiple Sclerosis Center and the University of Colorado Denver have joined together to create a powerful, new collaborative entity: Rocky Mountain MS Center at Anschutz Medical Campus.
This alliance brings together the experience and exceptional work in patient care, education, support and cutting-edge research that have distinguished both organizations for many years. The result is a world-class, multiple sclerosis center that serves the entire Rocky Mountain region and has a national and international reach. Only a handful of MS centers in the nation, if any, offer the broad spectrum of services to MS patients now available through the Rocky Mountain MS Center. John Corboy, MD and Timothy Vollmer, MD serve as Co-Directors."
This Community-University partnership gives us great power to advance science and improve care for patients with MS," said Richard D. Krugman, MD, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine."The Rocky Mountain MS Center at the Anschutz Medical Campus is academic medicine at its very best. It brings the very best specialists, leading researchers and innovators in new treatment models directly to patients. It’s a boon for them, and for the whole region," added Bruce Shroffel, president and CEO of University of Colorado Hospital.
Anschutz Medical Campus is home to the MS Clinic, providing specialized medical care to multiple sclerosis patients as well as access to clinical trials. The MS Clinic is located on the 4th floor of the Anschutz Outpatient Pavilion.
Here, more than 20 physicians, nurses, therapists and staff serve MS patients from across the Rocky Mountain region. Those who live with MS benefit from meticulous care provided by fellowship-trained physicians who have elected to specialize in MS. The Clinic offers state-of-the-art diagnostic services, treatment, multi-disciplinary management of the many symptoms and complications that may arise in MS patients, and access to clinical trials and other research programs. Services include neuro-ophthamology, neuro-radiology, neuro-urology, neuro-otology, speech pathology, physical therapy, behavioral neurology, and full infusion services.
Dr. Corboy founded the MS Clinic in 1997. Dr. Vollmer, who is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts in multiple sclerosis, joined the Clinic last month. At the same time, Dr. Vollmer became Medical Director of the Rocky Mountain MS Center and a fully tenured Professor of Neurology at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine. Dr. Vollmer comes to Colorado from Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, AZ, where he served as Director of the Neuroimmunology and MS programs.
In November, University of Colorado Denver will relocate the MS basic science laboratories to state-of-the-art facilities at Anschutz Medical Campus. Donald Gilden,MD, is chair of the Department of Neurology at the University Of Colorado Denver School Of Medicine and directs the MS laboratory. In these labs, a team of
physicians and scientists use cutting-edge molecular strategies and techniques to determine the cause of multiple sclerosis.
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The research on multiple sclerosis will be a jewel in the research crown at University of Colorado Denver and the Anschutz Medical Campus," said Richard J. Traystman, PhD, vice chancellor of research, University of Colorado Denver. "This important work will lead to exciting breakthroughs and ultimately improve the lives of people living with MS," he added.The Anschutz Medical Campus is the largest academic health center between Chicago, Texas and the West Coast. The campus is home to the health sciences programs of the University of Colorado Denver as well as University of Colorado Hospital. UC Denver researchers have a proven record of success and expertise in innovation, discovery and commercialization of therapies, drugs and medical devices. Research accomplishments of being "the first" include the development of a classification and numbering system for human chromosomes, the identification of a genetic factor that converts normal cells into cancer cells, discovering that lymphocytes are preprogrammed to respond to antigens, the foundation of modern immunology, how a human cancer gene functions, and first to identify that naturally occurring proteins in the blood prevent the AIDS virus from reproducing and spreading to healthy cells. The Anschutz Medical Campus stands as a model across the nation for a successful redevelopment of a decommissioned army base.
Founded 30 years ago in Englewood, Colorado, the Rocky Mountain MS Center’s core mission is to improve the lives of those who live with multiple sclerosis and their families through care, education, support and research. The Center is an international leader in the search for the cause and the cure for multiple sclerosis and for the most effective treatments for patients who live with the disease. The Center’s, physicians, nurses, researchers, physical therapists, counselors and staff spend all of their time helping people who live with MS find answers that work and advancing critical MS research. The Center offers education, state-of-the-art medical care from a team of caring physicians, including patient care to those without adequate health insurance, access to current clinical trials, an adult day enrichment program to assist in the care of a loved one, the largest complementary and alternative medicine program in the nation, hydrotherapy, counseling and rehabilitation services, disability assessments, and houses one of only four MS-related brain tissue banks in the nation.