KANSAS CITY, KAN. — United States Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, M.D., M.B.A brought his national listening tour to the University of Kansas Medical Center on Thursday.
Officials from The University of Kansas Hospital and the Medical Center joined other community leaders in reporting to Dr. Murthy what health programs in the Kansas City area were going well and what health concerns needed still to be addressed.
Dr. Murthy addressed a number of topics, beginning with the concern over the recent measles outbreak.
Both university and hospital officials expressed gratitude to the Surgeon General for coming to campus.
Dr. Doug Girod, Executive Vice Chancellor of the University of Kansas Medical Center said the Greater Kansas City area came off well, as it presented a number of initiatives where entities were working closely together to achieve results.
Dr. Lee Norman, Chief Medical Officer of The University of Kansas Hospital said it is always helpful for a federal official to hear directly from people “in the trenches” across the country rather than hearing information filtered as it makes its way to Washington. D.C.
Friday, January 30, 2015
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
KUMC study: Implant allows rats with brain damage to rapidly recover motor skills
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Scientists at the University of Kansas School of Medicine and Case Western Reserve University have developed a lightweight, battery-powered device that appears capable of repairing damaged pathways in the brain.
The technology holds promise for the millions of individuals suffering from the damage left by stroke or head injuries.
Neurobiologist Randolph J. Nudo, Ph.D., is the senior author of the study, which appears in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Nudo says the project represents an important step toward developing devices that can be implanted in the brains of stroke patients, soldiers with traumatic brain injuries and others with abnormal brain function.
Nudo, a professor of molecular and integrative physiology and director of the Landon Center on
Aging at the University of Kansas Medical Center, worked on the design of a brain prosthesis with Pedram Mohseni, Ph.D., an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
The idea behind the prosthesis, or microdevice, is similar to defibrillators implanted into heart patients. But instead of monitoring the heart, the microdevice monitors neurons firing in the brain. The aim is to restore communication patterns that have become disrupted by injury or disease.
The technology holds promise for the millions of individuals suffering from the damage left by stroke or head injuries.
Neurobiologist Randolph J. Nudo, Ph.D., is the senior author of the study, which appears in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Nudo says the project represents an important step toward developing devices that can be implanted in the brains of stroke patients, soldiers with traumatic brain injuries and others with abnormal brain function.
Nudo, a professor of molecular and integrative physiology and director of the Landon Center on
Aging at the University of Kansas Medical Center, worked on the design of a brain prosthesis with Pedram Mohseni, Ph.D., an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
The idea behind the prosthesis, or microdevice, is similar to defibrillators implanted into heart patients. But instead of monitoring the heart, the microdevice monitors neurons firing in the brain. The aim is to restore communication patterns that have become disrupted by injury or disease.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Brownback proposes using bioscience funds to pay for adult stem cell center at KU Medical Center
By SCOTT ROTHSCHILD, The Lawrence Journal-World
Gov. Sam Brownback on Monday proposed using bioscience dollars to fund the startup and ongoing costs of the planned adult stem cell center at the Kansas University Medical Center.
Under Brownback's plan, $1.154 million would be diverted from the Kansas Bioscience Authority next year to create the Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center and $754,500 per year to maintain the center after that.
The proposal was part of numerous spending adjustments Brownback has sent to the Legislature, which reconvenes May 8 to put together a budget during the wrapup session.
Last week, Brownback signed into law a measure establishing the adult stem cell center. KU did not ask for the bill, and legislators had failed to fund it.
The center is prohibited from using embryonic stem cells or cells taken from aborted fetal tissue. Abortion opponents, who supported the legislation, oppose human embryonic stem cell research because it involves the destruction of the embryo.
Brownback said the center will put Kansas at the forefront of important research.
Gov. Sam Brownback on Monday proposed using bioscience dollars to fund the startup and ongoing costs of the planned adult stem cell center at the Kansas University Medical Center.
Under Brownback's plan, $1.154 million would be diverted from the Kansas Bioscience Authority next year to create the Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center and $754,500 per year to maintain the center after that.
The proposal was part of numerous spending adjustments Brownback has sent to the Legislature, which reconvenes May 8 to put together a budget during the wrapup session.
Last week, Brownback signed into law a measure establishing the adult stem cell center. KU did not ask for the bill, and legislators had failed to fund it.
The center is prohibited from using embryonic stem cells or cells taken from aborted fetal tissue. Abortion opponents, who supported the legislation, oppose human embryonic stem cell research because it involves the destruction of the embryo.
Brownback said the center will put Kansas at the forefront of important research.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
KU Medical Center under the budget knife; committee removes $10 million for health education building
By SCOTT ROTHSCHILD, The Lawrence Journal-World
A Senate committee Monday cut $10 million that was proposed in the Kansas University budget to help start construction of a $75 million health education building at KU Medical Center.
Gov. Sam Brownback put the $10 million in his two-year budget proposal, but the governor’s fellow Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee removed the funding. Sen. Tom Arpke, R-Salina, led the charge, expressing displeasure with tuition increases at KU.
“Looking at the overall performance of the regents universities, it seemed to me that the University of Kansas was being, in my mind, a little fiscally irresponsible in looking at their tuition increases of the last 10 years of over 200 percent,” Arpke said.
Arpke, chairman of the education budget subcommittee, also said he recently asked KU officials what they were doing with certain reserve funds and had not heard back.
A Senate committee Monday cut $10 million that was proposed in the Kansas University budget to help start construction of a $75 million health education building at KU Medical Center.
Gov. Sam Brownback put the $10 million in his two-year budget proposal, but the governor’s fellow Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee removed the funding. Sen. Tom Arpke, R-Salina, led the charge, expressing displeasure with tuition increases at KU.
“Looking at the overall performance of the regents universities, it seemed to me that the University of Kansas was being, in my mind, a little fiscally irresponsible in looking at their tuition increases of the last 10 years of over 200 percent,” Arpke said.
Arpke, chairman of the education budget subcommittee, also said he recently asked KU officials what they were doing with certain reserve funds and had not heard back.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Brownback’s budget proposal provides a portion of funding for new medical education building at KU Med
By SCOTT ROTHSCHILD, The Lawrence Journal-World
Kansas University received some of what it wanted under Gov. Sam Brownback's budget plan that was unveiled Wednesday.
Brownback approved $35 million in bonding authority and $10 million from the state over two years to build a new medical education building and training facility at the KU Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan.
The total cost of the building is estimated at $75 million, and KU has made its construction a priority, saying the current facility is outdated.
In seeking a state commitment for a portion of the cost, KU had wanted the state to release $25 million that was returned from the federal government as part of a FICA refund related to payroll taxes paid back in the 1990s.
But Brownback is releasing only $10 million and depositing the other $15 million in the state's all-purpose general fund, according to Budget Director Steve Anderson.
Kansas University received some of what it wanted under Gov. Sam Brownback's budget plan that was unveiled Wednesday.
Brownback approved $35 million in bonding authority and $10 million from the state over two years to build a new medical education building and training facility at the KU Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan.
The total cost of the building is estimated at $75 million, and KU has made its construction a priority, saying the current facility is outdated.
In seeking a state commitment for a portion of the cost, KU had wanted the state to release $25 million that was returned from the federal government as part of a FICA refund related to payroll taxes paid back in the 1990s.
But Brownback is releasing only $10 million and depositing the other $15 million in the state's all-purpose general fund, according to Budget Director Steve Anderson.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Newly found kidney disease treatment has roots in KUMC
By MATT ERICKSON, The Lawrence Journal-World
This month, hundreds of thousands of Americans, and millions of people around the world, have hope that they’ve never had before. And it’s largely because of four decades’ worth of work that’s gone on at Kansas University Medical Center.
Those people are sufferers of polycystic kidney disease, a genetic disorder that causes a person’s kidneys to slowly balloon with fluid-filled cysts over the course of his or her life and ultimately stop functioning.
After the release of the results of a clinical trial earlier this month, there is now for the first time a treatment that’s been proven to slow the growth of those cysts.
How that came to happen is a tale that largely begins in the early 1970s, when Jared Grantham first made PKD the focus of his research at KUMC, researchers there said.
“The story of this research is very much a Kansas story,” said Grantham, now a University Distinguished Professor at the medical center.
PKD is passed on from parent to child, Grantham says, and it takes action while the child is still in the mother’s womb. But its effects are slow. Over time, it causes the hundreds of thousands of tubules that make up the kidney — normally about the size of a human hair — to develop what look like blisters.
But slowly over many years, all those cysts can cause the kidney, normally a fist-sized organ with a smooth surface, to grow to the size of a football or larger and resemble a bunch of grapes — the “grapes” being the fluid-filled cysts that define the disease.
This month, hundreds of thousands of Americans, and millions of people around the world, have hope that they’ve never had before. And it’s largely because of four decades’ worth of work that’s gone on at Kansas University Medical Center.
Those people are sufferers of polycystic kidney disease, a genetic disorder that causes a person’s kidneys to slowly balloon with fluid-filled cysts over the course of his or her life and ultimately stop functioning.
After the release of the results of a clinical trial earlier this month, there is now for the first time a treatment that’s been proven to slow the growth of those cysts.
How that came to happen is a tale that largely begins in the early 1970s, when Jared Grantham first made PKD the focus of his research at KUMC, researchers there said.
“The story of this research is very much a Kansas story,” said Grantham, now a University Distinguished Professor at the medical center.
PKD is passed on from parent to child, Grantham says, and it takes action while the child is still in the mother’s womb. But its effects are slow. Over time, it causes the hundreds of thousands of tubules that make up the kidney — normally about the size of a human hair — to develop what look like blisters.
But slowly over many years, all those cysts can cause the kidney, normally a fist-sized organ with a smooth surface, to grow to the size of a football or larger and resemble a bunch of grapes — the “grapes” being the fluid-filled cysts that define the disease.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
KUMC executive vice chancellor finalists to visit in November
By MATT ERICKSON, The Lawrence Journal-World
Three finalists to become the next leader of Kansas University Medical Center will visit its campus during November.
The visits by candidates for the KUMC executive vice chancellor position will each include a public town-hall meeting designed to allow faculty and staff to hear from them and ask questions.
“The decisions of the person selected will be important for lots of folks, and we wanted them to have an opportunity to meet and hear from each one of the three candidates,” said Tim Caboni, KU’s vice chancellor for public affairs.
The town-hall meetings will take place Nov. 8, Nov. 15 and Nov. 20, according to a message from Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little from earlier this month.
KU will release the candidates’ names and other information one-by-one, on the day preceding each public meeting.
Ed Ellerbeck, KUMC preventive medicine and public health chairman and leader of the executive vice chancellor search committee, said the university planned to keep the candidates’ identities private for as long as it could to guard against competing offers.
“As soon as it’s known at their home institutions that these candidates are looking elsewhere, they’re going to be besieged by counteroffers,” Ellerbeck said.
Three finalists to become the next leader of Kansas University Medical Center will visit its campus during November.
The visits by candidates for the KUMC executive vice chancellor position will each include a public town-hall meeting designed to allow faculty and staff to hear from them and ask questions.
“The decisions of the person selected will be important for lots of folks, and we wanted them to have an opportunity to meet and hear from each one of the three candidates,” said Tim Caboni, KU’s vice chancellor for public affairs.
The town-hall meetings will take place Nov. 8, Nov. 15 and Nov. 20, according to a message from Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little from earlier this month.
KU will release the candidates’ names and other information one-by-one, on the day preceding each public meeting.
Ed Ellerbeck, KUMC preventive medicine and public health chairman and leader of the executive vice chancellor search committee, said the university planned to keep the candidates’ identities private for as long as it could to guard against competing offers.
“As soon as it’s known at their home institutions that these candidates are looking elsewhere, they’re going to be besieged by counteroffers,” Ellerbeck said.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Q&A: KU Cancer Center director discusses national designation, upcoming challenges
By KARREY BRITT, The Lawrence Journal-World
Dr. Roy Jensen, director of Kansas University Cancer Center, said doctors are able to save the lives of about two-thirds of patients who are diagnosed with cancers, but for one out three, there is no treatment.
“We’ve got to have better drugs. We’ve got to have drugs that take new approaches against this disease,” Jensen said Tuesday during a Lawrence Noon Rotary Club meeting at the Holiday Inn Lawrence. “Our university is one of the leading centers across this nation for drug discovery and development and that has been and will continue to be a critical aspect of what we are as a cancer center.”
Jensen said while KU Cancer Center recently earned the coveted National Cancer Institute designation, its work is far from over. In four years, it plans to apply for NCI’s Comprehensive Care Center designation, which is the highest level given. To achieve such status, Jensen said the center will work closely with its 18 partners in the Midwest Cancer Alliance, including Lawrence Memorial Hospital’s Oncology Center, to grow its research, education and outreach.
“It’s really demonstrating to the NCI that we’ve taken the cancer center and really want to get the benefits out into the community and move the needle in the right direction in terms of cancer incidence and mortality,” he said.
Jensen has been giving presentations across the state, including in Hays, Goodland, Pittsburg and Manhattan, during the past couple of weeks. Before his presentation Tuesday in Lawrence, he sat down for a one-on-one interview with the Lawrence Journal-World.
Here are excerpts from the 15-minute interview:
Q: What does NCI designation mean?
A: NCI-designated cancer centers are really the crucible from which all therapeutic advances of the last 40 years have sprung from, and it involves the application of basic science research to understanding cancer and then translating that information into new therapeutic advances.
Q: What is the Midwest Cancer Alliance that Lawrence Memorial Hospital recently became a part of?
A: It has really brought together cancer professionals from all across the state into what we refer to as a community of care in that it helps them understand all of the institutions throughout this entire area and what the different options are for patients as they start on their individual cancer journeys. It helps us really provide the infrastructure to ensure that every patient, no matter where they are or where they are treated, gets the best possible care and has access to cutting-edge clinical trials.
Q: What have been the keys to getting NCI designation?
A: We grew our cancer research funding over the last few years and now if you look at all of our sources, it’s over $50 million. It was about $26 million in 2004 when we started working toward NCI. Not only leveraging the School of Pharmacy and molecular biosciences at the Lawrence campus, but we also partnered with the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, Mo., developed the Midwest Cancer Alliance and then there’s the incredible support that we’ve gotten across the region. That includes state government, the Kansas Bioscience Authority and Johnson County residents who passed a sales tax in support of the initiative. All of those things, I think, were critical to getting us to where we are today.
Q: Are there certain cancers that KU Center will focus on?
A: We are a Phase 1 program, and a Phase 1 program is primarily intended for patients that have exhausted all therapeutic approaches and they are looking for new drugs that may have an effect on their particular cancer. I think leveraging all of the expertise that we have around drug discovery and development makes it logical to focus in that area. We have a lot of other clinical strengths particularly breast cancer, bone marrow transplantation, prostate cancer, head and neck cancer that are extremely strong and I think we will be able to attract patients from all over.
Q: What are your thoughts on the Affordable Care Act?
A: It actually has a big effect on cancer patients. If you look at people who are diagnosed with cancer, particularly those who have health insurance at that time or don’t have health insurance at that time, those that don’t have health insurance have a 50 percent lower five-year survival rate. That’s a stunning difference. It points out the fact that you can not get comprehensive, coordinated cancer care in your local ER. So, I think being able to insure somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 million additional Americans absolutely will save lives particularly for the cancer patients.
Q: Do you have any advice for medical students thinking about specializing in oncology?
A: I think we are undergoing a huge revolution in not only how we treat cancer patients but how we think about cancer and how we develop new therapeutic approaches. We are set for one of the most exciting times in the history of medicine as far as I’m concerned. That’s the good side. The bad side is the discretionary funding of the federal budget is under greater pressure right now. So, there may not be funding to explore the knowledge and advance medicine.
Q: Why have you taken an interest in cancer? Have you been personally affected by cancer?
A: I have way too much motivation in this regard. I have folks who contact my office practically every week looking for help and direction.
Q: It seems like everybody knows someone with cancer. Why is it so prevalent?
A: There’s a lot of things that come into play. Demographically, our country is getting older, and older individuals are much more likely to get cancer. As we move towards 2030, it’s likely that we will see a doubling of cancer patients in this country. We have got to get the infrastructure in place to deal with this and we can’t just accept that fate. We’ve got to work towards making that better and turning the needle so that we decrease the number of cancer cases and we give hope to folks who wind up getting cancer.
Dr. Roy Jensen, director of Kansas University Cancer Center, said doctors are able to save the lives of about two-thirds of patients who are diagnosed with cancers, but for one out three, there is no treatment.“We’ve got to have better drugs. We’ve got to have drugs that take new approaches against this disease,” Jensen said Tuesday during a Lawrence Noon Rotary Club meeting at the Holiday Inn Lawrence. “Our university is one of the leading centers across this nation for drug discovery and development and that has been and will continue to be a critical aspect of what we are as a cancer center.”
Jensen said while KU Cancer Center recently earned the coveted National Cancer Institute designation, its work is far from over. In four years, it plans to apply for NCI’s Comprehensive Care Center designation, which is the highest level given. To achieve such status, Jensen said the center will work closely with its 18 partners in the Midwest Cancer Alliance, including Lawrence Memorial Hospital’s Oncology Center, to grow its research, education and outreach.
“It’s really demonstrating to the NCI that we’ve taken the cancer center and really want to get the benefits out into the community and move the needle in the right direction in terms of cancer incidence and mortality,” he said.
Jensen has been giving presentations across the state, including in Hays, Goodland, Pittsburg and Manhattan, during the past couple of weeks. Before his presentation Tuesday in Lawrence, he sat down for a one-on-one interview with the Lawrence Journal-World.
Here are excerpts from the 15-minute interview:
Q: What does NCI designation mean?
A: NCI-designated cancer centers are really the crucible from which all therapeutic advances of the last 40 years have sprung from, and it involves the application of basic science research to understanding cancer and then translating that information into new therapeutic advances.
Q: What is the Midwest Cancer Alliance that Lawrence Memorial Hospital recently became a part of?
A: It has really brought together cancer professionals from all across the state into what we refer to as a community of care in that it helps them understand all of the institutions throughout this entire area and what the different options are for patients as they start on their individual cancer journeys. It helps us really provide the infrastructure to ensure that every patient, no matter where they are or where they are treated, gets the best possible care and has access to cutting-edge clinical trials.
Q: What have been the keys to getting NCI designation?
A: We grew our cancer research funding over the last few years and now if you look at all of our sources, it’s over $50 million. It was about $26 million in 2004 when we started working toward NCI. Not only leveraging the School of Pharmacy and molecular biosciences at the Lawrence campus, but we also partnered with the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, Mo., developed the Midwest Cancer Alliance and then there’s the incredible support that we’ve gotten across the region. That includes state government, the Kansas Bioscience Authority and Johnson County residents who passed a sales tax in support of the initiative. All of those things, I think, were critical to getting us to where we are today.
Q: Are there certain cancers that KU Center will focus on?
A: We are a Phase 1 program, and a Phase 1 program is primarily intended for patients that have exhausted all therapeutic approaches and they are looking for new drugs that may have an effect on their particular cancer. I think leveraging all of the expertise that we have around drug discovery and development makes it logical to focus in that area. We have a lot of other clinical strengths particularly breast cancer, bone marrow transplantation, prostate cancer, head and neck cancer that are extremely strong and I think we will be able to attract patients from all over.
Q: What are your thoughts on the Affordable Care Act?
A: It actually has a big effect on cancer patients. If you look at people who are diagnosed with cancer, particularly those who have health insurance at that time or don’t have health insurance at that time, those that don’t have health insurance have a 50 percent lower five-year survival rate. That’s a stunning difference. It points out the fact that you can not get comprehensive, coordinated cancer care in your local ER. So, I think being able to insure somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 million additional Americans absolutely will save lives particularly for the cancer patients.
Q: Do you have any advice for medical students thinking about specializing in oncology?
A: I think we are undergoing a huge revolution in not only how we treat cancer patients but how we think about cancer and how we develop new therapeutic approaches. We are set for one of the most exciting times in the history of medicine as far as I’m concerned. That’s the good side. The bad side is the discretionary funding of the federal budget is under greater pressure right now. So, there may not be funding to explore the knowledge and advance medicine.
Q: Why have you taken an interest in cancer? Have you been personally affected by cancer?
A: I have way too much motivation in this regard. I have folks who contact my office practically every week looking for help and direction.
Q: It seems like everybody knows someone with cancer. Why is it so prevalent?
A: There’s a lot of things that come into play. Demographically, our country is getting older, and older individuals are much more likely to get cancer. As we move towards 2030, it’s likely that we will see a doubling of cancer patients in this country. We have got to get the infrastructure in place to deal with this and we can’t just accept that fate. We’ve got to work towards making that better and turning the needle so that we decrease the number of cancer cases and we give hope to folks who wind up getting cancer.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
U.S. News and World Report: KU Hospital No. 1 in state
By ANDY HYLAND, The Lawrence Journal-World
The magazine U.S. News and World Report gave high marks to Kansas University Hospital in its latest “Best Hospital” rankings, which were released late Monday night.
The hospital was ranked in 10 of 12 medical and surgical specialty areas ranked by the magazine. The hospital was ranked on six lists for the past two years.
KU Hospital was the only hospital in Kansas or the Kansas City area to be ranked on any of the U.S. News lists.
In a written statement, Bob Page, president and CEO of KU Hospital, said the rankings were based on quality of care and patient outcomes.
“This is a tribute to the partnership between our physicians, nurses and other health care providers,” he said. “You cannot get these results without all parties united in a single focus on quality patient care.”
The programs ranked included:
Cancer (No. 37), listed for two years in a row.
Cardiology and Heart Surgery (No. 24), listed for six years in a row.
Diabetes and Endocrinology (No. 38), listed for the first time.
Ear, Nose and Throat (No. 20), listed for four years in a row.
Gastroenterology (No. 20), listed for the second year in a row.
Geriatrics (No. 17), previously listed in 2010.
Nephrology (kidney) (No.15), listed for four years in a row.
Neurology and Neurosurgery (No. 22), listed for the first time.
Pulmonology (No. 15), listed for the third year in a row.
Urology (No. 45), previously listed in 2010.
The hospital was also ranked as the No. 1 hospital overall in the state of Kansas.
The magazine U.S. News and World Report gave high marks to Kansas University Hospital in its latest “Best Hospital” rankings, which were released late Monday night.
The hospital was ranked in 10 of 12 medical and surgical specialty areas ranked by the magazine. The hospital was ranked on six lists for the past two years.
KU Hospital was the only hospital in Kansas or the Kansas City area to be ranked on any of the U.S. News lists.
In a written statement, Bob Page, president and CEO of KU Hospital, said the rankings were based on quality of care and patient outcomes.
“This is a tribute to the partnership between our physicians, nurses and other health care providers,” he said. “You cannot get these results without all parties united in a single focus on quality patient care.”
The programs ranked included:
Cancer (No. 37), listed for two years in a row.
Cardiology and Heart Surgery (No. 24), listed for six years in a row.
Diabetes and Endocrinology (No. 38), listed for the first time.
Ear, Nose and Throat (No. 20), listed for four years in a row.
Gastroenterology (No. 20), listed for the second year in a row.
Geriatrics (No. 17), previously listed in 2010.
Nephrology (kidney) (No.15), listed for four years in a row.
Neurology and Neurosurgery (No. 22), listed for the first time.
Pulmonology (No. 15), listed for the third year in a row.
Urology (No. 45), previously listed in 2010.
The hospital was also ranked as the No. 1 hospital overall in the state of Kansas.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
State, university leaders hail KU’s designation from National Cancer Institute
By ANDY HYLAND, The Lawrence Journal-World
Coming together in celebration of the Kansas University Cancer Center’s formal designation from the National Cancer Institute Thursday, political and university leaders hailed the event as transformational for the state and region.
Cancer patients will have access to treatments and clinical trials only available at NCI-designated centers, and the federally funded research will be a boon to the state and local economy.
“Today is the day that many of us have been waiting for,” said Roy Jensen, director of the KU Cancer Center. “In some cases, that wait has been 38 years.”
KU first applied for designation in 1974, and was denied. Work began anew on achieving designation nearly a decade ago, and former KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway made the designation the university’s top research priority in 2005.
On Thursday, the KU Cancer Center became the nation’s 67th nationally designated center. U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said that KU was the only one of three new applicants to receive designation this year. While most Kansans may not have any idea what the letters NCI mean, they really will turn out to mean a great deal for them and their families in the future, Moran said.
“It means a tremendous transformation in who we are as Kansans,” he said. “It changes the character of who we are as a state.”
It was Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and a former Kansas governor, who formally delivered the news to university leaders on Thursday.
“Today, the NCI designation makes KU researchers even more competitive as they seek federal and philanthropic support,” she said.
Several other city, state and federal politicians offered their support for the cause. U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., attended, while U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Kan., and Gov. Sam Brownback expressed their support in video messages.
U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., was unable to attend the ceremony because of potential votes in the Senate, but praised the effort Thursday morning in a speech on the Senate floor.
“This designation is such an important development for my state because it means that many Kansans and their families who have faced frightening diagnoses — and trying treatments — will no longer have to seek cures in Texas and Minnesota,” Roberts said. “They can, and will be able to, stay closer to home and their support systems. Simply put, it’s great news for Kansas patients.
The event saw many congratulations and praise for Jensen, including from KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little, who described the first time she met him.
“I asked him about his work, and in a completely straightforward way he told me ‘I am going to do this,’” she said. “Another time, he said, ‘I’m going to do this and I will not be deterred.’ So now I listen to Roy.”
KU will now begin working toward comprehensive cancer center designation, an additional designation from the NCI that is the highest possible designation a cancer center can receive.
Jensen said KU would submit its application for comprehensive cancer center status in 2015. That designation is awarded on different criteria from the initial designation, including population-based research and a cancer center’s outreach efforts.
The assembled crowd gave several standing ovations throughout the hour-long event Thursday afternoon, including one for two former KU leaders — Hemenway and Barbara Atkinson, the former KU Medical Center executive vice chancellor — both of whom attended the event. Jensen himself received two standing ovations, both before and after he spoke.
Jensen became emotional during the ceremony when he thanked his family, who uprooted themselves “from a self-described idyllic life” in Nashville, leaving left a recently renovated house to move to Kansas City.
“That was a big sacrifice,” he said. “And they supported me in that effort.”
There were many other thanks to go around Thursday, as leaders praised the community effort that was bolstered by the help of political leaders from both sides of the aisle and private donors.
Donors contributed more than $107 million in support of the effort, including 20 separate gifts of $1 million or more. The Kansas Masonic Foundation made an initial $20 million gift in 2004 that helped recruit Jensen to the state. Kansas City philanthropist Annette Bloch and the Hall Family Foundation each also contributed $20 million or more.
Bill Whitaker, a cancer survivor from Shawnee who received treatment at KU for his stage four squamous cell carcinoma, spoke at the event. He said before he was diagnosed, he didn’t know what the NCI was or what a clinical trial was. Eight years later, he said he now had a better appreciation for what Thursday’s news meant.
“I hope to be able to see people from here on out,” he said. “Instead of one day they’re here, and one day they’re not.”
Friday, June 29, 2012
Roberts: KU’s National Cancer Institute designation application was successful, formal announcement expected in July
By GEORGE DIEPENBROCK and ANDY HYLAND, The Lawrence Journal-World
Kansas University’s Cancer Center will receive its long-sought National Cancer Institute designation, with a formal announcement expected in mid-July, sources said Thursday night.
The news was first released by U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., on his Facebook page.
"I am pleased that The University of Kansas has been given a green light and I look forward to a formal announcement of their National Cancer Institute designation," he posted on his Facebook page.
KU applied for the designation in September, after working for seven years and investing more than $350 million toward the effort that would be a boon for the local economy and offer promising new treatments to cancer patients in the region. Last September, KU officials said the effort had already created 1,123 jobs and contributed $453 million to the region’s economy.
“The announcement’s on its way, and I’m excited,” Ed McKechnie, chairman of the Kansas Board of Regents, said Thursday evening.
More details would be forthcoming later, he said.
Tim Caboni, KU’s vice chancellor for public affairs, would not comment beyond a brief statement Thursday night.
“On the 12th of July, we will make a formal announcement regarding NCI,” he said.
Roy Jensen, director of the KU Cancer Center, on Thursday said only that KU still had yet to receive official word on its NCI designation. Jensen, KU Chancellor Bernadette Grey-Little and other leaders issued a message to the KU Medical Center campus Friday about news reports on the NCI designation.
"While we are encouraged by this news, we do not yet have our formal notice of grant award and have been asked by the NIH to reserve July 12 for a formal announcement," the statement said.
Officials have said the prestigious designation would mean more federal research dollars and the high-paying jobs that come with them. Cancer patients would have access to clinical trials open only to patients at NCI-designated centers.
“All I can say is that we think some good news is headed toward KU,” Sarah Little, a Roberts spokeswoman, said Thursday night. “We received some positive correspondence but understand an official notice is coming.”
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said Friday he was very optimistic and looking forward to the July 12 announcement.
"I know it will not only be great news for the university and Kansas City, but also a fantastic development for the entire state of Kansas and the region," said Moran, a KU alumnus who attended a February site visit during the review process. "Achieving NCI Designation would dramatically enhance KU Cancer Center’s ability to discover, develop and deliver innovative treatments to patients and enable the Center to recruit the best and brightest researchers to our state. It would also help Kansas’ development into a thriving medical research powerhouse and attract thousands of jobs and billions of dollars to our state’s economy."
McKechnie said the successful effort reflected the hard work and vision of many people along the way, including university leaders in Lawrence and at KU Medical Center, hospital leaders across the state in the Midwest Cancer Alliance, and outside agencies like the Kansas Bioscience Authority.
“The list is longer than that,” he said of people who played a big role in the designation.
Still, he said, the work was not complete.
“This is but a waypoint of what the real goal is, and that is to become a comprehensive cancer center,” McKechnie said.
Becoming a comprehensive cancer center would require an additional designation from the NCI that is the highest designation an academic cancer center can receive.
Jensen told the Journal-World last week that KU and state officials were optimistic about the chances to receive the NCI designation based on the score the center received after a review process. NCI reviewers on Feb. 22 visited the KU Medical Center Campus in Kansas City, Kan. But Jensen said a key factor in the decision would hinge on the amount of federal funding available for a new cancer center.
The final hurdle was the president’s National Cancer Advisory Board, which considers NCI grant applications, including those for cancer center designations, in closed session.
That board met Monday in Bethesda, Md., but KU did not hear after the meeting whether its application was approved. NCI press officials said the board forwards its decisions back to a grants review committee that would notify applicants, but word got out Thursday night.
Leaders at KU in 2005 made pursuit of NCI designation the university’s top research priority. A fundraising council in Kansas City helped generate $62 million for the effort, and the Hall Family Foundation separately contributed a $10.5 million gift.
Kansas University’s Cancer Center will receive its long-sought National Cancer Institute designation, with a formal announcement expected in mid-July, sources said Thursday night.
The news was first released by U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., on his Facebook page.
"I am pleased that The University of Kansas has been given a green light and I look forward to a formal announcement of their National Cancer Institute designation," he posted on his Facebook page.
KU applied for the designation in September, after working for seven years and investing more than $350 million toward the effort that would be a boon for the local economy and offer promising new treatments to cancer patients in the region. Last September, KU officials said the effort had already created 1,123 jobs and contributed $453 million to the region’s economy.
“The announcement’s on its way, and I’m excited,” Ed McKechnie, chairman of the Kansas Board of Regents, said Thursday evening.
More details would be forthcoming later, he said.
Tim Caboni, KU’s vice chancellor for public affairs, would not comment beyond a brief statement Thursday night.
“On the 12th of July, we will make a formal announcement regarding NCI,” he said.
Roy Jensen, director of the KU Cancer Center, on Thursday said only that KU still had yet to receive official word on its NCI designation. Jensen, KU Chancellor Bernadette Grey-Little and other leaders issued a message to the KU Medical Center campus Friday about news reports on the NCI designation.
"While we are encouraged by this news, we do not yet have our formal notice of grant award and have been asked by the NIH to reserve July 12 for a formal announcement," the statement said.
Officials have said the prestigious designation would mean more federal research dollars and the high-paying jobs that come with them. Cancer patients would have access to clinical trials open only to patients at NCI-designated centers.
“All I can say is that we think some good news is headed toward KU,” Sarah Little, a Roberts spokeswoman, said Thursday night. “We received some positive correspondence but understand an official notice is coming.”
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said Friday he was very optimistic and looking forward to the July 12 announcement.
"I know it will not only be great news for the university and Kansas City, but also a fantastic development for the entire state of Kansas and the region," said Moran, a KU alumnus who attended a February site visit during the review process. "Achieving NCI Designation would dramatically enhance KU Cancer Center’s ability to discover, develop and deliver innovative treatments to patients and enable the Center to recruit the best and brightest researchers to our state. It would also help Kansas’ development into a thriving medical research powerhouse and attract thousands of jobs and billions of dollars to our state’s economy."
McKechnie said the successful effort reflected the hard work and vision of many people along the way, including university leaders in Lawrence and at KU Medical Center, hospital leaders across the state in the Midwest Cancer Alliance, and outside agencies like the Kansas Bioscience Authority.
“The list is longer than that,” he said of people who played a big role in the designation.
Still, he said, the work was not complete.
“This is but a waypoint of what the real goal is, and that is to become a comprehensive cancer center,” McKechnie said.
Becoming a comprehensive cancer center would require an additional designation from the NCI that is the highest designation an academic cancer center can receive.
Jensen told the Journal-World last week that KU and state officials were optimistic about the chances to receive the NCI designation based on the score the center received after a review process. NCI reviewers on Feb. 22 visited the KU Medical Center Campus in Kansas City, Kan. But Jensen said a key factor in the decision would hinge on the amount of federal funding available for a new cancer center.
The final hurdle was the president’s National Cancer Advisory Board, which considers NCI grant applications, including those for cancer center designations, in closed session.
That board met Monday in Bethesda, Md., but KU did not hear after the meeting whether its application was approved. NCI press officials said the board forwards its decisions back to a grants review committee that would notify applicants, but word got out Thursday night.
Leaders at KU in 2005 made pursuit of NCI designation the university’s top research priority. A fundraising council in Kansas City helped generate $62 million for the effort, and the Hall Family Foundation separately contributed a $10.5 million gift.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Schools told to prioritize budget requests
By SCOTT ROTHSCHILD, The Lawrence Journal-World
The Kansas Board of Regents recently asked regents schools to come back with their specific funding requests.
But board members got more than they bargained for. So, the regents told the schools to prioritize their projects knowing that some of the initiatives won’t make the final budget cut that is sent to Gov. Sam Brownback for consideration later this year.
“We cant send over $160 million (in proposed projects) and be credible,” said Regent Fred Logan of Prairie Village. “We need to shape the package to give ourselves the best chance of success. My main concern is coming up with a systemwide proposal that doesn’t get us laughed out of the building,” he said.
Board members will conduct a budget workshop July 17.
Kansas University has included two big ticket items in its request.
One is $30 million in state funds to help build a new $75 million medical education building at the School of Medicine in Kansas City, Kan.
The other is a recurring annual appropriation of $2.5 million to support a Kansas Institute for Translational Chemical Biology, which would be aimed at bolstering KU’s drug discovery efforts.
During a discussion at the regents meeting last week, Chairman Ed McKechnie of Arcadia said, “I feel strongly about the medical education building.” He said that proposal fits the strategic plan of both the school and the state to increase the number of physicians in Kansas and bring in more research dollars.
According to KU, the current medical education building, which opened in 1976, is small, outdated and doesn’t meet standards required by the school’s accrediting body. Its classrooms are designed for lectures rather than modern small-group learning.
The Kansas Institute for Translational Chemical Biology will support both the KU Cancer Center and the school’s continuing membership in the Association of American Universities, school officials say.
Both budget proposals are extremely important, said KU Vice Chancellor of Public Affairs Tim Caboni.
“We went through a list of up to 100 of those,” Caboni said. He said the ones KU submitted to the regents “really are the priorities,” and he wouldn’t want to rank them in a particular order.
KU has also said it will need additional state funding to improve the KU Medical Center, including the School of Medicine in Wichita, but officials haven’t put a dollar figure on that yet.
Regent Kenny Wilk of Lansing said the requests from all of the schools must include information on what the schools have done with recent budget enhancements. “A strong business case,” must be made with every request, he said.
In the past, Brownback has shown he favors funding requests that are for specific purposes aimed at enhancing strengths at the schools.
Other big-ticket funding requests before the regents include:
• $16 million in additional funding for technical colleges.
• $15 million for expansion of the Kansas Technology Center at Pittsburg State University.
• $5 million annual appropriation to expand agricultural research at Kansas State University.
• $5 million annual appropriation to improve the College of Architecture, Planning and Design at KSU.
• $5 million annual appropriation for a research synergy center at KSU.
• $8 million for community colleges.
• $5.25 million funding increase for the College of Health Professions at Wichita State.
The Kansas Board of Regents recently asked regents schools to come back with their specific funding requests.
But board members got more than they bargained for. So, the regents told the schools to prioritize their projects knowing that some of the initiatives won’t make the final budget cut that is sent to Gov. Sam Brownback for consideration later this year.
“We cant send over $160 million (in proposed projects) and be credible,” said Regent Fred Logan of Prairie Village. “We need to shape the package to give ourselves the best chance of success. My main concern is coming up with a systemwide proposal that doesn’t get us laughed out of the building,” he said.
Board members will conduct a budget workshop July 17.
Kansas University has included two big ticket items in its request.
One is $30 million in state funds to help build a new $75 million medical education building at the School of Medicine in Kansas City, Kan.
The other is a recurring annual appropriation of $2.5 million to support a Kansas Institute for Translational Chemical Biology, which would be aimed at bolstering KU’s drug discovery efforts.
During a discussion at the regents meeting last week, Chairman Ed McKechnie of Arcadia said, “I feel strongly about the medical education building.” He said that proposal fits the strategic plan of both the school and the state to increase the number of physicians in Kansas and bring in more research dollars.
According to KU, the current medical education building, which opened in 1976, is small, outdated and doesn’t meet standards required by the school’s accrediting body. Its classrooms are designed for lectures rather than modern small-group learning.
The Kansas Institute for Translational Chemical Biology will support both the KU Cancer Center and the school’s continuing membership in the Association of American Universities, school officials say.
Both budget proposals are extremely important, said KU Vice Chancellor of Public Affairs Tim Caboni.
“We went through a list of up to 100 of those,” Caboni said. He said the ones KU submitted to the regents “really are the priorities,” and he wouldn’t want to rank them in a particular order.
KU has also said it will need additional state funding to improve the KU Medical Center, including the School of Medicine in Wichita, but officials haven’t put a dollar figure on that yet.
Regent Kenny Wilk of Lansing said the requests from all of the schools must include information on what the schools have done with recent budget enhancements. “A strong business case,” must be made with every request, he said.
In the past, Brownback has shown he favors funding requests that are for specific purposes aimed at enhancing strengths at the schools.
Other big-ticket funding requests before the regents include:
• $16 million in additional funding for technical colleges.
• $15 million for expansion of the Kansas Technology Center at Pittsburg State University.
• $5 million annual appropriation to expand agricultural research at Kansas State University.
• $5 million annual appropriation to improve the College of Architecture, Planning and Design at KSU.
• $5 million annual appropriation for a research synergy center at KSU.
• $8 million for community colleges.
• $5.25 million funding increase for the College of Health Professions at Wichita State.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
$1 million gift to benefit KU Medical Center
By ANDY HYLAND, The Lawrence Journal-World
A donor has expanded his giving to Kansas University, supporting a new $1 million Kathleen M. Osborn Chair in Molecular and Integrative Biology at KU Medical Center in memory of his late daughter.
Dale Seuferling, president of KU Endowment, said the donor, Jim Osborn of Honolulu, wanted to honor his daughter, who died during her junior year at the University of Missouri in a car accident in 1970.
As an undergraduate student in the summers of 1968 and 1969, she worked in the reproductive physiology lab of Gilbert Greenwald at the KU School of Medicine. Seuferling said that was the Osborn family’s main connection to KU.
Jim Osborn felt that experience was very meaningful to his daughter, Seuferling said, and felt that it may have inspired her to pursue a career in science later in life.
“This was one way to remember her and have something positive to come out of that tragic death,” Seuferling said.
Jim Osborn and his wife, Marion, also established a lectureship at KUMC to honor their daughter in 1972. After his wife’s death in 2004, Jim Osborn established the Marion M. Osborn Professorship for Reproductive Science at KU’s medical school.
“He felt very good about the results of those previous gifts, and felt very good about wanting to see this chairmanship established in his lifetime, rather than see it through his estate, which is what he had originally planned,” Seuferling said.
Paul Cheney, professor and chairman of the department of molecular and integrative physiology at KUMC, will be the first recipient of the chairmanship honoring Osborn’s daughter. His research focuses on brain control of movement and neurological disease associated with HIV/AIDS.
“Jim Osborn is my hero,” Cheney said. “His generosity has been amazing and we’re so appreciative.”
The new chairmanship will support a salary enhancement for the recipient along with other research support. The gift will count toward Far Above: The Campaign for Kansas, KU Endowment’s ongoing comprehensive fundraising campaign.
A donor has expanded his giving to Kansas University, supporting a new $1 million Kathleen M. Osborn Chair in Molecular and Integrative Biology at KU Medical Center in memory of his late daughter.
Dale Seuferling, president of KU Endowment, said the donor, Jim Osborn of Honolulu, wanted to honor his daughter, who died during her junior year at the University of Missouri in a car accident in 1970.
As an undergraduate student in the summers of 1968 and 1969, she worked in the reproductive physiology lab of Gilbert Greenwald at the KU School of Medicine. Seuferling said that was the Osborn family’s main connection to KU.
Jim Osborn felt that experience was very meaningful to his daughter, Seuferling said, and felt that it may have inspired her to pursue a career in science later in life.
“This was one way to remember her and have something positive to come out of that tragic death,” Seuferling said.
Jim Osborn and his wife, Marion, also established a lectureship at KUMC to honor their daughter in 1972. After his wife’s death in 2004, Jim Osborn established the Marion M. Osborn Professorship for Reproductive Science at KU’s medical school.
“He felt very good about the results of those previous gifts, and felt very good about wanting to see this chairmanship established in his lifetime, rather than see it through his estate, which is what he had originally planned,” Seuferling said.
Paul Cheney, professor and chairman of the department of molecular and integrative physiology at KUMC, will be the first recipient of the chairmanship honoring Osborn’s daughter. His research focuses on brain control of movement and neurological disease associated with HIV/AIDS.
“Jim Osborn is my hero,” Cheney said. “His generosity has been amazing and we’re so appreciative.”
The new chairmanship will support a salary enhancement for the recipient along with other research support. The gift will count toward Far Above: The Campaign for Kansas, KU Endowment’s ongoing comprehensive fundraising campaign.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
KUMC bus route could fall victim to budget
By ANDY HYLAND, The Lawrence Journal-World
Proposed public transportation cuts in Johnson County would shut down the county’s only route that serves Kansas University Medical Center.
Alice Amrein, director of transportation for Johnson County, said budgetary constraints were causing The JO bus service to look at eliminating eight routes and modifying service for nine others.
One of the routes proposed for elimination runs from 107th Street and Nall Avenue in Overland Park to 10th and Locust streets in downtown Kansas City, Mo.
That route serves about 11,000 rides a year and includes a stop at KUMC. While it is The JO’s only bus route that serves KUMC, Amrein said the campus is served by other area transportation routes in Kansas City, Kan.
“It’s not an ideal situation for us,” she said.
The cuts are not final, and the public can comment on the proposed changes by sending email to comments@thejo.com, by sending mail to Johnson County Transit, 1701 W. 56 Highway, Olathe KS 66061, or by leaving a phone message at 913-715-8255.
Public hearings are scheduled from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. on July 9 and from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on July 11 at the Sylvester Powell Community Center, 6200 Martway St., in Mission.
Amrein said the comments are taken seriously.
“We do have to do some service elimination, but this process gives us some idea about how we might do something different,” she said.
Proposed public transportation cuts in Johnson County would shut down the county’s only route that serves Kansas University Medical Center.
Alice Amrein, director of transportation for Johnson County, said budgetary constraints were causing The JO bus service to look at eliminating eight routes and modifying service for nine others.
One of the routes proposed for elimination runs from 107th Street and Nall Avenue in Overland Park to 10th and Locust streets in downtown Kansas City, Mo.
That route serves about 11,000 rides a year and includes a stop at KUMC. While it is The JO’s only bus route that serves KUMC, Amrein said the campus is served by other area transportation routes in Kansas City, Kan.
“It’s not an ideal situation for us,” she said.
The cuts are not final, and the public can comment on the proposed changes by sending email to comments@thejo.com, by sending mail to Johnson County Transit, 1701 W. 56 Highway, Olathe KS 66061, or by leaving a phone message at 913-715-8255.
Public hearings are scheduled from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. on July 9 and from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on July 11 at the Sylvester Powell Community Center, 6200 Martway St., in Mission.
Amrein said the comments are taken seriously.
“We do have to do some service elimination, but this process gives us some idea about how we might do something different,” she said.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Filing sheds light on KU Medical Center dispute
By ANDY HYLAND, The Lawrence Journal-World
A court filing last month provided a glimpse into a long-simmering feud between Kansas University Medical Center and one of its top-performing faculty members.
In late May, Curtis Klaassen, a distinguished professor of pharmacology and toxicology, faced a faculty committee that weighed the evidence against him and will recommend whether the university should sanction him. The allegations involve several instances of unprofessional and disruptive behavior at faculty meetings and other discussions with colleagues. They also allege Klaassen failed to report an outside business venture on forms that must be filed with the Kansas secretary of state.
The ongoing dispute has taken place behind closed doors thus far, as KUMC officials have refused to comment, saying it’s a personnel matter. Klaassen and his supporters haven’t made on-the-record comments, either.
But Klaassen and his attorneys asked a federal court to stop the faculty hearing scheduled for May 29, arguing — in part — that the university had violated its own rules by accepting written testimony from witnesses without allowing Klaassen to cross-examine them. The court declined to act, saying it lacked jurisdiction in the case. So the hearing took place as scheduled.
But with the court filing, Klaassen made public a trove of previously confidential documents that provide a glimpse into how the university and the professor got to this point.
What is not in dispute is that Klaassen is an excellent researcher. In a letter defending him to KUMC leaders, his attorneys pointed out he has published about 500 peer-reviewed articles, averaging one per month during his 43 years on the KUMC faculty.
Barbara Atkinson, who at the time was actively serving as executive vice chancellor of KU Medical Center and the executive dean of the School of Medicine, praised his contributions to the university, even in an announcement she made to the KUMC community saying he was being removed as chairman of his department in April 2011.
“I recognize Dr. Klaassen’s very significant contributions to KUMC and to science over the years, as well as the success he has had in building the faculty and research programs of the department,” she wrote.
KUMC’s stance
Despite his achievements, the university in a written report detailed allegations against Klaassen going back to 2009.
The allegations of disruptive and bullying behavior include several specific instances, drawing from interviews with faculty and PowerPoint slides from faculty meetings. According to KUMC’s report included in Klaassen’s court filing:
Klaassen’s attorneys, in a written response to KUMC’s report, said that after reviewing the written report, they “are genuinely disturbed at its one-sided recitation of seemingly meaningless misunderstandings blown entirely out of proportion.”
They said KUMC investigators failed to interview his many supporters, including students and other faculty members, who paint a different picture than the one described in KUMC’s report. They allege that KUMC began investigating Klaassen and taking disciplinary action against him only after the professor went to Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little with seven other basic science chairs and distinguished professors to address concerns with Atkinson’s leadership and management.
“Given Dr. Klaassen’s esteemed reputation and world-renowned leadership in his field, one has to wonder why he is now the subject of a personnel investigation by KUMC, the very place to which he has dedicated his entire career,” wrote Robert W. Cotter, an attorney from a Kansas City, Mo., law firm representing Klaassen. “We believe the investigation is a direct response to Dr. Klaassen’s critical inquiry into Dean Barbara Atkinson’s decision-making with regard to the KUMC basic science departments.”
Atkinson has announced she will step down from her position effective June 30, and is no longer playing an active role in the leadership of KUMC after reaching an agreement with the university that would essentially pay her a year’s salary after she left her leadership posts.
Klaassen’s attorneys said Klaassen had never been informed of the complaints against him or given a chance to respond until after KUMC’s inquiry committee interviewed him for his response to the allegations, and hadn’t seen anything in writing until the committee issued its report.
During the investigation, KUMC placed Klaassen on administrative leave for 45 days, allowing him to return Dec. 16, 2011, according to court filings. Klaassen’s attorneys alleged that when he returned to work, he was forced to move offices twice to an older building, and was transferred to the department of medicine.
Next steps
The committee in charge of sorting out the claims has concluded its investigation and hearing, which was closed to the public. It has made a recommendation to Steven Stites, acting KUMC executive vice chancellor. He and Gray-Little have several options once they see the recommendation of the committee: they could do nothing at all, censure Klaassen publicly, suspend him with or without pay, or terminate his employment.
Klaassen’s attorneys, in their written response to the university, said they intend to “vigorously defend Dr. Klaassen from these unfounded attacks.”
A court filing last month provided a glimpse into a long-simmering feud between Kansas University Medical Center and one of its top-performing faculty members.
In late May, Curtis Klaassen, a distinguished professor of pharmacology and toxicology, faced a faculty committee that weighed the evidence against him and will recommend whether the university should sanction him. The allegations involve several instances of unprofessional and disruptive behavior at faculty meetings and other discussions with colleagues. They also allege Klaassen failed to report an outside business venture on forms that must be filed with the Kansas secretary of state.
The ongoing dispute has taken place behind closed doors thus far, as KUMC officials have refused to comment, saying it’s a personnel matter. Klaassen and his supporters haven’t made on-the-record comments, either.
But Klaassen and his attorneys asked a federal court to stop the faculty hearing scheduled for May 29, arguing — in part — that the university had violated its own rules by accepting written testimony from witnesses without allowing Klaassen to cross-examine them. The court declined to act, saying it lacked jurisdiction in the case. So the hearing took place as scheduled.
But with the court filing, Klaassen made public a trove of previously confidential documents that provide a glimpse into how the university and the professor got to this point.
What is not in dispute is that Klaassen is an excellent researcher. In a letter defending him to KUMC leaders, his attorneys pointed out he has published about 500 peer-reviewed articles, averaging one per month during his 43 years on the KUMC faculty.
Barbara Atkinson, who at the time was actively serving as executive vice chancellor of KU Medical Center and the executive dean of the School of Medicine, praised his contributions to the university, even in an announcement she made to the KUMC community saying he was being removed as chairman of his department in April 2011.
“I recognize Dr. Klaassen’s very significant contributions to KUMC and to science over the years, as well as the success he has had in building the faculty and research programs of the department,” she wrote.
KUMC’s stance
Despite his achievements, the university in a written report detailed allegations against Klaassen going back to 2009.
The allegations of disruptive and bullying behavior include several specific instances, drawing from interviews with faculty and PowerPoint slides from faculty meetings. According to KUMC’s report included in Klaassen’s court filing:
- Klaassen instituted an English-only rule in the department, saying that speaking a language other than English in the department was “very divisive,” and when someone hears his or her name in a conversation in another language, “one often assumes the worst, that is, the conversation is something negative about you.”
- Klaassen became upset after being informed of space changes in the department, and informed the faculty in a presentation that used PowerPoint slides that included images of soldiers armed with guns pointing outward from a circle indicating that those in the department must protect each other. Another slide showed one soldier with his gun pointed inward toward the circle.
- Klaassen on several occasions made personal verbal attacks against faculty members and staff and behaved erratically, both in meetings and in other conversations. At a presentation to the university from an outside vendor demonstrating a faculty activity reporting system, Klaassen interrupted the presentation and wondered why the university was spending money given its budget constraints and referred to KUMC as a “slumlord institution,” according to KUMC’s report.
- Klaassen failed to report, on his conflict of interest forms with the state, income from a private review course for board certification in toxicology that he taught.
Klaassen’s attorneys, in a written response to KUMC’s report, said that after reviewing the written report, they “are genuinely disturbed at its one-sided recitation of seemingly meaningless misunderstandings blown entirely out of proportion.”
They said KUMC investigators failed to interview his many supporters, including students and other faculty members, who paint a different picture than the one described in KUMC’s report. They allege that KUMC began investigating Klaassen and taking disciplinary action against him only after the professor went to Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little with seven other basic science chairs and distinguished professors to address concerns with Atkinson’s leadership and management.
“Given Dr. Klaassen’s esteemed reputation and world-renowned leadership in his field, one has to wonder why he is now the subject of a personnel investigation by KUMC, the very place to which he has dedicated his entire career,” wrote Robert W. Cotter, an attorney from a Kansas City, Mo., law firm representing Klaassen. “We believe the investigation is a direct response to Dr. Klaassen’s critical inquiry into Dean Barbara Atkinson’s decision-making with regard to the KUMC basic science departments.”
Atkinson has announced she will step down from her position effective June 30, and is no longer playing an active role in the leadership of KUMC after reaching an agreement with the university that would essentially pay her a year’s salary after she left her leadership posts.
Klaassen’s attorneys said Klaassen had never been informed of the complaints against him or given a chance to respond until after KUMC’s inquiry committee interviewed him for his response to the allegations, and hadn’t seen anything in writing until the committee issued its report.
During the investigation, KUMC placed Klaassen on administrative leave for 45 days, allowing him to return Dec. 16, 2011, according to court filings. Klaassen’s attorneys alleged that when he returned to work, he was forced to move offices twice to an older building, and was transferred to the department of medicine.
Next steps
The committee in charge of sorting out the claims has concluded its investigation and hearing, which was closed to the public. It has made a recommendation to Steven Stites, acting KUMC executive vice chancellor. He and Gray-Little have several options once they see the recommendation of the committee: they could do nothing at all, censure Klaassen publicly, suspend him with or without pay, or terminate his employment.
Klaassen’s attorneys, in their written response to the university, said they intend to “vigorously defend Dr. Klaassen from these unfounded attacks.”
Saturday, May 5, 2012
KU Med singled out in abortion fight
BY SCOTT ROTHSCHILD
TOPEKA — The Kansas House on Friday advanced a wide-ranging anti-abortion bill, and supporters of the measure offered a preview of a fight they intend to have with the Kansas University Medical Center.
State Rep. Lance Kinzer, R-Olathe, speaking against an amendment to the bill that was sought by KU, said the school was using tax dollars to train medical residents in abortion procedures.
“What we should have done is say it is not the public policy that we are going to pay residents with taxpayer dollars to kill babies. That is what we should’ve done,” said Kinzer. “No taxpayer dollars to kill babies,” he repeated, which drew applause from anti-abortion legislators.
State Rep. John Grange, R-El Dorado, who was presiding over the House chamber at the time reminded legislators they are not supposed to applaud speakers during debate. “Please, let’s maintain respect for the institution,” he said.
The dispute has been over a provision in the bill that says no state employee can perform an abortion.
According to KU, doctors in training at the Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan. are considered state employees, and accreditation requirements say those who are being trained as obstetrics-gynecologists must gain experience with induced abortion and complications because of abortion, unless they have a religious or moral objection. The KU residents gain this experience at facilities not owned or operated by the state.
In negotiations over the past few weeks, legislators amended the bill to bypass this dispute by designating the OB-GYN medical residents weren’t state employees. But the amendment would expire in June 2013.
On Friday, state Rep. Steve Johnson, R-Assaria, sought to remove that “sunset” provision and bypassing the issue permanently. This would help KU remove this issue from any accreditation discussion, Johnson said.
But Kinzer said the bypass and one-year period was part of an accommodation to KU and that the school was trying to go back on the agreement and using a freshman legislator to do that.
“Frankly, it is disgusting to me that we are going to allow that to go on another year,” he said.
He said once the legislative session was over, anti-abortion advocates would focus on the issue of abortion training at KU Medical Center. “We’re going to deal with this and establish a longterm policy,” he said.
Johnson’s amendment failed, 44-62.
After the vote, the KU Medical Center said: “KU will continue to work with policymakers to ensure the goals are clear: Maintaining a strong and accredited medical residency program for our state. We applaud those who have worked with us to craft language which will protect our accreditation and today were supportive of efforts to make that language a permanent provision and not have it expire.”
Later, House Minority Leader Paul Davis, D-Lawrence, who supports abortion rights, said Kinzer “displayed some candor on what his intentions are.”
Davis added, “He made it very clear that there is a viewpoint in the House that is not concerned with the accreditation issue and they would like to go on a collision course,” with the Medical Center.
A final vote on the entire bill is expected Monday.
The overall legislation would declare abortions illegal if they are performed only because a woman doesn’t like the gender of the fetus.
The bill also requires physicians to inform women seeking an abortion about the risk of breast cancer. A large body of research says there is no link between abortion and breast cancer.
The bill also would have the effect of creating new taxes on expenses related to abortion services or insurance coverage for abortion, and imposes state sales taxes on drugs and medications used in an abortion.
TOPEKA — The Kansas House on Friday advanced a wide-ranging anti-abortion bill, and supporters of the measure offered a preview of a fight they intend to have with the Kansas University Medical Center.
State Rep. Lance Kinzer, R-Olathe, speaking against an amendment to the bill that was sought by KU, said the school was using tax dollars to train medical residents in abortion procedures.
“What we should have done is say it is not the public policy that we are going to pay residents with taxpayer dollars to kill babies. That is what we should’ve done,” said Kinzer. “No taxpayer dollars to kill babies,” he repeated, which drew applause from anti-abortion legislators.
State Rep. John Grange, R-El Dorado, who was presiding over the House chamber at the time reminded legislators they are not supposed to applaud speakers during debate. “Please, let’s maintain respect for the institution,” he said.
The dispute has been over a provision in the bill that says no state employee can perform an abortion.
According to KU, doctors in training at the Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan. are considered state employees, and accreditation requirements say those who are being trained as obstetrics-gynecologists must gain experience with induced abortion and complications because of abortion, unless they have a religious or moral objection. The KU residents gain this experience at facilities not owned or operated by the state.
In negotiations over the past few weeks, legislators amended the bill to bypass this dispute by designating the OB-GYN medical residents weren’t state employees. But the amendment would expire in June 2013.
On Friday, state Rep. Steve Johnson, R-Assaria, sought to remove that “sunset” provision and bypassing the issue permanently. This would help KU remove this issue from any accreditation discussion, Johnson said.
But Kinzer said the bypass and one-year period was part of an accommodation to KU and that the school was trying to go back on the agreement and using a freshman legislator to do that.
“Frankly, it is disgusting to me that we are going to allow that to go on another year,” he said.
He said once the legislative session was over, anti-abortion advocates would focus on the issue of abortion training at KU Medical Center. “We’re going to deal with this and establish a longterm policy,” he said.
Johnson’s amendment failed, 44-62.
After the vote, the KU Medical Center said: “KU will continue to work with policymakers to ensure the goals are clear: Maintaining a strong and accredited medical residency program for our state. We applaud those who have worked with us to craft language which will protect our accreditation and today were supportive of efforts to make that language a permanent provision and not have it expire.”
Later, House Minority Leader Paul Davis, D-Lawrence, who supports abortion rights, said Kinzer “displayed some candor on what his intentions are.”
Davis added, “He made it very clear that there is a viewpoint in the House that is not concerned with the accreditation issue and they would like to go on a collision course,” with the Medical Center.
A final vote on the entire bill is expected Monday.
The overall legislation would declare abortions illegal if they are performed only because a woman doesn’t like the gender of the fetus.
The bill also requires physicians to inform women seeking an abortion about the risk of breast cancer. A large body of research says there is no link between abortion and breast cancer.
The bill also would have the effect of creating new taxes on expenses related to abortion services or insurance coverage for abortion, and imposes state sales taxes on drugs and medications used in an abortion.
Monday, April 30, 2012
KU Medical Center says new education building vital
By ANDY HYLAND, The Lawrence Journal-World
Kansas University Medical Center is looking for ways to build a $75 million medical education building, which administrators say is key for its future, on its Kansas City, Kan., campus.
The building, as described in the campus’ long-range facilities master plan, would be 200,000 square feet and six floors.
It would be placed on an existing parking lot in front of the Hemenway Life Sciences building on the northwest corner of 39th Street and Rainbow Boulevard intersection.
“We need it as soon as we can get it,” said Steffani Webb, vice chancellor for administration at KUMC.
The need for the building has been cited in previous accreditation reviews, Webb said.
The plan, which does not address funding mechanisms for the building, also has two other main goals, Webb said: to provide space for future growth and to target moderate research program growth over the next year.
Steven Stites, the acting executive vice chancellor for KUMC, discussed the plan, developed by Cannon Design, in a message to campus.
“Some of what you see won’t surprise anyone who works here,” Stites wrote. “Cannon concluded that some of our facilities are seriously outdated, and their functions have not kept up with modern curricula and science.”
Webb said the medical school classrooms as they exist today don’t fit the way education happens today.
The medical school does not have adequate space or technology for operating simulation rooms, she said. And classes are designed for lectures and not team-based learning.
Though the plan does not address ways to fund the building, Webb said the school hoped to fund it with a combination of public and private funds. The building is one of the school’s needs in KU’s ongoing comprehensive fundraising campaign.
Other parts of the plan feature the addition of a new parking garage for the campus and a beautification effort, adding new signs and landscaping to the campus’ existing buildings.
“When you’re here (on campus), it’s hard to know you’ve really arrived,” Webb said. “Having the new Medical Education Building on the corner of 39th and Rainbow will help with that.”
Kansas University Medical Center is looking for ways to build a $75 million medical education building, which administrators say is key for its future, on its Kansas City, Kan., campus.
The building, as described in the campus’ long-range facilities master plan, would be 200,000 square feet and six floors.
It would be placed on an existing parking lot in front of the Hemenway Life Sciences building on the northwest corner of 39th Street and Rainbow Boulevard intersection.
“We need it as soon as we can get it,” said Steffani Webb, vice chancellor for administration at KUMC.
The need for the building has been cited in previous accreditation reviews, Webb said.
The plan, which does not address funding mechanisms for the building, also has two other main goals, Webb said: to provide space for future growth and to target moderate research program growth over the next year.
Steven Stites, the acting executive vice chancellor for KUMC, discussed the plan, developed by Cannon Design, in a message to campus.
“Some of what you see won’t surprise anyone who works here,” Stites wrote. “Cannon concluded that some of our facilities are seriously outdated, and their functions have not kept up with modern curricula and science.”
Webb said the medical school classrooms as they exist today don’t fit the way education happens today.
The medical school does not have adequate space or technology for operating simulation rooms, she said. And classes are designed for lectures and not team-based learning.
Though the plan does not address ways to fund the building, Webb said the school hoped to fund it with a combination of public and private funds. The building is one of the school’s needs in KU’s ongoing comprehensive fundraising campaign.
Other parts of the plan feature the addition of a new parking garage for the campus and a beautification effort, adding new signs and landscaping to the campus’ existing buildings.
“When you’re here (on campus), it’s hard to know you’ve really arrived,” Webb said. “Having the new Medical Education Building on the corner of 39th and Rainbow will help with that.”
Monday, April 9, 2012
Barbara Atkinson stepping down as executive vice chancellor of KU Medical Center and executive dean of School of Medicine
By ANDY HYLAND, The Lawrence Journal-World
Barbara Atkinson will step down as executive vice chancellor of Kansas University Medical Center and as executive dean of the School of Medicine on June 30, earlier than her previously outlined timetable.
“There is no question that the KU Medical Center has benefited tremendously under Dr. Barbara Atkinson’s leadership,” said KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little in a written statement.
Gray-Little named Steven Stites, Peter T. Bohan Professor and chairman of internal medicine, to serve as acting executive vice chancellor and executive dean, effective immediately.
Atkinson served as the chair of pathology at the KU School of Medicine, and in 2002 assumed duties as the executive dean of the medical school. Since 2004, she has served as both executive dean and as executive vice chancellor of KUMC.
In November, Atkinson announced her plans to retire, but said she would stay on as dean of the medical school until a new dean was identified, and as executive vice chancellor until December 2013.
“I believe that with the conclusion of our application for (National Cancer Institute) designation, this is a very good time to pass the torch to new leadership,” Atkinson said in a prepared statement. “I am confident that our application to the NCI will be favorably received, and with it will come exciting new opportunities for our KU Medical Center to provide ever better and more effective care to the citizens of our state and region.”
Gray-Little has indicated her desire to separate Atkinson’s two roles, and a search to identify the next dean of the medical school has already begun.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
KU Medical Center to cut 80 positions
By ANDY HYLAND, The Lawrence Journal-World
Leaders at Kansas University Medical Center have eliminated 80 jobs as part of an ongoing efficiency review on the Kansas City, Kan., campus.
The 80 jobs were staff positions and do not involve tenured faculty.
The efficiency review, called Changing for Excellence, is still ongoing, and was conducted with the assistance of the Huron Consulting Group. A similar efficiency review is ongoing at KU’s Lawrence campus.
KUMC employs about 3,900 people.
In a newsletter to the campus community, Barbara Atkinson, executive vice chancellor at KUMC and the executive dean of the KU School of Medicine, said the cuts came following budget cuts and employee performance reviews.
“We are painfully aware that due to severe pressures on the state budget, our employees have gone without raises for four years,” Atkinson wrote. “One reason we are asking leaders to make targeted cuts is so that we can begin to free up resources to correct that.”
The efficiency review at KUMC is also examining the best ways to re-invest the money saved, a process that could result in new jobs being created.
On KU’s Lawrence campus, the review so far has resulted in three layoffs, all in supervisory positions in the university’s facilities department, said Gavin Young, a KU spokesman. On the Lawrence campus, the review has called for the merger of the university’s facilities department with student housing’s facilities operations.
The cuts do not affect KU Hospital, which is operated separately from KU Medical Center.
Leaders at Kansas University Medical Center have eliminated 80 jobs as part of an ongoing efficiency review on the Kansas City, Kan., campus.
The 80 jobs were staff positions and do not involve tenured faculty.
The efficiency review, called Changing for Excellence, is still ongoing, and was conducted with the assistance of the Huron Consulting Group. A similar efficiency review is ongoing at KU’s Lawrence campus.
KUMC employs about 3,900 people.
In a newsletter to the campus community, Barbara Atkinson, executive vice chancellor at KUMC and the executive dean of the KU School of Medicine, said the cuts came following budget cuts and employee performance reviews.
“We are painfully aware that due to severe pressures on the state budget, our employees have gone without raises for four years,” Atkinson wrote. “One reason we are asking leaders to make targeted cuts is so that we can begin to free up resources to correct that.”
The efficiency review at KUMC is also examining the best ways to re-invest the money saved, a process that could result in new jobs being created.
On KU’s Lawrence campus, the review so far has resulted in three layoffs, all in supervisory positions in the university’s facilities department, said Gavin Young, a KU spokesman. On the Lawrence campus, the review has called for the merger of the university’s facilities department with student housing’s facilities operations.
The cuts do not affect KU Hospital, which is operated separately from KU Medical Center.
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