People

Achievements in geographic info honored at international conference

Jennings	Theobald

The Colorado Geographic Alliance based at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs received a special achievement in geographic information system award July 14 at the 30th Annual Esri International User Conference.

Esri, a software manufacturer, selected the Colorado Geographic Alliance from more than 300,000 organizations worldwide for its innovative use of technology to improve geography education. Funded by a grant from the National Geographic Education Foundation, the alliance brings together educators from colleges and elementary and secondary schools to develop geography instruction and demonstrate the importance of geography education.

The Colorado Geographic Alliance is coordinated by Steve Jennings, associate professor, and Rebecca Theobald, assistant adjoint professor, department of geography and environmental studies. Jennings and Theobald have been coordinators of the Colorado Geographic Alliance since fall 2008 and are passionate about empowering teachers with state-of-the-art pedagogical tools for the instruction of geography.

GIS combines computer hardware, software, data and people to collect, manage and analyze geographic information. Virtually any information can be linked to a geographic location, helping people see that information as part of a complete picture. With GIS, users can view relationships, processes, patterns and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports and charts.

College's outreach to China generates grants

Several College of Architecture and Planning faculty have been awarded grants by the Institute for International Business and the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) at the University of Colorado Denver, to support the development of CAP's activities in China:

• Ann Komara, associate professor and chair of landscape architecture, for the East-West Interchange: Lectures and Publications on Landscape Architecture in China and the United States.
• Yuk Lee, professor of planning and associate dean of academic affairs, for an internship and academic partnership between UC Denver, Tongji University in Shanghai, China, and Gensler.
• Brian Muller, associate professor of planning, for the Yunnan Program in Geo-Planning and Design.
• Jeremy Németh, assistant professor of planning and design and director of the master of urban design program, and Jason Rebillot, senior instructor of architecture, to support the development of a long- term, sustainable, joint urban design studio with Tongji University in Shanghai, China. Although the international studio is already a required course in the Master of Urban Design (MUD) program, the grant will help the studio become a formalized joint offering, taught by instructors from both UC Denver and Tongji.
• Chris Nims, director of internships and mentorships and associate professor of architecture, for an internship and academic partnership between UC Denver, Tongji University in Shanghai, China, and Gensler.

Innovative arthritis research earns professor a $400,000 grant

Norris

Jill Norris, Ph.D., M.P.H., and professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the Colorado School of Public Health has been awarded a $400,000 grant to study auto-antibodies, inflammation and cardiovascular disease in preclinical rheumatoid arthritis.

Norris was named the recipient of an investigator-initiated grant from the American College of Rheumatology Research and Education Foundation's Within Our Reach: Finding a Cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis campaign, which funds innovative rheumatoid arthritis research.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease that causes pain, stiffness, swelling and limitation in the motion and function of multiple joints. Though joints are the principal body parts affected, inflammation can develop in other organs as well. An estimated 1.3 million Americans have the disease, which typically affects women twice as often as men.

Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of mortality in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and often these patients suffer from earlier and more severe cardiovascular events than individuals without the disease. Norris will use her grant to identify systemic markers of inflammation, biomarkers of cardiovascular risk and vascular abnormalities in the period prior to arthritis development in patients. She will utilize a cohort of healthy first-degree relatives of patients that she has been following prospectively for the development of rheumatoid arthritis-related autoimmunity.

Norris is one of nine rheumatoid arthritis researchers from leading institutions who will receive a total of $6 million from the foundation. This is the foundation's fourth round of grants funded by the Within Our Reach campaign, a $30 million national, multiyear fundraising effort.

The Colorado School of Public Health is a collaboration of the University of Colorado Denver, Colorado State University and the University of Northern Colorado.

Cancer Center has new associate director for administration and finance

Kochevar

Mark Kochevar began his role as as the University of Colorado Cancer Center's associate director for administration and finance on July 19. He takes over for Michaela Montour, who had served as interim associate director and now returns to her role as UCCC's research administrator.

Kochevar previously led the administrative development and management of the Medical College of Georgia Cancer Center. He began his career at the National Cancer Institute, where he spent 17 years as an administrator for cancer treatment and causation programs. Kochevar then was the administrative director of the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center, where he led the administrative process for the center's NCI P20 Center Planning Grant application, awarded in 1999, and its P30 Cancer Center Support Grant application. Notably, Kochevar led a successful development of a Cancer Research Grant application under the state of Maryland's cigarette restitution funds program.

He received his executive MBA in health care management from Loyola College.

Cancer Center has new associate director for administration and finance

Doebele

Robert Doebele, M.D., Ph.D., in the lung/head and neck cancer program at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and University of Colorado Hospital, is the 2010 Paul Calabresi Clinical Oncology Research Scholar. He will receive a five-year, $525,000 training grant to provide him with mentored support leading to his becoming an independent translational cancer researcher. His clinical and lab work both focus on lung cancer.

"This grant allows me to hit the ground and start running on two projects I'm interested in while still having one day a week to care for my patients," he said. "The grant support allows me to create new jobs in my lab and to buy necessary equipment for my work."

Doebele will focus on determining how lung cancer cells are getting around a new drug targeted at the ALK gene rearrangement, which affects about 5 percent of patients. The second project aims to identify potential biomarkers for the anti-angiogenesis drug bevacizumab (Avastin). Angiogenesis is a validated target in lung cancer, but no predictive biomarkers exist for the drug.

Dropping names ...

Jedlicka

Liban

The University of Colorado at Denver's Peter Park, associate professor of planning and manager of the Community Planning and Development Department for the City and County of Denver, worked many years on a new zoning code for Denver that has finally been adopted. The Denver City Council recently approved an overhaul of the city's zoning laws, making the first comprehensive change to the city's land-use rules since 1956. The new rules would steer growth and density to areas near transit corridors and support existing development patterns in long-established neighborhoods. ... Paul Jedlicka, M.D., Ph.D., in the molecular oncology program at the School of Medicine/The Children's Hospital, received a two-year, $80,000 Young Investigator Award from the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer to continue work on microRNAs identified by his laboratory that may suppress Ewing's sarcoma tumors. ... David Liban, assistant professor of theater, film and video production at the University of Colorado Denver College of Arts and Media, won a Heartland Emmy Award on July 18. The Heartland Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded Liban the honor in the documentary-cultural category for his original documentary on death and dying, Mortal Lessons. Liban produced, directed and edited the documentary.

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