Health

Free Emergency Contraceptives on Campus

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Free Emergency Contraceptives on Campus Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/10/2023 - 00:00

Allison Nitch

CU Boulder’s student government (CUSG) collectively passed a bill in March for a pilot program that funds and provides free and subsidized emergency contraceptives on campus.

The bill will be implemented and funded completely under the Wardenburg Health Center, where emergency contraceptive medication will be accessible with a student ID at the center’s pharmacy. CUSG will collaborate with the center to provide and advertise free emergency contraceptives.

Looking ahead, the legislation specifies the medication will be sold for a nominal fee at various campus food and convenience stores.

“We want to make sure that everyone has the resources they need to get the education they want — and be as accomplished as they want to be,” said Nimisha Mallela (MCDBio’24), CUSG’s health and safety chair and co-author of the bill, along with Elizabeth Craig (PolSci’25).

There are a lot of intersecting reasons for why this bill is important, said Mallela.

“Looking at the stats, unintended pregnancies are the highest among the college population,” along with the fact that this population typically lives on a tight budget, she said. “With many students responsible for their tuition, the high cost of emergency contraception can create a dire situation.”

Mallela, also a Students Against Campus Sexual Assault board member, added that sexual assault is also a big problem on college campuses.

“Having to pay $50 for a pill — that might as well determine one’s future — due to something that they couldn't control is definitely another situation to consider,” she said. “Supporting people with reproductive needs and emphasizing that their rights and needs are taken care of on CU Boulder’s campus — when it could be threatened on a national level — is definitely important.”

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Illustration by Lovels Wise

Campus pilot program will begin this fall.

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The Anti-Aging Pill

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Feb 2020 07:00:00 +0000

The Anti-Aging Pill Anonymous (not verified) Sat, 02/01/2020 - 00:00

Lisa Marshall

Eating less may help the body age more slowly. Rather than promote starvation, CU researchers are testing a nutritional supplement that mimics the same effects of caloric restriction.

In 1935 in upstate New York, a little-known animal husbandry researcher named Clive McKay looked into the rat cage in his lab and found an unexpected window into the Fountain of Youth.

Conventional wisdom at the time held that the more animals were fed, the better they’d fare. But McKay noticed something different: Long after the well-fed rats began to show signs of aging, those on a nutrient-dense but super-low-calorie diet retained a silky sheen to their fur, remained alert and agile and lacked the age-related health problems of their more gluttonous peers. In the end, the calorie-restricted mice also lived about 300 days longer — nearly a third of a lifetime in rat years.

Fast forward to 2020, and studies in everything from fruit flies and worms to monkeys and people have confirmed that sharply restricting calories (by 20-40 percent) while maintaining essential nutrients can fend off age-related diseases and, in some cases, extend lifespan. The problem: People like to eat, so almost no one is willing to do it. And it can be dangerous.

“From a public health perspective, caloric restriction is not a practical strategy,” said professor Doug Seals, director of CU Boulder’s Integrative Physiology of Aging Laboratory.

So in recent years, Seals and his research trainees have taken a different path toward that elusive Fountain of Youth, testing a novel nutritional compound that stimulates the same physiological pathways that calorie restriction (CR) does. The compound, a form of Vitamin B called nicotinamide riboside (NR), is one of several so-called CR-mimetics under investigation in labs around the country, in what researchers are calling an exciting renaissance in the quest to slow biological aging and extend both lifespan and “healthspan” — the period of life that we remain healthy with good physical and cognitive function.

Doug Seals

Already, in a small, first-of-its-kind study, Seals’ team found NR can improve blood pressure and reduce arterial stiffness (a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and cognitive impairments) in older adults.

Now, with a $2.5 million, five-year grant from the National Institute on Aging, they’re conducting a study of about 100 more adults to assess the compound’s impact on the heart, brain and body.

Meanwhile, Seals and his CU Anschutz colleague, professor Michel Chonchol, also are assessing the effects of NR in patients with chronic kidney disease (a major disease of aging that is on the rise). At the University of Delaware, assistant professor Christopher Martens — who began his study of CR-mimetics as a postdoctoral researcher in Seals’ lab — is testing NR in older patients with mild cognitive impairment.

Daniel Craighead

And several investigators, including in Seals’ laboratory, are looking at forms of intermittent fasting as another potential approach to mimic CR and delay aging.

“We are gaining a better understanding of how the aging process works at the cellular level and how calorie restriction affects it, and coming up with therapies that mimic that,” said Martens. “It’s an exciting time for aging research.”

The CR-Healthy Aging Connection

To better understand why eating less might prompt the body to age more slowly, one need only think back to hunter-gatherer days, when humans were forced to go long periods without food. Scientists believe the body evolved to sense that deficiency and respond accordingly, with cells switching on an array of molecular pathways — including activation of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds — to conserve energy and protect cells, making them more resistant to stress.

“In general, when we shift from the normal diet that we eat now to a calorie-restrictive diet, our cells tend to activate defensive enzymes that protect us so we can live to see another day when food becomes more available,” said Martens.

While large human studies testing the concept long-term are, for good reason, hard to find, a few anecdotes from history lend credence to the theory, he noted.

For instance, when food rations were issued in Denmark during World War I, and in Norway during World War II, death rates and prevalence of cardiovascular disease decreased.

And when eight people living in a self-contained environment near Tucson, Arizona, called Biosphere 2 were forced to slash their food intake for two years due to poor crop yields, their blood pressure, blood glucose and serum cholesterol levels all declined, according to a 2002 study.

Research also has shown that people will not comply with a low-calorie diet.

Three Ways to Slow Aging

At CU’s Integrative Physiology of Aging Laboratory, scientists are conducting human trials exploring these unlikely paths for preserving youth:

Strength training for your breathing muscles

A five-minute daily workout called Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training (IMST) has lowered blood pressure, improved large artery function and boosted cognitive and physical fitness in preliminary research. It involves breathing in vigorously through a hand-held device called an inspiratory muscle trainer that provides resistance.

Hot tub time machine

Preliminary research suggests that sitting in warm water (about 103 degrees) for 60 minutes four to five times per week for eight weeks can have significant cardiovascular benefits for healthy twenty-somethings. More research is currently underway to determine safety and efficacy in older adults, but preliminary results are highly encouraging.

Healthy gut bugs, healthy cardiovascular system

CU Boulder animal research has shown that age-related changes in the gut microbiome (the microorganisms living inside us) can have an adverse effect on vascular health. A new campus study is examining how different diets impact the gut microbiome and slow or hasten age-related cardiovascular disease risk.

In one recent study called the CALERIE study, 143 people were asked to cut their calorie intake by 25 percent for two years. They could only cut it by about 11 percent, and while they did see some cardiovascular benefits, they also lost bone and muscle mass and, in some cases, their sex drive.

Calorie-restriction mimetics, including supplements, could possibly bypass those downsides.

“There are a number of different supplements out there targeting these same pathways involved in caloric restriction, but we believe NR is among the most promising,” said Daniel Craighead, an integrative physiology postdoctoral researcher heading up the CU Boulder NR study.

How It Works

NR is a key building block for a compound called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), which plays an important role in helping vital cell-protective enzymes called sirtuins do their job.

Notably, NAD+ declines with age, but caloric restriction prompts the body to conserve it.

The idea: Rather than starving themselves to kick-start this protective process, older adults could take so-called NAD+ precursors like NR.

So far, the research is promising.

For a 12-week pilot study, published in the journal Nature Communications in 2018, Seals’ team looked at 24 lean and healthy men and women, ages 55 to 79, and found that 1,000 mg daily of NR boosted levels of NAD+ by 60 percent.

They also found that in participants with elevated blood pressure or early-stage hypertension, systolic blood pressure was about 10 points lower after supplementation.

A drop of that magnitude could translate to a 25 percent reduction in cardiovascular disease risk, the authors noted.

“I definitely wouldn’t call it an anti-aging miracle pill, but it does look like a very promising nutraceutical that is safe and activates some of the same biological pathways that caloric restriction does,” said Craighead.

In the new study, 100 people will be divided into two groups, with half taking 1,000 mg per day of NR for three months and half taking a placebo. Along the way, the researchers will measure their vascular health, blood flow to their brain and changes in cognition and physical fitness along the way.

“If confirmed, this could be something people could take to improve their cardiovascular health and enjoy more healthy years of life,” said Craighead.

Time-Restricted Feeding

Nutritional supplements aside, Seals’ team is also looking into whether “time-restricted feeding” (eating only within an eight-hour window of the day) might also kick-start some of those same cellular-defense mechanisms as constant dieting.

In a study to be published in the aging research journal GeroScience, they found that six weeks of time-restricted feeding improved blood glucose control and increased endurance exercise capacity in healthy adults ages 55-79. And unlike calorie-restricted diets, 85 percent of the participants were able to adhere to the eight-hour eating window.

Seals and his fellow researchers stress that the science is young, and it’s too early to recommend supplements or fasting with any certainty to aging adults.

But participants in their study say they’re cautiously optimistic.

Since Dec. 3, 74-year-old Ian MacFadyen has been popping two blue capsules in the morning and two at night, not knowing whether he’s taking NR or a placebo pill. He says he feels no difference yet, but he’s happy to be contributing to the science.

“We all know that, inevitably, youth starts slipping away. So you might as well do all you can to preserve it,” he said.

And if science comes up with a pill that works?

“I’d take it for sure.”

Illustration by Paul Blow

Eating less may help the body age more slowly. Rather than promote starvation, CU researchers are testing a nutritional supplement that mimics the same effects of caloric restriction.

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Reverberations of a Stroke: A Memoir

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 17:37:51 +0000

Reverberations of a Stroke: A Memoir Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 11/06/2019 - 10:37

by Karl Gustafson (APMath, Fin'58)
(Springer International Publishing, 65 pages; 2019)

Buy the Book

In the early morning hours of Feb. 1, 2016, Karl Gustafson became instinctively aware that something catastrophic was happening inside him. A severe headache that had persisted for days had taken a sudden turn for the worse, and a clear inner voice ordered him to obtain immediate help. With determined effort, he tapped out the digits “9-1-1” on his phone―bringing an ambulance to his door quickly and saving his life. Emergency Room doctors would soon learn that Professor Gustafson, a renowned American mathematician, had suffered a deep brain hemorrhage, and that the situation was dire. By the time his condition was diagnosed, blood had pooled into all four ventricles of Gustafson’s brain and he was comatose.

Against all odds and surprising everyone, the author emerged from a near-death state to go on to what he calls his “Second Life”. This is the story of his miraculous journey of recovery, an inspirational tale of grit and determination, in his own words.

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Brain Health

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 06:00:00 +0000

Brain Health Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/01/2019 - 00:00

Christie Sounart

Linda Sasser (MA’79; PhD’81) researched memory as a CU doctoral student and built a career as a national speaker helping people improve their brain health and strengthen their memory power. She lives in Peoria, Ariz. Find more brain health information and memory strategies in her book, Brain SENSE: A Guide and Workbook to Keep Your Mind and Memory Sharp.

What did your interest in memory stem from while at CU Boulder?

When I took cognitive psychology with Dr. Lyle Bourne at CU, I became fascinated with memory, since it is something we use and depend on constantly. In addition, I had been a teacher, and realized that in schools we expect students to learn a lot of information but don't always teach them strategies for remembering it! So I decided to do my dissertation research on memory.

When should people be proactive about brain health?

Since the brain is malleable and everything we do affects it, it is never too early to start developing lifestyle practices that enhance brain health. Exercise, which stimulates blood flow, is important because the blood takes oxygen and nutrients to the brain. Nutrition is also important, as there are connections between the gut microbiome and the brain.

How can someone improve memory?

My acronym, PAVE, consists of strategies for improving memory. P stands for "Pay attention," because we need to do that in order to encode information in the brain. We often think we have "forgotten" something, when it is possible that we did not pay sufficient attention to it in the first place to have it enter memory. The A stands for "Associate": We need to think of or form an association or connection between something we are trying to learn and something already in our memory. The V stands for "Visualize," as the brain more easily remembers images than verbal or numerical information. Trying to form a mental picture or image can help you recall something; for example, when you meet someone and hear their name, try to see the name in writing, as if they were wearing a name tag. The E stands for "Elaborate," which means we need to process information to a deeper level in order to remember it better. For example, thinking of associations and images for someone's name, instead of just hearing it once, should improve your chances of recalling it later.

If someone made one change to improve their brain, what would it be?

Exercise. It helps keep our cardiovascular system healthy — poor CV function is correlated with Alzheimer's disease. Exercise also increases blood flow, reduces stress and stimulates the production of BDNF which is believed to promote neurogenesis, the creation of new brain cells.

What’s the biggest detriment to memory?

If there is no cognitive impairment, several factors: Chronic stress, which increases cortisol levels; insufficient or poor quality of sleep; excessive, regular alcohol intake can cause the hippocampus, a structure critical to learning and memory, to shrink.

What’s your favorite brain fact you like to share with people?

Neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections, is an exciting concept because it means that our brain can continue to change, grow and improve throughout our lives if we engage in a brain-healthy lifestyle.

A condensed version of this article appeared in the print issue of the Fall 2019 magazine.

Photos courtesy Linda Sasser

Linda Sasser researched memory as a CU doctoral student and built a career as a national speaker helping people improve their brain health and strengthen their memory power.

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Shipping Out

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 07:00:00 +0000

Shipping Out Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 03/01/2017 - 00:00

Melanie D.G. Kaplan

In the West African port of Cotonou, Benin, Abigail Watrous (PhD CivEngr’12) wakes up in a bunk bed, rocking ever so slightly to the movement of the unusual ship she calls home.

“When I first started university, I had this vague idea of becoming an engineer and helping people,” she said last fall from aboard the Africa Mercy, the world’s largest private hospital ship. “The question that kept bugging me was, ‘How do people develop their own skills and grow out of poverty?’”

Watrous had been thinking about this since her undergraduate days at Rice University, when she participated in a group trip to Mali led by CU Boulder engineering professor Bernard Amadei, co-founder of the Engineers Without Borders-International network. In the ensuing years Watrous earned a PhD from CU, did a Fulbright in China and worked on Capitol Hill and at the U.S. Department of Energy.

“I learned so much about policy,” she said, “but was dying for boots on the ground.”

Last spring Watrous applied to Mercy Ships, an international faith-based organization focused on healthcare in Africa. Accepted for a 10-month tour of duty, the Washington, D.C., resident moved her belongings into storage, stockpiled malaria medication, scheduled vaccinations and packed two-weeks’ worth of clothes that would need to last a year.

As a member of the medical capacity building team — her first degree is in biomedical engineering — Watrous helps manage logistics for Mercy Ships’ continuing education classes in medicine. These short courses give local midwives, nurses, doctors and surgeons a chance to enhance their skills in topics such as pain management, anesthesia, primary trauma care, and surgery.

She spends much of her time in an office 30 steps from her cabin, managing courses. On the occasional day when she finds herself exasperated by Excel, she visits the hospital down the hall. Spending time with patients quickly provides fresh motivation for fiddling with spreadsheets.

Outside, container ships move in and out of the port; tents for patient admission, screening and rehab dot the wharf. Watrous gets around Cotonou by motorcycle taxi, but plans to get her driver’s license so she can help transport students and instructors for the courses she organizes.

Evenings might bring contra dancing, movies, card games or knitting and chatting with friends. Watrous volunteers at the ship’s Starbucks on Sunday mornings and has added cappuccinomaking to her skillset.

Unexpected joys include the sunsets and the fellowship of the other volunteers, an international gang of 400 in all from around the world — each paying to serve on the ship. (Watrous’ monthly crew fees are $630.)

Many aspects of the Mercy Ship experience remind Watrous of Americans’ relative good fortune.

“We tend to forget, ‘I’m actually a very, very rich person,’” she said, noting that she has an iPhone, academic degrees and a bank account. “I’m the minority in the world, walking down the street with a little cash in my pocket. I’m healthy and educated. I feel like those are all blessings.”

Abigail Watrous on volunteering and working on a ship traveling abroad.

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States of Disease: Political Environments and Human Health

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 22:42:35 +0000

States of Disease: Political Environments and Human Health Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 01/13/2017 - 15:42

By Brian King (MGeog'99; PhD'04)
(University of California Press, 256 pages; 2017)

Buy the Book

Human health is shaped by the interactions between social and ecological systems. In States of Disease, Brian King advances a social ecology of health framework to demonstrate how historical spatial formations contribute to contemporary vulnerabilities to disease and the opportunities for health justice. He examines how expanded access to antiretroviral therapy is transforming managed HIV in South Africa. And he reveals how environmental health is shifting due to global climate change and flooding variability in northern Botswana. These case studies illustrate how the political environmental context shapes the ways in which health is embodied, experienced, and managed.

Human health is shaped by the interactions between social and ecological systems.

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Taking the Scenic Route to Manhood

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 22:30:36 +0000

Taking the Scenic Route to Manhood Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 01/13/2017 - 15:30

By Jeremy L. Wallace (Anth'94)
(Aviva Publishing, 277 pages; 2014)

Buy the Book

Taking The Scenic Route To Manhood is a candid, heartfelt account of the trials and triumphs of growing up in a world where you don't seem to fit. From his birth as a girl, Jeremy Wallace chronicles the pain, depression, and confusion of living in the wrong body and coming to terms with the changes needed so he could live a more authentic and happy life.

Jeremy shows all of us that it is never too late to be your true self. Whether seeking to change one's gender, or make any change in life, readers will find Taking The Scenic Route To Manhood to be a life-affirming book filled with hope and possibility.

Taking The Scenic Route To Manhood is a candid, heartfelt account of the trials and triumphs of growing up in a world where you don't seem to fit.

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Elimimating Inequities for Women with Disabilities: An Agenda for Health and Wellness

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Jun 2016 19:54:13 +0000

Elimimating Inequities for Women with Disabilities: An Agenda for Health and Wellness Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 06/27/2016 - 13:54

By Shari E. Miles-Cohen (Psych'86)
(American Psychological Association, 296 pages; 2016)

Buy the Book

More than 20 million American women and girls have some form of disability, and this number will only increase in the years to come. At the same time, women with disabilities often have difficulty accessing health care services, and the quality of the health care they do receive is often worse than the care received by women without disabilities and men with disabilities. The consequences of these disparities include increased prevalence of secondary complications, diminished quality of life, and even premature death.

In this book, researchers from a range of disciplines, with expertise in a range of disabilities, investigate the causes and consequences of these health care disparities and offer plans for action to improve wellness, health promotion, and disease prevention among this broad yet consistently underserved population.

Using an integrated care framework as a foundation, authors tackle the structural, environmental, and social barriers that prevent women with disabilities from accessing effective and culturally-competent care and services, and address related issues including psychosocial health, interpersonal violence, health care policy, health promotion, disease prevention programs, and telehealth, as well as reproductive and sexual health, and dental care.

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Campus News Briefs – Summer 2017

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 18:00:00 +0000

Campus News Briefs – Summer 2017 Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 06/01/2016 - 12:00

CU in 1967

16,877

Total fall enrollment

$286

Tuition per year for Colorado residents

$1,134

Tuition per year for non-residents (beginning fall 1967)

FIRST

Ralphie run through Folsom Field

Cost to see student production of Oklahoma! at Macky Auditorium

4,700

Students voting in a Nov. 8 campus election: Topics included the Vietnam War and the legalization of marijuana

Pages in The Seer, a booklet published by CU student government evaluating teachers and courses

For Heartbreak, Try...Anything

We might have more control over the pain of romantic rejection than we realize, according to new research led by CU Boulder scientists.

In a brain-imaging study of 40 subjects recently involved in an “unwanted romantic breakup,” researchers found that administering a placebo — basically, a fake medicine — diminished both negative feelings and also activity in brain regions associated with rejection.

“Doing anything that you believe will help you feel better will probably help you feel better,” said CU’s Leonie Koban, a postdoctoral research associate in psychology and neuroscience and the study’s lead author.

The research paper, “Frontal-brainstem pathways mediating placebo effects on social rejection,” was published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

For further details, visit here.

Heard Around Campus

"There is probably not as much gang-joining happening in prison as we once thought."

— CU Boulder criminologist David Pyrooz, author of recent research that casts doubt on the common belief that prisons foster gangs.

Venture Capital

A sports-related film editing platform, an adjustable socket for prosthetic legs and a digital networking platform for aspiring musicians took home the top prizes at CU Boulder’s ninth annual New Venture Challenge competition in April.

In all, entrepreneurs won nearly $100,000 in awards and investments.

Established in 2009, the challenge is a business development and mentorship program for CU Boulder students, faculty and staff. Teams form in the fall, develop their ideas during the academic year and pitch them to a panel of judges in the spring.

The 2016-17 winners are, respectively, Give & Go (film), ReForm (prosthetic socket) and Gigsicians (musician networking).

The challenge maintains lists of winners at colorado.edu/nvc.

Heartbreak placebos, prison gangs, New Venture Challenge and CU in 1967

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CU Around: Sports Medicine

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 06:00:00 +0000

CU Around: Sports Medicine Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 06/01/2016 - 00:00

Christie Sounart

High Performance

Jeff Stieb’s youngest patient so far is a 7-yearold skier, his oldest a man of about 90 who still climbs 14ers.

It’s been nearly a century since there was a hospital on the CU-Boulder campus, but the university is again providing community medicine, with a focus on athletes.

“We’ve had everyone from Frisbee golf players to stunt men to elite marathon runners,” said Stieb, director of physical therapy at the CU Sports Medicine and Performance Center, which opened last August in Folsom Field’s new Champions Center.

A joint operation of Boulder Community Health, the CU Anschutz School of Medicine and CU Athletics, the 25,000-square-foot center is open to the public and aims to become an international destination for elite athletes, while also serving active people of all ages and abilities, said executive director Eric Medved.

The center offers physical therapy, orthopedics, sports nutrition, pain management, performance assessment, physiological and metabolic testing and other services.

Medical director Dr. Jason Glowney recalled an early success, a once-avid cyclist sidelined by artery scarring and related ailments. Today she’s back on her bike.

“We saved her limb,” he said. “And we saved her lifestyle.”

In Brief:

1. Opened August 2015
2. Open to the public
3. Biomechanist to help with custom bike fittings
4. Current pool for improving swim strokes
5. Plasma-rich platelet injections
6. Concussion care
7. On-site MRI machine and other imaging services

Photo by Cliff Grassmick/Daily Camera

The CU Sports Medicine and Performance Center opened last August in the new Champions Center on campus.

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Health

Free Emergency Contraceptives on Campus

Related Articles

The Anti-Aging Pill

The CR-Healthy Aging Connection

Three Ways to Slow Aging

Strength training for your breathing muscles

Hot tub time machine

Healthy gut bugs, healthy cardiovascular system

How It Works

Time-Restricted Feeding

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Reverberations of a Stroke: A Memoir

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Brain Health

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Shipping Out

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States of Disease: Political Environments and Human Health

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Taking the Scenic Route to Manhood

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Elimimating Inequities for Women with Disabilities: An Agenda for Health and Wellness

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Campus News Briefs – Summer 2017

CU in 1967

For Heartbreak, Try...Anything

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CU Around: Sports Medicine

High Performance

In Brief:

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