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About CU Anschutz

Today, CU Anschutz is drawing upon science, technology and top talent to build upon its incredible forward momentum. We are speeding progress to novel therapies and innovations with transformative potential for our state, our region and our world.

Discoveries at CU Anschutz have led to new medical devices, pharmaceuticals, diagnostic methods, treatment of debilitating conditions and improved quality of life for people worldwide. CU Anschutz is the largest academic health center in the Rocky Mountain region. The campus combines interdisciplinary teaching, research and clinical facilities. We prepare future medical professionals to redefine the health care of tomorrow and provide the best available health care today at two nationally recognized hospitals.

Our Expertise

Rather than thinking in terms of departments and diseases, we revolve around the core, game-changing ideas in medicine that can impact and improve the most lives. These themes intersect at the most pressing medical needs of our time including cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and cardiovascular disease. These themes are:

Driving Innovation Advancing Discovery  
Transforming Patient Care Training Future Leaders

A History of Innovation

A spirit of innovation, collaboration and discovery has fueled a long history of achievement. The highlights below represent just some of the many ways that our students, faculty and alumni have helped shape the world of medicine.

1953

Dr. Henry Swan revolutionized open heart surgery as the first to perform a successful series of open heart operations under hypothermia.

1955

Use of human cell cloning to study genetics and cancer

1960

Dr. Harold C. Heim conducted a groundbreaking study on the toxic effects of the drug emetine on the heart.

1962

Drs. Henry Kempe and Henry Silver were the first to identify "battered child" syndrome.

1963

Dr. Thomas Starzl performed the first successful liver transplant in the world.

1963

One of the first pediatric genetic counseling clinics in the U.S. was opened by Drs. Arthur Robinson and Jean Priest.

1965

CU became home to the first Nurse Practitioner education program in the country, started by Dr. Henry Silver and Loretta Ford MS, RN.

1968

The first Child Health Associate/Physician Assistant program in the country was created.

1976

CU researchers developed the first description of Kawasaki syndrome in the U.S. and began clinical trials, leading to its successful treatment with IVIG in the 1990s.

1978

Researchers were able to describe toxic shock syndrome.

1980

A collaborative effort of pioneering work led to global eradication of smallpox.

1983

Statewide newborn screening program for cystic fibrosis in the U.S. began.

1988

Drs. Robert Breeze and Curt Freed were the first to implant fetal cells for Parkinson's disease.

1992

Researchers developed methods of saving newborns with severe lung disorders, including treatment of pediatric pulmonary hypertension using inhaled nitric oxide.

1993

CU participated in pioneering pediatrics AIDS research, as one of a handful of AIDS clinical trial groups in the U.S.

2003

3D images of the human body derived from anatomical sections for teaching anatomy

2005

The CU Cancer Center was designated one of only three consortium cancer centers in U.S.

2006

Developed a new vaccine for shingles.

2007

Dr. Kevin Lillehei was awarded a patent for the "surgical cannula"—a thin tube that enables surgeons to access deep-seated brain tumors.

2007

A multi-university effort with CU Anschutz, Colorado State University and the University of Northern Colorado created the first and only collaborative school of public health in the region.

2010

Dr. J. Mark Petrash was the first to identify therapeutic agents in certain foods effective against diabetic eye disease.

2011

Researchers discovered that the chemical resveratrol, found in red wine and peanuts, uses differences between healthy cells and cancer cells in the head and neck to target cancer cells selectively.

2012

The Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Institute was the first academic eye center in the U.S. to commercially perform femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery.

2012

Dr. Peter Anderson discovered that HIV-treatment drug Truvada can be up to 90% effective in preventing HIV in high-risk populations.

2013

Drs. Barish Edil and Richard Schulick were the first to perform a laparoscopic Whipple procedure, a highly complex surgical operation to treat cancerous tumors in patients with pancreatic cancer.

2014

Drs. Edwin Liu, Marian Rewers and George Eisenbarth's pioneering efforts showed screening infants can lead to early diagnosis of celiac disease.

2014

Drs. Tom Anchordoquy, Raj Agarwal, Theresa Pacheco and Michael Glode pioneered breakthrough lotion that prevents skin cancer and repairs DNA damage from sun exposure.

2017

Researchers at CU Anschutz created a new and more effective shingles vaccine called Shingrix.

Anschutz Medical Campus
Office of Advancement

The CU Anschutz Office of Advancement is bringing people together to solve real problems. People like you are supporting breakthrough treatments for cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and a wide range of other illnesses. New developments in medicine have placed once-unattainable treatments within reach. We now have the opportunity to advance medicine further in the next ten years than it has advanced in the last one hundred. That’s why right now is the most exciting time to get involved.

The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

The CU Anschutz Medical Campus is the largest academic health center in the Rocky Mountain region. The campus combines teaching, research and clinical facilities and provides the best available health care at two nationally recognized hospitals. At CU Anschutz there are 11.3 million square feet of state-of-the-art training facilities, hundreds of the nation’s top physicians and health professionals, and more than a billion dollars continually at work redefining the healthcare of tomorrow.

The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

The CU Anschutz Medical Campus is the largest academic health center in the Rocky Mountain region. The campus combines teaching, research and clinical facilities and provides the best available health care at two nationally recognized hospitals. At CU Anschutz there are 11.3 million square feet of state-of-the-art training facilities, hundreds of the nation’s top physicians and health professionals, and more than a billion dollars continually at work redefining the healthcare of tomorrow.

The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

The CU Anschutz Medical Campus is the largest academic health center in the Rocky Mountain region. The campus combines teaching, research and clinical facilities and provides the best available health care at two nationally recognized hospitals. At CU Anschutz there are 11.3 million square feet of state-of-the-art training facilities, hundreds of the nation’s top physicians and health professionals, and more than a billion dollars continually at work redefining the healthcare of tomorrow.

The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

The CU Anschutz Medical Campus is the largest academic health center in the Rocky Mountain region. The campus combines teaching, research and clinical facilities and provides the best available health care at two nationally recognized hospitals. At CU Anschutz there are 11.3 million square feet of state-of-the-art training facilities, hundreds of the nation’s top physicians and health professionals, and more than a billion dollars continually at work redefining the healthcare of tomorrow.

The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

The CU Anschutz Medical Campus is the largest academic health center in the Rocky Mountain region. The campus combines teaching, research and clinical facilities and provides the best available health care at two nationally recognized hospitals. At CU Anschutz there are 11.3 million square feet of state-of-the-art training facilities, hundreds of the nation’s top physicians and health professionals, and more than a billion dollars continually at work redefining the healthcare of tomorrow.

The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

The CU Anschutz Medical Campus is the largest academic health center in the Rocky Mountain region. The campus combines teaching, research and clinical facilities and provides the best available health care at two nationally recognized hospitals. At CU Anschutz there are 11.3 million square feet of state-of-the-art training facilities, hundreds of the nation’s top physicians and health professionals, and more than a billion dollars continually at work redefining the healthcare of tomorrow.