December 2010 Archives

James Boulger, Ph.D., professor of behavioral sciences and director of alumni relations at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus, is widely known for his commitment to medical students. But this year, the Boulger name became truly synonymous with boosting student success.

Six-year-old Kira Rogers doesn't know much about the Minnesota Lions, but the Lions' 50-year partnership with the University was intended to help children just like her.

A month after Kira was born, her mother, Michele, noticed something wrong with Kira’s right eye. "Her eyelid looked red. The next day it looked puffier. Each day it looked a little puffier," she says.

Your annual gifts to the Minnesota Medical Foundation (MMF) make a real difference for children and adults suffering from diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and other devastating illnesses.

You can continue to provide ongoing support after your lifetime as well by remembering the foundation in your estate plan — for example, by including a bequest in your will or living trust or by naming the foundation as a beneficiary of a retirement plan or life insurance policy. The funds generated each year by your endowed gift will continue to advance world-class medical research, education, and care at the University of Minnesota.

Over 48 years of marriage, Drs. Betty Oseid and Michael E. Carey have shared a stimulating and fulfilling life — one that’s included three children and six grandchildren, two wartime deployments, leading-edge research, and Medals of Valor for each of them. The University of Minnesota brought the Careys (Betty uses Oseid professionally) together. And by giving back, the couple has helped to ensure a healthier future for others.

For the first time ever, physician-scientists at the University of Minnesota have demonstrated that a lethal skin disease can be successfully treated with stem cell therapy.

Medical School researchers John E. Wagner, M.D., and Jakub Tolar, M.D., Ph.D. — in collaboration with researchers in Oregon, the United Kingdom, and Japan — used stem cells from bone marrow to repair the skin of patients with a fatal skin disease called recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB).

While skiing in Breckenridge, Colorado in, 1991, Ed Schuck found himself gasping for air, and it wasn’t just the altitude. Schuck, who was then age 51, was diagnosed with Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (Alpha-1) a genetic disease that can cause lung failure and liver disease. Alpha-1 is caused by decreased or abnormal production of a protein called alpha-1-antitrypsin (A1AT), which is produced by the liver and protects the lungs from inflammation and inhaled irritants.

For roughly a decade, up to five times a month, Dave Thoen had diabetic seizures while in the middle of a conversation, in the car, and even while sleeping. He never knew when one might strike, and his family and friends had to help him in sometimes life-threatening situations.