Nexus Spotlight Archives

Nexus Spotlight

Highlighting life sciences research from our
strategic partners and stakeholders.

Expert Exchange: KC Rising Director Rallies Community to Amplify Regional Growth

For more than a decade, the regional workforce has had more available jobs than people to fill them. Sheri Gonzales, Vice President of the Civic Council of Greater Kansas C...

The Connection: BioKansas CEO Boosts Biosciences Ecosystem

Being an effective intermediary involves a micro understanding, implemented at a macro level. For Dr. Sonia Hall, President and CEO of BioKansas, the goal is to strategical...

Patient-Focused KCU PsyD Program Prepares Students to Treat Individuals, Community

Clinical psychologists are trained to address the psychological needs of individuals from all backgrounds, ethnicities, races and ages. Students in the PsyD program at Kans...

Skilled KC Takes New Approach Training Future Workforce

Skilled KC intends to provide a student-centered experience to support residents that want to earn a credential that will set them on a successful career trajectory or give...

K-State Olathe Cyber Bootcamp Series Filling Job Vacancies, Offering New Career Field

Kansas State University Olathe is using its professional development programming to help Greater Kansas City and beyond fill job vacancies in highly skilled cyber fields. ...

Bioscience Core Skills Institute Enhances Workforce Development in Kansas City

In the biotechnology industry, there is a disconnect between the credentials available to students and the companies that hire them. Often certificates or degrees in biolog...

Expert Exchange: Children’s Mercy Physician’s Research Improves Pediatric Cancer Treatment

All creatures have a spectacular arrangement of cells. When these cells are at their best, the body functions properly. The opposite is true, however, when these cells decl...

Saint Luke’s Director Says the Answer to the Immune System’s Role in Fighting Cancer is Hidden in Plain Sight

The immune system protects the body by identifying and eliminating potential threats such as infections, toxins, and cancers, however, many cancers have developed ingenious...

The University of Kansas Cancer Center's Next Chapter in Immunotherapy

The concept of harnessing our body’s natural defenses to ward off disease has been around for more than 135 years. Over the last few decades, incremental steps in basic res...

University of Missouri Scientists Killing Cancer by Unleashing the Body’s Own Immune System

The body’s immune system is the first line of defense against infections like bacteria, viruses or cancers. Some cancers, however, have developed the art of molecular decep...

Children’s Mercy Opens New Research Building, Accelerating the Discovery of Cures and Transforming Pediatric Care

Children’s Mercy has opened its new 9-story, 375,000 square-foot, pediatric research facility located on the hospital’s Adele Hall campus in the heart of downtown Kansas Ci...

Genetics Play a Role in Our Immune Response to Cancer Treatment

Checkpoint inhibitors have been a breakthrough treatment for cancer, however, they only benefit about 15% of patients across different types of cancer. Thus, there is an un...

Expert Exchange: Cleveland University Researcher Energized by Collaboration Between Chiropractic & Primary Care

Effective treatment in healthcare is often as simple as identifying the issue and making an adjustment. For Dr. Mark Pfefer, Director of Research and Professor at Cleveland...

UMKC Pharmacy Researchers Explore Pain Medication Prescribing Trends in Nursing Homes

A team of researchers at the University of Missouri-Kanas City School of Pharmacy is taking a close look at prescribing trends for opioids used as pain management medicatio...

TMC/UH Pain Management Center Silencing Chronic Headaches with Exclusive Treatment

Since its opening in the Fall of 2015, the Pain Management Center at Truman Medical Centers/University Health (TMC/UH) has made headlines for its role in protecting patient...

MU Study Reveals Most Effective Drugs for Common Type of Neuropathic Pain

More than 20 million people in the U.S. suffer neuropathic pain. At least 25% of those cases are classified as unexplained and considered cryptogenic sensory polyneuropathy...

It's Time to Rethink our Standard Approach to Pain Management in Cancer Care

According to a new study, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Medical Center saw a 123 percent surge in opioid-related overdose visits from March-June 2019 to March-June...

Expert Exchange: KCU Professor Developing Innovative Test for Early Diagnosis of Neurodegenerative Disease

Sometimes researchers are confronted with daunting challenges when studying an incurable disease and subsequently turn their attention to something else that may yield resu...

Scientists at KU Alzheimer's Disease Center Make Progress on Research

Local researchers are doing their part to battle Alzheimer's Disease. Every 65 seconds, someone in the United States is diagnosed with the deadly, incurable disease. Resear...

4-Year-Old Patient Will Lose All Neurological Function; Children's Mercy Finding Answers for Rare Disease

With her beautiful blue eyes, feathery blonde hair and a smile that just won’t quit, Emerson Schrivener looks like a healthy 4-year-old. But looks can be deceiving. Her ...

K-State Collaborates to Study Aging Brain

As we age, we naturally experience cognitive declines. We might forget where we parked our car or what we had for breakfast yesterday. But we also gain more experience and ...

Q & A: KU Medical Center Professor Says KCMD Will Accelerate Cures

The University of Kansas Medical Center recently spoke with Mazen Dimachkie, M.D., professor of neurology, about the Kansas City Consortium on Musculoskeletal Diseases. A f...

What Does COVID-19 Do to the Brain?

Stroke, delirium, anxiety, confusion, fatigue - the list goes on. If you think Covid-19 is just a respiratory disease, think again. As each week passes, it is becoming inc...

Expert Exchange: UMKC Humanitarian Changes the World of HIV Research

Making the world a better place requires compassion, the ability to react to unique and challenging situations, and the courage to face what others fear. University of Miss...

‘It Matters’: TMC Nurse Asks to Work 60-Hour Weeks to Help COVID-19 Patients

The middle-aged man lay dying of COVID-19 in the intensive care unit, only moments from his last, shallow breath. The ventilator was removed. His brain had already been hit...

KU, KDHE Partner to Trace COVID-19 in Wastewater Treatment Plants

The University of Kansas School of Engineering and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment are teaming up on an experiment to determine if the COVID-19 virus can be...

Children’s Mercy Conducts Year Round Viral Disease Surveillance and Vaccine Studies in Children to Promote Public Health

Children’s Mercy Kansas City (CM-KC) has been a member of the CDC-sponsored multicenter New Vaccine Surveillance Network (KC-NVSN) since 2009 with Rangaraj Selvarangan (Dir...

Lab in KU Medical Center Incubator Switches to Coronavirus Test to Meet Community Need

Sinochips Diagnostics, a private laboratory operating on the campus of the University of Kansas Medical Center, has tested more than 2,500 people for the coronavirus that c...

‘Flying Blind’: Doctors Race to Understand What COVID-19 Means for People With HIV

Larry Pike has already survived one pandemic. The 76-year-old Seattle retiree has been living with HIV for 22 years. When Covid-19 hit Seattle, he grew worried. “Just like ...

Expert Exchange: MU Veterinary Oncologist Advancing One Health with Novel Bone Cancer Treatment for Dogs

Few people realize that what is good for man’s best friend, can also be good for mankind. Dr. Brian Flesner, an Assistant Professor of Oncology at the University of Missour...

UMKC Researcher Working to Improve Animal and Human Health

A world thrown into the rapidly spreading COVID-19 pandemic is discovering the harsh reality of a shared environment where animal health and human health are intertwined. ...

One Health Research, Education at Heart of K-State Initiatives

Human, animal and environmental research and education is in the DNA of Kansas State University. These fields and their complex interrelationships also are at the core of O...

MU College of Veterinary Medicine Helps Athletic Horse Recover From Irregular Heartbeat

After 16 years, an inseparable bond between a woman and her horse was on the verge of collapse. Together, Cynthia Russell, a professor at the University of Missouri-Kans...

Can Animals Get Coronavirus? What to Know About Pets and COVID-19

We’re getting used to our daily news feeds filling up with reports of new COVID-19 cases. But one case in particular has come as a bit of a surprise. A tiger at the Bron...

Expert Exchange: K-State Researcher Seeks to Prevent Swine Epidemic

There is a delicate balance being maintained by the global food production industry. Dr. Megan Niederwerder, Assistant Professor at Kansas State University (K-State) in the...

MU Researcher Awarded Grant to Study Treatment for Arthritis Caused by Lyme Disease

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the U.S. It is caused by several strains of bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, which can be transmitted to people throu...

MRIGlobal’s Global Health Team and Partners Monitoring Coronavirus Outbreak

MRIGlobal infectious disease experts have been keeping a close eye on a coronavirus outbreak stemming from the Chinese city of Wuhan. The team has been gathering informatio...

Coronavirus Outbreak Raises Questions: Why are Bat Viruses so Deadly?

It’s no coincidence that some of the worst viral disease outbreaks in recent years — SARS, MERS, Ebola, Marburg and likely the newly arrived 2019-nCoV virus — originated in...

Priorities for Preparation: K-State Training Next Generation to Fight Animal, Plant Pathogens

Sizzling bacon, smoky pulled pork, mouthwatering barbecue ribs and even the holiday ham could disappear from meals if African swine fever virus ever made its way to the U.S...

Vol. 3, 2019: Expert Exchange: TMC Research Suggests Community is Key to Improving Outcomes for Breast Cancer Patients

There is often a time separation between medical research and the improvement in patient outcomes. For Dr. Nasim Ahmadiyeh, Medical Director of the Comprehensive Breast Car...

Vol. 3, 2019: Stakeholder Highlight: KUMC Connects Community Through Live Show

If it’s 10 a.m. Wednesday, a smiling Dr. Roy Jensen is most likely greeting his cyberguests for another edition of Bench to Bedside. Jensen, director of The University o...

Vol. 3, 2019: Stakeholder Highlight: Saint Luke's Leads First of its Kind Trial to Help Patients with Heart Failure

Diabetes and heart failure impact millions of Americans each year and represent two of America’s most challenging health problems. Patients with both diabetes and heart fai...

Vol. 3, 2019: Get to Know: Mizzou and NextGen Precision Health Initiatives

The University of Missouri is among five institutions that recently joined a nationwide network established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Biomedical ...

Vol. 3, 2019: Big Data Paves the Way for Artificial Intelligence Implementation

Bioinformatics has been a developing field since the beginning of the Human Genome Project nearly 30 years ago. Innovations in both hardware and software have allowed resea...

Vol. 3, 2019: Healthier Animals; Healthier Food Chain – That's Mercks Mission

There is a special bond between people and animals. They comfort us and they provide for us. It is this bond that Merck Animal Health has dedicated its mission to by prese...

Vol. 3, 2019: Life Sciences News and New Hires

Burns & McDonnell Continues Expansion of Life Sciences Capabilities Nationwide International engineering, construction and architecture firm Burns & McDonnell r...

Vol. 2, 2019: Expert Exchange: Saint Luke’s Center for Advanced Breast Cancer Sets Model for Holistic Care

Success in healthcare is giving a patient the opportunity to reach future milestones. Sometimes that means a cure, but it can also mean additional years instead of months t...

Vol. 2, 2019: Stakeholder Highlight: MRIGlobal Milestone Marks 75th Anniversary of Regional STEM Initiative

STEM education as we know it today was launched on June 17, 1944, when nine Kansas City civic leaders signed the articles of agreement creating what is now MRIGlobal. Th...

Vol. 2, 2019: Stakeholder Highlight: Veterinary Health Center at Kansas City Advances Plans to Establish Collaborative Clinical Trial Facility

University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine Dean Carolyn Henry, in partnership with the BioNexus KC Cancer Research and Care working group, continues to advance p...

Vol. 2, 2019: One Health Research Symposium will Highlight Immunotherapy, Promote Regional Collaboration

Ideally, the immune system will protect the body from disease by recognizing foreign threats and attacking them without harming healthy cells. If unbalanced, the immune sys...

Vol. 2, 2019: Annual Dinner will Inspire Innovative Approaches in Personalized Patient Care

Kansas City is home to two major players when it comes to healthcare data. The largest private employer in the region, Cerner, is one of the leading companies working in El...

Vol. 2, 2019: Explore Ethical Framework for Healthcare AI at August Event

As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies continue to emerge and develop, they are beginning to be incorporated into the delivery of healthcare. AI systems are already b...

Vol 2. 2019: Inaugural EDSKC Collaboration Inc. Aims to Improve Quality of Care and Patient Outcomes

Please join BioNexus KC and EDSKC Collaboration Inc. for the "first-ever" Kansas City Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes Educational Seminar on September 7, 2019 at UMKC. In 2017, di...

Vol. 2, 2019: Life Sciences Business News and New Hires

Aratana Awaits $245M Sale Closing, Wins Fifth FDA Approval in Three Years The Food and Drug Administration approved a smaller vial size of Aratana Therapeutics Inc.'s dr...

Vol. 1, 2019: Expert Exchange: MRIGlobal Team Collaborates to Advance Potential Cures

While many of us aspire to use our abilities to make the world a better place, Kathy Boggess, Technical Division Director at MRIGlobal and her team are making a difference ...

Vol. 1, 2019: Stakeholder Highlight: KU Faculty Member is Fifth to Earn Honor Recognizing His Inventions

A University of Kansas professor who helped to develop a refrigerant that is safe for the Earth’s ozone layer is among the ranks of the latest class of Fellows of the Natio...

Vol. 1, 2019: Stakeholder Highlight: National Geographic's 'The Hot Zone' to Feature Kansas State University Ebola Experts

Ebola-related emergency response by two Kansas State University veterinarians is making its way to the small screen and is highlighting the region’s legacy as the "Silicon ...

Vol. 1, 2019: BioNexus KC President/CEO Brings Rare Approach to New Role

The definition of rare means not occurring very often. Dennis Ridenour, new President and CEO of BioNexus KC, can particularly relate to this definition. His third child, T...

Vol. 1, 2019: Bioinformatics Conference Aims to Launch Collaborations, April 11-12

Kansas City has a high concentration of jobs in bioinformatics, ranking us in the top five among peer metros. BioNexus KC and Children’s Mercy will host the Midwest Bioinf...

Vol. 1, 2019: Rare KC Summit Introduces Kansas City as Hub for Rare Disease

RareKC held their 4th Annual Stakeholder Summit on March 4th to gather individuals, families and members of the life science and business community as an initial step in es...

Vol. 1, 2019: The 2018 Census Illustrates Healthy Regional Life Sciences Cluster

The 2018 Life Science Industry Census identified 292 life sciences companies employing about 35,000 people, demonstrating continued growth in this vital sector of the regio...

Vol. 1, 2019: Blue KC’s New Strategy For Supporting Regional Outcomes Research

More than 360,000 people in Kansas City – including one in six children – do not know where their next meal will come from. Our community must do more to address health dis...

Vol. 1, 2019: Rick Cook Joins Ceva as Chief Operations Officer – U.S. Biology Unit

Rick Cook will oversee all U.S. vaccine production and operations Rick Cook has joined Ceva Animal Health assuming leadership for Ceva’s U.S. vaccine production and rel...

Vol. 1, 2019: Life Sciences Business News & New Hires

Rhonda Hellums The Leawood-based pet therapeutics company named Rhonda Hellums is its new CFO. She previously had served as Vice President of finance. More information »...

Vol. 3, 2018: Expert Exchange: Children's Mercy Director Moving Kids with Brain Tumors to the Front of the Line

After identifying and naming his own cancer gene in 1995, Dr. Tom Curran faced a big decision about his career. He could have coasted on his previous accomplishments or tak...

Vol. 3, 2018 Stakeholder Highlight: KCU Biosciences Student Wins Award for Research Impacting Anemia

Cheyennae Barbee has always considered herself an over-achiever. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that she won her first poster award as a graduate student at the annual ...

Vol. 3, 2018: Merck Animal Health Advances Animal Welfare Together

As part of its ongoing commitment to The Science of Healthier Animals®, Merck Animal Health brought together dozens of leading animal welfare and food chain subject matter ...

Vol. 3, 2018: George P. Smith Wins 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Dr. George P. Smith was already awake and walking to the kitchen for a cup of coffee when the phone rang. It was 4:30 a.m., too early for a casual conversation. On the o...

Vol. 3, 2018: Bioinformatics Conference, Save the Date

This conference will bring together bioinformatics-minded researchers from academia and industry to discover capabilities, share tactical approaches to problem-solving, exp...

Vol. 3, 2018: Life Sciences Business News & New Hires

Bardavon Health Lands Millions to Fund Nationwide Expansion Bardavon Health Innovations LLC has raised $15 million to fund a nationwide expansion. More inform...

Vol. 3, 2018 Annual Dinner: Dr. David Nash Identifies Scary Trend in Population Health

BioNexus KC’s 2018 Annual Dinner focused on opportunities for improvement in the American health care model. The event featured Dr. David Nash, Dean of the Jefferson Colleg...

Vol. 3, 2018 Stakeholder Highlight: Advancing Fetal Health Care at Children’s Mercy

Children’s Mercy is home to The Elizabeth J. Ferrell Fetal Health Center, one of the first fetal centers in the U.S. to be located inside a children’s hospital. That means,...

Vol. 2, 2018 TMC Stakeholder Highlight: Expanding Patient Care in the UMKC Health Sciences District

It’s not every day Truman Medical Centers President and CEO Charlie Shields gets to take a seat at the controls of some very heavy equipment. But Charlie couldn’t have been...

Vol. 2, 2018 UMKC Stakeholder Highlight: New UMKC Chancellor Has Research and Innovation Focus And Background

The Chancellor C. Mauli Agrawal era at UMKC began June 20. Agrawal comes to UMKC after 15 years at the University of Texas-San Antonio, where he progressed from professor t...

Local Cardiologist, Dr. John Spertus, Honored as One of the American Heart Association’s Distinguished Scientists for 2018

Dr. John Spertus has been named a recipient of the American Heart Association (AHA) 2018 Distinguished Scientist Award. The AHA Distinguished Scientists are a prominent gro...

Ceva Animal Health Welcomes Dr. Tyler Martin as Chief Operating Officer

Dr. Tyler Martin joined Ceva Animal Health as Chief Operating Officer and the leader of all U.S. Biology operations. A physician by training, Dr. Tyler Martin brings ext...

PREP-KC Coordinates 10 Laboratory Internships at KUMC & Launches New Tools for Workforce Preparation

The students selected for these 6-week paid internships are rising seniors and recent graduates from Kansas City, KS Public Schools who have participated in bioscience stud...

Whiteboard2Boardroom: From Innovations to Commercialization

Several Innovations are Being Commercialized with the Help of Whiteboard2Boardroom. A classroom program to help children with autism learn social skills. Biometric techn...

Population Health Expert, Dr. David Nash, Will Headline BioNexus KC’s Annual Dinner

On September 20 BioNexus KC’s Annual Dinner will dive deep into population health at the Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland. The event will feature keynote speaker Dr. D...

One Health Research Symposium Focuses On Applications of CRISPR/Cas9

CRISPR stands for Clusters of Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats and is an immune function that bacteria use to fight viruses. CRISPR is a state-of-the-art gen...

Vol. 2, 2018: Life Sciences News & New Hires

Douglas C. Bittel, PhD Douglas C. Bittel, PhD, has joined Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences as associate professor in the College of Biosciences. He...

Vol. 1, 2018 MRIGlobal Stakeholder Highlight: MRIGlobal Life Sciences Work Impacts Global Health

Serious health issues or an act of terrorism, the research expertise of Kansas City-based MRIGlobal takes on the challenging problems. MRIGlobal plays a critical role in th...

Vol. 1, 2018 Saint Luke's Stakeholder Highlight: Committed to Providing Quality Care, Improving Access

Saint Luke’s Health System is dedicated and committed to providing care and improving access for our patients when and where it is needed and convenient to them. In the ...

Biotechnology Signature Program Designed to Build Scientists

Classic high school science classes echo with the staccato of text books turning to page 75; test is on Friday, a C-grade is a pass; and for an hour every week you put your...

Ceva Externship Experience Receives Positive Feedback, Open to New Opportunities

National Biomanufacturing employment increased significantly over the past decade and is projected to continue growing by double digits annually – exceeding the overall pri...

AutGO Initiative Aims to Provide Platform to Cultivate Collaboration

Autism is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that presents across a spectrum of abnormalities and a complex set of genetic causes. Both genetic and environmental factors ...

Third Annual Midwest Bioinformatics Conference: Facilitating Pathways to Collaboration

The Kansas City region boasts a wealth of bioinformatics capabilities and expertise that compares favorably with assets in other parts of the US known as bioinformatics cen...

Collaborate2Cure Topic Will Impact the Entire Community

Collaborate2Cure is back starting on May 10 at the Kauffman Foundation and the topic is Clinical Outcomes and Value-Based Care. “Value-based care” is a healthcare model ...

Volume 1, 2018: Life Sciences Business News & New Hires

Aratana Builds Pet Drug Pipeline by Buying Rights from Japanese Company Aratana Therapeutics, Inc. bought exclusive rights to develop a pain and inflammation treatment f...

Volume 2, 2017: Life Sciences Business News & New Hires

TechAccel Continues to Invest in Solving Global Food Crisis TechAccel, the Kansas City-based technology and venture development company, has announced significant tracti...

University of Missouri Targets Personalized Therapies for Prostate Cancer

Scientists and Clinicians Pool Their Knowledge to Accelerate Discoveries That Prevent, Diagnose and Treat Disease

Vol. 2, 2017 K-State Stakeholder Highlight: Largest Chinese Animal Vaccine Adds Lab and Offices at K-State

China's largest animal vaccine company will open a research lab and offices in the Kansas State University Office Park. Officials for Jinyu Bio-technology Co. Ltd. said ...

Erin Smith’s Curiosity Leads to a “Modern Spin on Diagnostics” for Parkinson’s Disease

Erin Smith was named the grand prize winner of the 2017 International BioGENEius Challenge at the BIO International Convention in San Diego, CA for her creation of FacePrin...

Buck O’Neil Seat for Big Slick Celebrity Softball Game Bestowed on Doug Myers

Big Slick KC is an annual fundraiser for the Children’s Mercy Cancer Center. Some of the biggest celebrities from the Kansas City area - Rob Riggle, Jason Sudeikis, Pau...

KCALSI’s Annual Dinner Will Highlight Innovation and Breakthroughs in Tissue Engineering

KCALSI’s 2017 Annual Dinner keynote speaker, Nina Tandon, is growing transplantable bones using a patient’s own stem cells. Held on September 19 at the Arvest Bank Theat...

One Health Research Symposium: Preventing the Next Pandemic

The Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute, in collaboration with Kansas State University and the University of Missouri, has arranged for over 20 national and regional e...

Volume 1, 2017: Life Sciences Business News & New Hires

Aratana Therapeutics Named Animal Pharm's Best Company in North America 2016 Aratana Therapeutics, Inc. won Animal Pharm's Best Company in North America 2016. Aratana wa...

Zoetis: Taking a One Health Approach to Biosurveillance

Zoetis conducts routine surveillance of clinically relevant strains of infectious agents to follow emerging diseases in livestock and companion animals. They also monitor s...

Ceva Animal Health, LLC

Different Than Other Animal Health Companies Our vision: “Together, we are building a new reference to create value beyond animal health” is at the core of everything we d...

Vol. 1, 2017 Stakeholder Highlight Children's Mercy: Pediatric Genomic Medicine and Precision Therapeutics Conference

At the annual Pediatric Genomic Medicine and Precision Therapeutics Conference (April 6-7), Children’s Mercy will again bring together thought leaders from around the world...

Vol 1, 2017 Stakeholder Highlight KCU: KCU-Joplin Helps Meet Primary Care and Rural Health Needs in Southwest Missouri

New Campus to Train Up To 162 Additional Osteopathic Medical Students Each Year With the projected shortage of primary care physicians in this country topping more than 35...

2017 Blue-KC Outcomes Research Grants Awarded

This marks the sixth consecutive year that the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute (KCALSI) has managed the grants program for Blue KC. “We are very pleased to work...

KCALSI Announces Inaugural Collaborate2Cure Award

And the winner is... Dr. Tom Yankee, Associate Professor of Microbiology, Molecular Genetics, and Immunology at the University of Kansas Medical Center. His project will a...

Second Annual Midwest Bioinformatics Conference: Facilitating Pathways to Collaboration

The Kansas City region boasts a wealth of bioinformatics capabilities and expertise that compares favorably with assets in other parts of the US known as bioinformatics cen...