Behind the Blue

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 17, 2019) – Educated at the University of Florida and Yale University, Richard Ausness joined the faculty of the University of Kentucky College of Law 46 years ago, in 1973. Ausness is the Stites and Harbison Professor of Law in the college and is still very active teaching classes and doing legal research.

Lately, Ausness is often contacted by news media outlets across the nation for his  expertise regarding lawsuits stemming from the opioid addiction crisis.

On this week’s episode of “Behind the Blue,” UKPR’s Carl Nathe visits with Ausness to talk about his career at UK and his legal scholarship, including his work dealing with this very serious societal issue.

"Behind the Blue" is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of “Behind the Blue” each week. UK’s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university.

For questions or comments about this or any other episode of "Behind the Blue," email [email protected] or tweet your question with #BehindTheBlue.

To discover what’s wildly possible at the University of Kentucky, click here.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 10, 2019) – The world of pediatric cancer treatment has seen huge advancements in treatments over the past 60 years – in the 1950s, less than 10 percent of children were cured of their cancer. Today, the number of survivors is nearly 80 percent.

However, that still means that one in five children diagnosed with cancer will not survive. Many childhood cancers can be extremely difficult to treat, and research is key to developing new, better therapies for these diseases. 

Ramon Sun, an assistant professor in the UK Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, is one researcher embarking on an exciting new project in pediatric cancer – specifically, Ewing Sarcoma, a rare pediatric cancer that often occurs in the bones or the soft tissue surrounding bones and affects children and young adults typically between the ages of 5 and 16. Sun was recently awarded a significant grant to study Ewing Sarcoma from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants. The award will fund his work at $110,000 a year for up to the next five years.

With this new grant, Sun will specifically investigate the role of aberrant glycogen in patients with Ewing Sarcoma and explore this glycogen as a therapeutic target. Sun sees the award as not just a coveted accolade, but a chance to identify a potential new cure for Ewing Sarcoma ­– there have been no new therapeutic options approved to treat Ewing Sarcoma in the past 20 years, and patients who undergo chemotherapy and radiation for the disease may experience lifelong side effects from their treatment.

The disease is in desperate need of research and development of new therapeutic options, Sun says, and the St. Baldrick’s grant will further that goal by focusing on a specific angle of the disease – the role of aberrant glycogen in cancer development.

“Ewing sarcoma is a devastating disease, where aggressive treatments are met with poor disease outcomes,” Sun said. “One of the key observations of Ewing Sarcoma made back in the 1930s is the accumulation of a large amount of glycogen – these tumors store a large amount of aberrant glycogen, and that accumulation has gone largely unexplored. My research aims to understand the reason behind this glycogen accumulation and exploit the glycogen deposits as a possible drug target for treating Ewing Sarcoma.”

On this week’s episode of Behind the Blue, UK Public Relations and Strategic Communications' Allison Perry and Kody Kiser sit down with both Sun and UK hematologist/oncologist Dr. John D’Orazio to talk about pediatric cancer in Kentucky, the magic of DanceBlue, future goals for this Ewing Sarcoma project, and why research funding is so important in helping scientists develop newer, better cures for cancer.

"Behind the Blue" is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of “Behind the Blue” each week. UK’s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university.

For questions or comments about this or any other episode of "Behind the Blue," email [email protected] or tweet your question with #BehindTheBlue.

To discover what’s wildly possible at the University of Kentucky, click here.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 3, 2019) – Ed Berry became a member of the University of Kentucky football team after graduating from Eminence High School in Henry County, Kentucky just over a decade ago. He earned undergraduate degrees in management and marketing from the Gatton College of Business and Economics in 2013, followed by his MBA from Gatton in 2014.

The roommate of former Wildcat standout Randall Cobb during their college years, Berry did not get the opportunity to join Cobb in pursuing an on-the-field career in the NFL. However, he is harnessing the skills and experience he gained at UK to help the likes of Cobb, Avery Williamson, Aaron Rodgers and other pro football stars make the most of their business opportunities and lives away from football.

On this week’s episode of “Behind the Blue,” UKPR’s Carl Nathe visits with Berry to talk about his formative years, his time at UK and his thriving career as a member of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), based in New York City. 

Behind the Blue is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Transcripts are available for download from the host page here. Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of “Behind the Blue” each week. UK’s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university.

For questions or comments about this or any other episode of “Behind the Blue, “ email [email protected] or tweet your question with #BehindTheBlue.

To discover what’s wildly possible at the University of Kentucky, click here.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (August 27, 2019) – For the last several months, hundreds of University of Kentucky students, faculty, staff, alums and prospective students and families have been on a process of discovery.

They’ve taken part in interviews and focus groups around the question of what makes the University of Kentucky distinctive?

Some of the results of that discovery process were unveiled recently in what UK marketing and communications professionals call a new “creative brand platform.”

In short, the new campaign – dubbed “Wildly Possible” – seeks a compelling and resonant way to tell the UK story to all those it serves – students, faculty, staff, prospective students and families, policymakers and others.

The idea – through new creative ads, banners, stories, videos and other platforms – is to tell a distinctive story about the way UK challenges and supports everyone who comprises the university community.

To describe that new creative process, and evolution of the UK brand, Behind the Blue talked with Julie Balog, UK’s Chief Marketing Officer, and Jay Blanton, the university’s Chief Communications Officer.

They discuss what the UK brand is, what it means to stakeholders and what they hope to accomplish in this new approach to storytelling about the state’s flagship, land-grant institution.

Behind the Blue is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Transcripts are available for download from the host page here. Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of “Behind the Blue” each week. UK’s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university.

For questions or comments about this or any other episode of “Behind the Blue, “ email [email protected] or tweet your question with #BehindTheBlue.

To discover what’s wildly possible at the University of Kentucky, click here.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 13, 2019) - THIS EPISODE IS AN ENCORE EDITION. John Thelin is widely regarded as one of the country’s experts on higher education.

The long-time University of Kentucky professor of higher education and public policy has written what many consider to be the definitive history of American higher education – A History of American Higher Education from Johns Hopkins Press – along with accounts about collegiate sports and university fund-raising efforts.

Now, in his latest book – Going to College in the Sixties, also from Johns Hopkins – Thelin examines both the reality, and sometimes the misperceptions people have about change and evolution of the college experience in the 1960s.

“The change in the mood of American higher education from 1960 to 1969 was incredible and surprising -- from optimism and confidence to exhaustion and uncertainty,” Thelin recently told InsideHigherEducation. “If I were asked for a eulogy or epitaph for the decade, I would note that much of the ’60s happened in the ’70s. The countercultural innovations that took root in the late 1960s continued and grew into the mid-1970s. I also think the cultural legacies surpassed the political changes.”

In this edition of Behind the Blue, UK’s office of Public Relations and Strategic Communications sat down with Thelin to discuss his new book and how UK has evolved, particularly as the institution begins a series of events this year to mark 70 years of integration.

Behind the Blue is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Transcripts are available for download from the host page here. Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of “Behind the Blue” each week. UK’s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university.

For questions or comments about this or any other episode of “Behind the Blue, “ email [email protected] or tweet your question with #BehindTheBlue.

LEXINGTON, KY. (Aug. 6, 2019) – THIS EPISODE IS AN ENCORE EDITION. One of the biggest barriers to accessing treatment for substance use disorders can be the time it takes to find an open space in a treatment facility. By the time a clinician, family member or patient can find the right facility for their needs and navigate the insurance process, the bed in question may have been filled or the window of opportunity for recovery may have passed.

During a visit with her own primary care physician, Terry Bunn, an associate professor in the University of Kentucky College of Public Health and director of the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center (KIPRC) heard that same sentiment repeated. As the leader of KIPRC, a bona fide agent of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, Bunn knew there was a solution to this issue, that more people with substance use disorders could be helped and lives could be saved.

In February 2018, "Find Help Now KY" was launched. Kentucky is currently the only state with a near real-time treatment opening locator for substance use disorders. The locator guides individuals to available treatment openings. It takes into consideration the substance(s) being used, payment options including commercial and public insurance programs, gender identity, preference for in- or out-patient treatment and needed co-occurring treatments such as mental health care, plus 30 more criteria. The site provides daily availability information for treatment openings, to enable rapid admission to addiction programs.

On this week's episode of "Behind the Blue" hear about the development of "Find Help Now KY", the success the site has experienced and KIPRC's efforts to assist other states in the development of their own website to help those in active addiction.

Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of “Behind the Blue” each week. UK’s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university.

For questions or comments about this or any other episode of "Behind the Blue," email [email protected] or tweet your question with #BehindTheBlue.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 31, 2019) – The University of Kentucky is constantly trying to make itself better. An ongoing example is the team effort being applied to enhance sustainability and recycling efforts across the entire campus.

On this episode of ‘Behind the Blue’, Carl Nathe of UK Public Relations and Strategic Communications sits down with three campus leaders who are achieving outstanding results in these areas. Shane Tedder (UK’s Sustainability Coordinator), Joanna Ashford (UK’s Recycling Coordinator) and Esther Moberly (UK’s Waste, Recycling, and Trucking Manager) discuss how they work together towards the idea of ‘cultural sustainability’, and to keep the University balancing its economic responsibilities with environmental and social ones.

Behind the Blue is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Transcripts are available for download from the host page here. Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of “Behind the Blue” each week. UK’s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university.

For questions or comments about this or any other episode of “Behind the Blue, “ email [email protected] or tweet your question with #BehindTheBlue.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 23, 2019) – Experts advise that one of the best ways to stay young at heart is to remain curious about the world around you, to keep learning new things. The University of Kentucky’s commitment to this concept is demonstrated by its Office of Lifelong Learning, under the very capable direction of Diana Lockridge.

Thanks to a program envisioned by former UK president Herman Donovan back in the 1950’s and formally begun in 1964, well over 1,000 Kentuckians age 50 and over now take classes, attend special programs, paint, sing, dance and more. The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UK and the Donovan Fellows give credence to their adopted motto, “Where Curiosity Never Retires.” 

On this week’s episode of “Behind the Blue,” UKPR’s Carl Nathe visits with Lockridge about the dynamic educational and enrichment opportunities offered to older adults through the university.

Behind the Blue is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Transcripts are available for download from the host page here. Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of “Behind the Blue” each week. UK’s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university.

For questions or comments about this or any other episode of “Behind the Blue, “ email [email protected] or tweet your question with #BehindTheBlue.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 16, 2019) – Regeneration is one of the most enticing areas of biological research. How are some animals able to regrow body parts? Is it possible that humans could do the same? If scientists could unlock the secrets that confer those animals with this remarkable ability, the knowledge could have profound significance in clinical practice down the road.  

Scientists at the University of Kentucky have taken this fantasy one step closer to reality, recently announcing that they have assembled the genome of the axolotl, a salamander whose only native habitat is a lake near Mexico City.

On this week’s episode of “Behind the Blue,” UKPR’s Amy Timoney talks with Randal Voss, a professor in the UK Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center, and Jeramiah Smith, an associate professor in the UK Department of Biology. Organisms with larger genomes than humans have been largely impossible to map, due to the remarkable computational burden posed, but Voss and Smith adapted a classical genetic approach called linkage mapping to put the axolotl genome together in the correct order quickly and efficiently – the first genome of this size to be assembled to date.

As proof of concept, Voss and Smith used the assembled data to rapidly identify a gene that causes a heart defect in an axolotl, thus providing a new model of human disease.

Behind the Blue is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Transcripts are available for download from the host page here. Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of “Behind the Blue” each week. UK’s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university.

For questions or comments about this or any other episode of “Behind the Blue, email [email protected] or tweet your question with #BehindTheBlue.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 09, 2019) – For the very first time, the University of Kentucky is  hosting the Governor’s School for the Arts (GSA) program on its campus in Lexington this summer.The three-week intensive summer arts program opened on June 23 and  continues through July 13, with selected high school sophomores and juniors from across the state participating in seminars, masterclasses, lectures, workshops, and more.

UK alumnus Nick Covault, who earned degrees from the College of Fine Arts in vocal performance and arts administration, is also a GSA graduate and is now in his third year as director of the program. GSA enables all of its students to attend free of charge, thanks to a public/private partnership first established in 1987 by The Kentucky Center.

On this week’s episode of “Behind the Blue,” UKPR’s Carl Nathe talks with Covault about his own time as a GSA student and how his UK experiences continue to help  influence his life and career.

Behind the Blue is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Transcripts are available for download from the host page here. Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of “Behind the Blue” each week. UK’s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university.

For questions or comments about this or any other episode of “Behind the Blue, “ email [email protected] or tweet your question with #BehindTheBlue.