The special first aired in September and will re-air Tuesday, March 2, at 7:30 p.m. on WVIZ/PBS. Several UH Case Medical Center doctors appear in the show including Drs. Conor Delaney, Joe Willis, Smitha Krishnamurthi, Sanford Markowitz, Neal Meropol and Georgia Wiesner. Hosted by ideastream’s Rick Jackson, the special follows the stories of several people in Northeast Ohio who have confronted colon cancer. Nearly every phase of this disease is explored – from detection to diagnosis, from treatment to steps anyone can take to decrease their chances of getting this disease.

Colon cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women in the United States. It is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S.

CLEVELAND – A $1 million donation to University Hospitals from the Fergus family of Avon, Ohio has created the Mary D. Fergus Endowed Chair in Maternal-Fetal Medicine. Terrence Fergus and his family made the gift in honor of his wife, Mary, for her many years of dedication as a neonatal nurse. The chair will be held by a physician leader in the Maternal-Fetal Care Center at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital and UH MacDonald Women’s Hospital. The Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital Foundation provided a $500,000 match to the Fergus family’s $1 million gift. 

“It is a great pleasure to give a gift in honor of my wife, Mary, for her many years of dedication, caring for the sickest of babies,” said Mr. Fergus. “Mary and I will always be grateful for the care our son received from Dr. Fred Rothstein many years ago. With this gift, we are able to show our appreciation to those in positions like Mary and Dr. Rothstein.”

CLEVELAND – Researchers at the Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center, have published new findings that may lead to a new standard of care for patients with locally advanced cervical cancer.

Published in the February issue of Clinical Cancer Research, the phase one study found that a new chemotherapy medicine, Triapine, was well tolerated in combination with standard-of-care cisplatin chemotherapy and radiation treatment in women with cervical cancer. This regimen provided both significant reduction in cancer disease and cancer control.

CLEVELAND – One year into a 10-year, first-ever Department of Defense-funded study of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in soldiers in the Ohio Army National Guard (OHARNG), initial findings suggest that thoughts of suicide within the OHARNG do not appear to be related to recent deployment to combat.

The baseline cohort of this study consists of 2,616 service members who have received one-hour research telephone interviews that will be followed up by yearly assessments through 2019. Five hundred of those participants were randomly selected and have completed a detailed, two-to-three hour in-person assessments.

Of the 2,616 service members, 1,030 (40 percent) had been deployed within the past three years. Ten percent of the 697 deployed to Iraq and 11 percent of the 79 deployed to Afghanistan met criteria for current/ongoing PTSD as compared to four percent of the 870 deployed to areas of non-conflict including Europe or within the U.S. to assist in domestic emergencies .