Page 32 - 2019 Annual Report

IMPACT MEDICINE
DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACOLOGY
Dr. Sade Spencer Strives to Combat Drug Addiction
There are rare opportunities for young researchers to make a big impact early in their careers. Sade Spencer, PhD, found one at the Medical School and moved north to contribute to its transformative research in drug addiction.
“The idea of being part of something and building something bigger than myself was really attractive,” Dr. Spencer says.
She wants her research to lead to better treatments or cures for drug addiction. In addition, she aims to learn more about addiction as a brain disease and to destigmatize the condition.
“The reason I became a doctor is to help people, and I want to do something that hopefully changes the world in some way,” Dr. Spencer says. “Every day and every month is a continually rewarding circumstance for me in this institution.”
DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE
Dr. Daniel Weisdorf Brings Innovation to Bone Marrow Transplantation
For the past 40 years, Daniel Weisdorf, MD, has been at the forefront of bone marrow transplant research and patient care.
“During my time here, I have had the privilege of meeting some of the first patients that underwent transplantation treatments,” he says. “These patients had both the courage to go through the treatment, as well as the good fortune to do well afterwards.”
Most diseases treated by bone marrow transplant occur
in people in their mid-sixties or older. By bringing treatment to the population that needs it most, this work has made
a profound impact on patients with these diseases and
on their families.
“Never, until the last few years, have we been able to confidently say this is a reasonable treatment for this population,” he explains. “Therapies are less toxic, less costly, and available to more patients.”
30 med.umn.edu/impact-medicine