Colorado State University Video that Highlights Work of Veterinarians and Physicians on Cancer Wins CINE Golden Eagle Award
A video highlighting the partnership among Colorado State University and five institutions in the battle against cancer has won a prestigious CINE Golden Eagle award.
The video, produced by Colorado State University’s video production unit under the leadership of Joe Vasos, highlights the true story of how veterinarians worked with physician oncologists to save the life of Emily Brown.
The CINE Golden Eagle awards recognize distinguishing excellence in professional, independent and student works. The works are recognized internationally as symbols of the highest production standards in film and television production.
The Colorado State University-produced winning entry was highlighted during a banquet in June to celebrate 20 years of collaboration on research that has lead to breakthroughs in cancer treatment for humans and companion animals. University of Colorado Cancer Consortium, a consortium of six institutions composed of the University of Colorado-Denver, Colorado State University, University of Colorado at Boulder, The Children’s Hospital, University of Colorado Hospital and National Jewish Research and Medical Center and eight affiliate organizations, are dedicated to cancer care, research, education and prevention and control.
The video tells the story of Emily Brown a Colorado Springs native who was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma in her mid-spine when she was 10. Emily went to Sky High Hope Camp, a camp for kids with cancer, and met Dr. Steve Withrow, director of Colorado State’s Animal Cancer Center and the chief scientific officer of the university’s Cancer Supercluster, who volunteers there.
In the video, Brown, who now is 21, tells a touching story of the collaboration between Withrow and her doctors. Withrow told Brown of a study for dogs that involved implanting radioactive seeds near the tumor. She asked her doctors to try the procedure on her, and she credits it with saving her life. Later, doctors found a metastatic tumor in her right lung. CSU had done research on an immune booster, and her doctor enrolled her in a clinical trial. Doctors credit that as the reason her metastasis went away.
The award-winning video can be viewed at http://www.colostate.edu/features/cancer-collaboration-cu.aspx#emily.
Since its founding in 1957, CINE has been dedicated to discovering, rewarding, educating and supporting established and emerging talent in film and video. Among great talents whose first major awards included the CINE Golden Eagle are Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard, and such great documentarians as Ken Burns, Charles Guggenheim, Stanley Nelson, Albert Maysles and Frederick Wiseman.
The fall 2008 competition winners were determined by more than 300 judges who viewed and evaluated hundreds of distinguished entries. Entries are judged using standards of overall excellence in criteria including overall excellence, storytelling, production value, artistry and the extent to which the film meets its stated goals and communicates with its intended audience.
The genes of dogs, cats and horses more closely resemble human genes than do genes of mice typically used in medical research. Because people love their companion animals and wish to cure their cancer, Colorado State’s Animal Cancer Center offers many clinical trials that can help these pets while answering questions that may lead to human benefits.
The University of Colorado’s cancer research enterprise includes more than 325 scientists and clinicians from UC Denver, University of Colorado-Boulder and University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. Colorado State’s Cancer Supercluster consists of more than 70 cancer research members from five colleges and 12 departments, including the Animal Cancer Center – the largest companion animal cancer research center in the United States. Other programs at the university also research various areas of human cancers.
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