Agreement In Northern Colorado Intended To Speed Up Medical Advances

LOVELAND, Colo. (CBS4) - An agreement between Colorado State University and University of Colorado Health could speed up medical advances in northern Colorado.

Until now, CSU researchers had to go out of state to test products and drugs. CSU Professor Dr. Melissa Reynolds says students will now have the chance to apply their research in the real world within state lines.

"Helping the students actually see where their technologies and where their research can find its way into everyday people's lives, into clinical practice, I think helps also with their training. (It's) this idea that they're not just making the next gadget, they are making the next life saving device," Reynolds said.

Those new devices include things like a stent that researchers will be able to test on patients at the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland. The stent is meant to prevent heart attacks without the need for blood thinners.

Work through the partnership will also be done at Poudre Valley Hospital as part of the agreement.

There has been an informal agreement between the two entities in the past but this is the first time it is being formally recognized.