News

Teaser image for Banner - UMC Tucson kidney transplant team
UA/Banner Kidney Transplant Team Lauded for Record-Breaking Week

Ten patients received new kidneys and a new lease on life last week in one of the busiest weeks ever for the Banner – University Medical Center Tucson Transplant Program. Kudos to transplant surgeons Drs. Robert Harland, Tun Jie and Alexandra Turner, kidney transplant medical director and transplant nephrologist with the University of Arizona Division of Nephrology, Dr. Lavanya Kodali, solid organ transplant director Darryl Lundeen and transplant administrator Deb Maurer…


Top image: Drs. Keng Pineda and Jil Tardiff look at research data; Bottom: Dr. Jordan Lancaster with med students Giuliana Repeti and Pierce Bradley
UA Fellow, Med Students Sweep Top Awards at AZ Chapter of American College of Cardiology Event

University of Arizona cardiology fellow Dr. Keng Pineda took first place at the Arizona Chapter Annual Meeting the American College of Cardiology for his research poster, “Persistent Fetal Cardiac Troponin.” He’ll continue his research under mentor Dr. Jil Tardiff as a clinical and research fellow at the UA/Banner – University Medical Centger Tucson. Completing the sweep with second and third places were UA medical students Giuliana Repeti and Pierce Bradley—both mentored by Dr. Jordan Lancaster…


Olympian Billy Mills and UA’s Dr. John N. Galgiani Named Keynote Speakers for Association of American Indian Physicians Conference Dr. Galgiani, director of the University of Arizona Valley Fever Center for Excellence, will present “Valley Fever (Coccidioidomycosis): In Arizona and Beyond” at the conference, which will be held in Scottsdale, July 26–29. Mills is a Valley fever survivor.

DOM Chair Dr. Monica Kraft addresses faculty at June 2018 general faculty meeting
First Half of 2018 a Whirlwind of Accomplishment by DOM Faculty, Slideshow Attests

The “Accolades” and “Research Achievements” part of the UA Department of Medicine General Faculty Meeting held June 25 was full of news for DOM physicians and investigators. Among notable new items, Dr. Marvin Slepian is elected president of ASIO, Banner – UMC is added as a site in the TRIDENT Study on diabetic kidney disease and Dr. Chip Brosius named site PI, and a Dr. Khadijah Breathett article is tagged 'most impactful of the year' by American College of Cardiology. View the video, see the photos, watch the slideshow…


ADVICE 2018

The 2018 ADVICE Collaborative was held in Phoenix, AZ with Dr. Prabir Roy-Chaudhury delivering the keynote address. The theme for this year's conference was "patient engagement."


Group shot of participants and photo collage from 2018 IP-CRIT Program dinner at Star Pass Resort
Forty-Plus New Banner UMC Chief Residents Undergo ‘Complex Care for All Ages’ Training

The 9th Annual Interprofessional Chief Resident Immersion Training (IP-CRIT) Program in the Care of Complex Patients of All Ages was hosted June 9-10 by the University of Arizona Center on Aging at the J.W. Marriott Star Pass Resort with more than 40 chief residents in attendance. Participating as instructors were the UA Department of Medicine’s Drs. Gordon Carr, Mindy Fain, Bree Johnston and Stacie Pinderhughes. See a photo gallery from the dinner…


Dr. Wei Xiang Wong with Banner Health BE Award for April 2018
South Campus Resident/Soon-to-Be Fellow Wins Banner BE Award

Dr. Wei Xiang Wong, a recent graduate of the University of Arizona Internal Medicine Residency Program at South Campus and incoming fellow in the UA Nephrology Fellowship Program, was presented recently with the April 2018 BE Award by Banner – University Medicine…


UAHS Healthy Dose blog with Dr. Daniel Persky on supercharging your immune system to fight cancer
Healthy Dose Blog Focuses on Supercharging the Immune System to Fight Cancer

Most people familiar with cancer treatment know of three main options: surgery, radiation and chemotherapy—but a newer option, called immunotherapy, is creating quite a buzz across the cancer community. Drs. Daniel Persky and Emmanuel Katsanis offer a few thoughts in the latest blogpost for the UA Healthy Sciences’ Healthy Dose blog…


Cover image of photo gallery for DOM Research Seminar featuring Drs. Paul Langlais and Christina Laukaitis
Drs. Langlais, Laukaitis Offer Grand Finale to Two Years of DOM Research Seminars

Two presentations June 14 by the University of Arizona Department of Medicine Drs. Paul Langlais and Christina Laukaitis capped the 2017-18 academic year lectures for the DOM Research Seminar Series with a focus on insulin proteomics and hypermobility syndrome. The seminars will be rolled into Medicine Grand Rounds in 2018-19. This caps 32 speakers and 20 seminars since series began in Fall 2016. See links to photo galleries and archived video…


UA Researchers Develop Novel ‘Lung-on-a-Leaf’ Model to Study Pulmonary Diseases UA College of Medicine – Phoenix scientists cross-utilize plant biology, medicine and engineering to create novel platform.

Dozen physicians get promotion & tenure advancement in UA Department of Medicine
Baker’s Dozen Get Promotions among UA Department of Medicine Faculty

A dozen faculty members from seven divisions in the University of Arizona Department of Medicine have been tapped for promotion and tenure advancement. Congratulations to Drs. Tara Carr, Clara Curiel, Dawn Coletta, Ankit Desai, Linda Garland, Louise Hecker, Randy Horwitz, Raj Janardhanan, Sireesha Koppula, Kapil Lotun, Mohammed Sikder, Perry Skeath and Bijin Thajudeen…


UA College of Nursing Receives $1.6M Grant to Examine the Healing Potential of Curcumin for Acute Lung Injury The five-year National Institutes of Health grant will enable Charles Downs, PhD, to study whether the non-pharmacological supplement curcumin can prevent lung injury.

UA Health Sciences’ Research Tackling Health Challenges Supported by NIH Funding to Arizona in FY2017 As part of the National Institutes of Health’s “NIH in Your State” social media campaign about NIH investment in fiscal year 2017 and the impact of federally funded research on citizens’ health, the NIH recently tweeted that Arizona received $189 million in research support in FY2017. The University of Arizona Health Sciences received $70.3 million in NIH funding during FY2017, conducting research addressing statewide and global health challenges.

2018 South Campus Internal Medicine Residency Graduates Lauded at Awards Banquet

With the smell of creosote strong from a rare June desert rain, the University of Arizona Internal Medicine Residency Program – South Campus celebrated the graduation of 10 residents and a chief resident at an annual awards banquet Friday, June 15, at the Westward Look Resort. Several resident and faculty awards were presented and it was announced one of the graduates, Dr. Emilio Power, had won the top award in the UA College of Medicine – Tucson’s “Residents as Teachers” program…


Group shot and photo collage from 2018 Influential Health and Medical Leaders Awards banquet
Dr. Karen Herbst Takes Top Honor at 4th Annual Influential Health and Medical Leaders Awards

Dr. Karen Herbst, an endocrinologist and associate professor of medicine, medical imaging and pharmacy practice science at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson, was the big winner June 13 at the 2018 Influential Health and Medical Leaders Awards banquet hosted by TucsonLocalMedia and Inside Tucson Business. She won the Lifetime Achievement Award at a gathering that UA Cardiology chief Dr. Nancy Sweitzer addressed as keynote speaker…


Flyer image for Ask the Expert about Liver Disease event at Banner - UMC Tucson on June 12, 2018
UA/Banner ‘Ask the Expert about Liver Disease’ Event Draws Standing-Room-Only Crowd

University of Arizona liver specialist Dr. Jen-Jung “J.J.” Pan—with the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and UA Thomas D. Boyer Liver Institute—and abdominal transplant surgeon Dr. Alexandra Turner were among presenters at an “Ask the Experts about Liver Disease” event hosted June 12 at Banner – UMC Tucson by the Desert Southwest Division of the American Liver Foundation. Attendance was standing room only…


Nicholas Lim and Dr. Michael Larson in D3S lab (inset, Dr. Charles Hennemeyer)
Physician-Led Startup Licenses UA-Invented Disruptive Biopsy Device

The company—Data Driven Diagnostics Sciences Inc. (D3S), led by Nicholas Lim and Drs. Michael Larson and Paul Mack Consigny—targets accelerated diagnosis and treatment of cancer by providing optimal tissue samples for effective personalized medicine. Their device, invented by Drs. Larson and Charles Hennemeyer, is a next-generation needle biopsy instrument utilizing electrosurgery and electrocautery to safely increase tissue sample volumes in minimally invasive biopsy procedures…


Paul T. Conway with AAKP logo
National Kidney Patient Advocate to Give Medicine Grand Rounds, June 20

Kidney transplant recipient Paul Conway, the president of the Tampa-based American Association of Kidney Patients—the oldest and largest independent U.S. kidney patient advocacy organization—will be the presenter June 20 at the Medicine Grand Round on behalf of the University of Arizona Division of Nephrology. Having managed his condition for nearly four decades, he offers a unique perspective on patient-centered care…


C. diff. Foundation Waives Registration Fees Again for 2018 International Conference & Expo

The C. diff. Foundation has once again given a pass for clinicians from the University of Arizona on the cost of registration for participants at its sixth annual conference in Philadelphia on Nov. 8-9. Join 200 health-care professionals to share the latest data on prevention, treatment and environmental safety related to the health-care-associated infection Clostridium difficile, irritable bowel syndrome/disease (IBS/IBD), as well as fecal transplant procedures and more...


Drs. Jen Cook, Janet Funk, Reza Movahed, Afshin Sam and Rachna Shroff picked for COM-T committees
Five DOM Faculty Elected to Six Posts on UA College of Medicine – Tucson 2018-19 Committees

In recent UA College of Medicine – Tucson elections, five faculty members from the University of Arizona Department of Medicine were among 48 elected to 16 committees for the college for the 2018-19 academic year. They include Drs. Jennifer Cook, Janet Funk, Reza Movahed, Afshin Sam and Rachna Schroff. All proposed changes to the COM-T P&T Guidelines were also approved…


Patient-Ordered Tests Indicate Valley Fever Uptick in State, UA Infectious Diseases Specialist Says Data from patient-ordered tests show a second seasonal surge, says Dr. John Galgiani, a UA professor and director the UA Valley Fever Center for Excellence. This gets ahead of state statistics in a year when big numbers already were predicted and are being borne out.

Collage with Dr. Pavani Chalasani, UA Cancer Center, Dr. Andrew Yeager and Hem-Onc fellows
Retiring Dr. Yeager Passes Baton to Dr. Chalasani as UA Hem-Onc Fellowship Director

Dr. Pavani Chalasani is the new director of the University of Arizona Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship Training Program in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the UA Department of Medicine and UA Cancer Center. As of May 1, she replaces Dr. Andrew Yeager, who has been named a professor emeritus and will continue to give lectures and lead a fellows boot camp. His official retirement is June 29…


Patient on dialysis below investigators Drs. Eleonora Tubaldi, Diego Celdran Bonafonte and Jose Rosado Toro
BIO5 Institute Funds UA Multidisciplinary Effort to Improve Vascular Remodeling Imaging in Dialysis

The University of Arizona BIO5 Institute has allocated more than $70,000 in funding to a multi-disciplinary research team led by Drs. Eleonora Tubaldi, an assistant professor in the UA College of Engineering, and the UA Division of Nephrology’s Diego Celdran Bonafonte to improve imaging analyses of blood flow at the point where chronic kidney disease patients are connected to hemodialysis machines that filter their blood…


Nephrology updates

See what faculty and staff at the Division of Nephrology have accomplished so far in 2018.


Graphic about ongoing administrative support
Seven New Admins Added to UA/Banner Support Staff for Internal Medicine

New administrative support staff has been added to three divisions in the UA Department of Medicine—Cardiology, Infectious Diseases, and Geriatrics, General Internal and Palliative Medicine—as well as the Office of the Chair. See who’s who, how to reach them with an updated “DOM UA/Banner Support Staff” document you can download as a printable PDF…


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