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[A collage of images from the Feb. 10, 2025, investiture ceremony for Drs. Hesham Sadek, Division of Cardiology chief and Sarver Heart Center director, and Sakthivel Sadayappan, Department of Cellular & Molecular Medicine chair and center associate director, at the U of A College of Medicine – Tucson.]

Joint investiture celebrates endowed chairs for Drs. Hesham Sadek, Sakthi Sadayappan

The Sarver Heart Center director and associate director are recognized Feb. 10 with peers, friends and family as team “to build a world-class cardiovascular program here.” With a $75 million fundraising campaign under way by the college (and $27 million already committed) they’re fast on their way to reaching the goal. See a mini-photo gallery from the ceremony.

[Collage of images from U of A Wildcats women’s basketball game vs ASU Sun Devils, 2.8.25, in which Cardiology professionals were recognized during American Heart Month]

‘Wear red for heart health’ women’s basketball game touts U of A cardiology practitioners

A season-high McKale Center crowd celebrated the Wildcats women’s basketball team’s big win over ASU on Saturday, Feb. 8, a game in which several cardiovascular professionals were honored. With February being American Heart Month, Cardiology’s Drs. Elizabeth Juneman and Iniya Rajendran and six nurse practitioners were recognized at the game. See a mini-photo gallery.

[A flyer image with the first four of seven lectures in the UNISON Lunch & Learn with Leaders in Public Health webinar series]

Arizona-Sonora Binational Network for Healthy Communities to cohost seminar series

An inaugural U.S.-Mexico webinar series, Lunch & Learn with Leaders in Public Health, features a range of topics in Spanish and English ranging from infectious diseases to community health research. Earn a certificate from the University of Sonora. First up as presenter Feb. 13 is the U of A’s Gabriela Valdez, PhD. The series runs through April 3.

[Collage of health practitioners to be honored at U of A Women's Basketball game, Feb. 8, 2025, and a shot of the team rallying around a large drum with "Made for it!" on it.]

Cardiology practitioners to be honored Feb. 8 at U of A Women’s Basketball game

Several female cardiovascular disease professionals – including Drs. Elizabeth Juneman and Iniya Rajendran – at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson and Banner – University Medicine Tucson will be recognized during the Saturday, Feb. 8, McKale Center matchup between the Wildcats Women’s Basketball team versus ASU in honor of American Heart Month. Get your tickets today!

More than a quarter of 2025 College of Medicine – Tucson faculty awards to go to DOM

Seventeen of 65 honors announced for the Faculty Awards event, Feb. 27, are won by the Department of Medicine or DOM faculty and clinical instructors, including the Internal Medicine Clerkship Award. Register to attend and cheer on your colleagues.

FID teaching excellence session schedule released for New Year

The Winter-Spring 2025 schedule for Faculty Instructional Development sessions – seven in all – within the Department of Medicine has been released. Five are offered via Zoom and two in person. Register today!

[Sunset image of A Mountain as viewed across the UofA campus and downtown Tucson]

U of A projects research expenditures surpassed $1B in FY24, joining select group of U.S. institutions

Buoyed by research including retrieval of the largest asteroid sample ever brought to Earth, advancing a vaccine for Valley fever to human clinical trial – the world’s first against fungal infection to reach this stage – and mitigating effects of extreme heat, University of Arizona officials project research activity exceeded $1 billion in fiscal year 2024, which ended June 30, and are submitting this data to the National Science Foundation for review.

[A collage image of Billie Bixby, MD, Monica Hinestroza Jordan, MD, and Julia Jernberg, MD]

Three from DOM elected to Pima County Medical Society Board

Interventional Pulmonology program director Billie Bixby, MD, Infectious Diseases Fellowship associate program director Monica Hinestroza Jordan, MD, and geriatrician Julia Jernberg, MD, who heads the Ambulatory Clerkship Program, are among five new members picked for local society’s board. See who else from U of A is represented.

[With Association of American Cancer Institutes PCLI and CTI logos below their portraits, from left, Bhavana Bhatnagar, DO; Rachna Shroff, MD, MS, FASCO; Michael E. Hurwitz, MD, PhD; Barbara Ma, MD, MS; and Erin Winters, BSN, RN, BMTCN.]

Dr. Rachna Shroff elected to AACI steering committee

The DOM Division of Hematology & Oncology chief and interim clinical affairs director and associate director of clinical investigations at the University of Arizona Cancer Center joins the Association of American Cancer Institutes’ Physician Clinical Leadership Initiative Steering Committee.

[GI fellows gather to celebrate the program's winter festival event, with a flyer for the division's 2024 Holiday Photo Booth overlayed on the image.]

GI brings back Holiday Photo Booth for reprise on sharing seasonal cheer

The Division of Gastroenterology is reprising its Holiday Photo Booth, which made its debut last year as a way to add a lighter moment of joy during the end-of-year holiday season. All in the Department of Medicine are welcome to come shoot selfies and share them – or just keep them for personal pleasure. Sharing’s been made easier via a simple app accessible with a QR code.

[Cancer Center members stand with Heather Alberts (center with plaque honoring Dr. David Alberts, MD’s many contributions to the center and cancer research) and their daughter, Sabrina Plattner (at right of Alberts). Also pictured are the Department of Medicine’s Jennifer Bea, PhD (third from right), co-leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program, and Clara Curiel-Lewandrowski, MD (far right), the center’s interim director of research, co-director of the Skin Cancer Institute and Dermatology divisi]

Honoring Dr. David Alberts: A legacy of cancer prevention

The University of Arizona Cancer Center hosted a memorial event Nov. 12 for founding member and visionary leader, David Alberts, MD. A prior center director who oversaw creation of the Skin Cancer Institute, Dr. Alberts died July 2, 2023. The event featured remarks of guests (including Drs. Jennifer Bea and Clara Curiel-Lewandrowski), and his family was presented a plaque.

[Glenda Perez draws up a COVID-19 vaccine at the University of Arizona vaccination clinic on Monday, Sept. 19, 2023. (Photo by Hannah Cree from El Inde Arizona, stories from Southeastern Arizona by U of A School of Journalism students)]

Prepping for respiratory illness season: Key insights on RSV, flu and COVID-19

Respiratory illnesses surge in winter months, aligning with colder weather, increased indoor gatherings and seasonal travel. This prompts health officials such as Dr. Mohanad Al-Obaidi, Division of Infectious Diseases associate professor, to urge people to adopt proactive measures to limit their spread.

[Image of entrance to the Arizona Inn overlaid with other images from the Department of Medicine Faculty Promotion Celebration event hosted there on Oct. 9, 2024]

Nine promoted faculty feted at DOM dinner hosted at Arizona Inn

The careers of faculty members — Drs. Mohanad Al-Obaidi, Tara Carr, Michel Corban, Sima Ehsani, Justin Hayes, Olivia Hung, Neha Jaswal, Elizabeth Juneman and Bijin Thajudeen — were lauded at the Faculty Promotion Celebration event. See the mini-photo gallery.

Mini-Photo Gallery: 2024 U of A Cancer Center Annual Scientific Retreat

The Annual Scientific Retreat of the University of Arizona Cancer Center on Nov. 15 drew 180 researchers and scientists. DOM’s Dr. Juanita Merchant, center interim director and GI division chief, offered welcoming remarks and Dermatology division chief Dr. Clara Curiel-Lewandrowski presented as well. The keynote was given by UT Health San Antonio’s Dr. Amelie Ramirez.

Integrative Cancer Scholars Program gives grad students experience with top scientists, oncologists

The Department of Medicine’s Drs. Clara Curiel-Lewandrowski, Jennifer Carew and Aaron Scott earn mentions with this NIH/NCI-funded T32 training program for post-graduates interested in cancer research at the University of Arizona Cancer Center.

[Lupus Research Association image used to promote its recognition of U of A Arthritis Center director and Rheumatology division chief C. Kent Kwoh, MD]

Lupus Research Alliance Celebrates U of A’s Dr. Kent Kwoh for Native American Heritage Month

A story published online by the Lupus Research Alliance spotlights the Rheumatology division chief and U of A Arthritis Center director’s involvement with indigenous populations in Southern Arizona. Coming during Native American Heritage Month, this recognition serves as a wonderful tribute to the work being done to advance arthritis care throughout Native American populations.

[Kelsey Bernard, PhD, and Lalitha Madhavan, MD, PhD, are among U of A College of Medicine – Tucson co-authors of a paper in Experimental Neurology showing that, in an animal model, the protein PNA5 appears to have a protective effect on brain cells. The discovery could help Parkinson's patients.]

Study identifies potential new drug for Parkinson’s-related cognitive decline, dementia

Parkinson’s disease causes difficulty in movement and balance, but its cognitive symptoms receive less attention and have no good treatments. A U of A College of Medicine – Tucson team, including Lalitha Madhavan, MD, PhD, a neurology associate professor with a dual appointment in the Division of General Internal Medicine, Geriatrics & Palliative Medicine, hopes to change that.

[A collage of images showing the Hospital Clínico Viedma entrance, Dr. Hinestroza, a map showing where Cochabamba is in Bolivia, and a presentation Dr. Hinestroza gave during her rotation there.]

Infectious Diseases fellows get chance at rotation in Bolivia in 2025

The Division of Infectious Diseases and U of A GME office signed a 5-year letter of agreement with the Hospital Clínico Viedma in Cochabamba, Bolivia, for a four-week elective rotation there led by assistant professor Monica Jordan Hinestroza, MD, this February. Apply today!

[Collage of three images from the Department of Medicine’s participation in the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Arizona Chapter of the American College of Physicians, Nov. 8-9, at the Casino del Sol Resort.]

Big crowds and big wins for DOM at ACP Arizona Chapter Scientific Meeting

Department of Medicine faculty, residents and students excelled at this year’s American College of Physicians chapter event hosted in Tucson, with DOM honors for Internal Medicine Physician of the Year, Educator of the Year, and Student of the Year, plus top prizes in poster contests in four of five student categories and a resident category. Poster entries, registrants and sponsorships also broke records.

[Collage of three images from the University of Arizona Department of Medicine DEI Mixer held Nov. 4, 2024, at the UAHS Health Sciences Innovationg Building]

Modest turnout for DOM DEI Mixer with great talk, sim lab experience

Thirty people attended the 2024 Department of Medicine mixer hosted by the DEI Committee in the HSIB Forum and ASTEC simulation lab, including 10 pre-med and medical students interested in internal medicine, with an inspiring talk by UAHS DEI associate vice president Dr. Francisco Moreno. See the mini-photo gallery.

[Collage of images from the first Tucson Transplant Symposium, hosted by the U of A College of Medicine – Tucson’s Division of Nephrology and Department of Surgery with a particular focus on kidney transplants.]

Tucson Transplant Symposium spotlights chronic kidney disease

The Division of Nephrology co-hosts inaugural symposium with Department of Surgery, offering 3.0 CMEs for clinicians across southern Arizona interested in the latest information on kidney transplants, the most commonly transplanted organ. Nearly 40 clinicians attended. See the mini-photo gallery.

[NIH/NIAID microscopy image of coccidioides fungal spore, which causes Valley fever, with images of U of A's Dr. John Galgiani in his lab and two Congressmen who introduced new legislation for a human vaccine]

Bipartisan bill to accelerate human vaccine for Valley fever introduced in Congress

Two U.S. representatives, a Democrat from Phoenix and a Republican from California’s Central Valley, recently filed legislation to fund creation of a national strategy for a human vaccine for Valley fever. DOM infectious diseases professor Dr. John Galgiani is quoted.

[Collage of images and logos re: 2024 Arizona Chapter Scientific Meeting of the American College of Physicians, 11.8-9.24, in Tucson]

Tucson’s Casino del Sol to host ACP-AZ Scientific Meeting, Nov. 8-9

With a record number of posters from medical students and residents, a new Great Debates contest added to the Doctor’s Dilemma and poster/oral vignettes contests, and a point-of-care ultrasound training session, the state chapter of the American College of Physicians event is building excitement, says ACP-AZ Education Committee Chair and DOM Associate Professor Dr. Indu Partha. See the schedule, who’s speaking – and register today!

[Graphical illustration of NHLBI Workshop on Health Disparities in Pulmonary Vascular Disease]

U of A-led NHLBI Workshop explores disparities in pulmonary hypertension

A virtual national workshop, Oct. 22-23, chaired by the DOM Pulmonary division’s Dr. Franz Rischard goes beyond how much a person’s race outweighs their mixed ancestry, sex and/or social determinants of health in a disease directly affecting over 2 million people in the U.S. Read the Q&A with Dr. Rischard on why this is important.

[A collage of images from the 2nd Annual UACC Awards Dinner: (top image, from left) University of Arizona Cancer Center 2024 award winners (from left) Rachna Shroff, MD, Aaron Scott, MD, Jianqin Lu, PhD, Andrew Paek, PhD, Cynthia Thomson, PhD, Jennifer Erdrich, MD, Heidi Hamann, PhD, Clara Curiel-Lewandrowski, MD.]

U of A Cancer Center honors members at annual awards event

Four Department of Medicine faculty members were among nine awardees at the Second Annual Awards Dinner for the U of A Cancer Center, hosted Sept. 4 at The Graduate. Five more were among the nominators. See who they are.

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