News
Tech Launch Arizona Assists in Commercializing Beating Heart Graft Invented at University of Arizona
With backing of Tech Launch Arizona, Tucson startup Avery Therapeutics Inc. has licensed a beating heart graft technology invented at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson. Pre-clinical studies have already shown that the technology, called MyCardia™—invented by cardiologist Steve Goldman, MD, and Jordan Lancaster, PhD—improves heart function…
UA Researchers Land $2.27M Grant to Study Why Some Don’t Get Valley Fever, Some Die of It
Why are some barely affected by Valley fever while others admitted to intensive care? Drs. John Galgiani, director of the UA Valley Fever Center for Excellence, and Yves Lussier, director of the UA Center for Biomedical Informatics and Biostatistics, have won a $2.27 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a unit of the National Institutes of Health, to study the immuno-genetic underpinnings of this complex respiratory disease endemic to the U.S. Southwest...
New Faces, Updates to Admin Staff in Department of Medicine Announced
Four divisions in the Department of Medicine will experience changes in their administrative staff with the addition of two new admins and transfer of a third, announced Irene Robles, Banner – UMG administrative support supervisor for the department. Affected divisions include cardiology, gastroenterology, hematology and oncology, and nephrology. The South Campus residency program also has a new admin. Get an updated contact list for all divisions here…
South Campus Residents Push Health Care Jobs for the Underprivileged at April 11 Career Fair
Two UA College of Medicine Internal Medicine Residency Program – South Campus physicians, Drs. Norm Beatty and Roberto Swazo, and Dr. Victoria Murrain, assistant dean for graduate medical education at the UA College of Medicine at South Campus, appear in a broadcast today of KGUN9’s Morning Blend to tout “A Pathway to Success” — an April 11 career fair at Banner – UMC South for high school students to explore jobs in the health professions…
UA Sarver Heart Center Presents ‘Sleeping for Peak Performance and Your Heart,’ April 12
Michael Grandner, PhD, will provide an update on research that shows the links between optimal sleep duration, quality, and timing on heart health, heart-healthy behaviors and physical performance.
April is Donate Life Month – Help Ensure Availability of More Hearts, Sign Up to Be a Donor Today!
April is a great time to talk with family, friends and colleagues about organ donation and registering/reregistering to give the gift of life. Only 2,000 hearts are donated a year, and with far more heart-failure patients, there aren’t enough donor hearts to go around. In this article from the UA Sarver Heart Center newsletter, Dr. Jennifer Cook, director of the Advanced Heart Failure, Mechanical Circulatory Support and Cardiac Transplantation Program at Banner – UMC Tucson, discusses how we improve survival and quality of life for heart failure patients…
Free Screenings for Stroke Risk
Free stroke screenings will be offered at Banner – University Medical Center Tucson’s DuVal Auditorium, 1501 N. Campbell Ave., on Saturday, May 6, from 8 to 11:30 a.m., as part of Stroke Check 2017.
Dr. Potharaju Picked for Banner Health Leadership ‘Class of 2019’
Dr. Anil Potharaju, a hospitalist, associate chief for the Division of Inpatient Medicine and medical director for inpatient medicine at Banner – University Medical Center South, was chosen to represent the UA Department of Medicine in Banner Health’s 2017 Advanced Leadership Program for Physicians. He’s among 14 Banner – University Medical Group physicians selected for the program—10 from Tucson and four from Phoenix…
Sickle Cell, Congenital Heart Disease Focus of UA Researcher NIH Awards Worth Nearly $5.21M
Two UA Division of Translational and Regenerative Medicine faculty, Drs. Ankit A. Desai and Stephen M. Black, were awarded R01 research grants valued at more than $5 million combined from the NIH’s National Heart Lung and Blood Institute to study different aspects of cardiovascular disease. Both involve genetic studies, one with respect to sickle cell anemia and sudden cardiac arrest, the other congenital heart defects and pulmonary problems related to an inability to produce nitric oxide…
Physicians Recognized at Banner – UMC at Tucson, South Campus Hospitals, March 30-31
March 30—yesterday—was National Doctors' Day. As is the custom nationwide since 1991, when then U.S. President George H.W. Bush officially named the day as a national day of celebration for physicians, Banner - University Medical Center Tucson recognized the physicians with a luncheon held at the UA College of Nursing. Today, March 31, a similar luncheon occurs at Banner – UMC South. See photo galleries for both here…
‘The Health of Americans in a New Political Order’ Topic of Lecture, April 18
Darrell G. Kirch, MD, president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges, will examine the great challenges that health-care professionals face. He is the invited speaker for the 2017 James E. Dalen, MD, MPH, Distinguished Lecture for Health Policy, which is free and open to the public.
A Cardiologist's Inside Look at Cardiovascular Health, Inflammation and Arthritis Subject of UA Arthritis Center Lecture, April 5
Free and open to the public, the lecture by Charles A. Katzenberg, MD, will explore the arthritis-cardiovascular connection.
DOM Program Directors Share Insights on Incoming Class of 2020 Interns, Residents
The largest group of incoming residents across the UA College of Medicine – Tucson, the nearly 50 graduating medical students matching into physician training programs March 17 at the UA Department of Medicine includes six from the COM – Tucson and four from COM – Phoenix, along with seven interns looking to complete their medical training in internal medicine here before heading off to other specialties—four at the UA. Dermatology also matched into its largest class ever. Find out where they’re all from here…
Lack of Sleep Impairs Ability to Interpret Facial Expressions, UA Study Shows
When you're tired, your ability to interpret subtle expressions of happiness and sadness can begin to deteriorate, according to UA researchers in a study reported on in an article in the journal Neurobiology of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms…
UA Researchers to Study Airport Safety to Prepare For Next Infectious Disease Outbreak
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has contracted the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health to study Airport public health preparedness and response in the event of an infectious disease outbreak, such as the Zika virus.
UA and Mayo Team Up to Improve Heart Care Treatment
To advance and improve patient care and alleviate the challenges of training new cardiology-specialized physicians to master cardiac procedures, the University of Arizona Health Sciences and the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix share simulated training.
Translational Studies in Cardiovascular Disease, HIV/AIDS Focus of April DOM Research Seminar
At the April 13 seminar, Dr. Ankit Desai will discuss how “Bench-to-Bedside Approaches Unravel Inflammatory Mechanisms Underlying Novel Cardiovascular Phenotypes in Sickle Cell Disease.” His lab in the Molecular Cardiovascular Research Program investigates cardiovascular disparities in minorities with heart failure and pulmonary hypertension. UA Infectious Diseases Chief Dr. Elizabeth Connick, a world-renowned HIV/AIDS researcher, will talk also about “The Role of B Cell Follicles in HIV Replication and Persistence”…
UA Engineers Help You Stay a Heartbeat Ahead of Hackers to Protect Your Health
With a million forms of malware released every day, UA electrical and computer engineer Roman Lysecky, PhD, and colleagues are developing technologies to better detect malware in pacemakers and other life-critical health and other devices. Their research is funded by the National Science Foundation and Army Research Office…
‘Lucky’ Match Day for UA College of Medicine – Tucson Class of 2017: Primary Care Residencies Win Largest Share of Students
The students opened Match Day envelopes Friday that revealed where they will go for residency training: nearly half of the class – 47 of 98 students – will pursue primary care, the most critical physician shortage in Arizona.
See Where UA Med Students Will Do Their Residency Training per Match Day 2017
As is tradition nationwide, graduating University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson students gathered March 17 in DuVal Auditorium to learn where they had “matched” in the National Residency Matching Program® for residency training as physicians after convocation. The theme of the event—it coinciding with St. Patrick’s Day, was “Get Lucky in the Match!” Watch the video, view photos and see who’s going where on the next stop in their medical careers…
UA Professor Touts Inhalers in Schools to Aid Students with Asthma
Testimony by Dr. Lynn Gerald, clinical research associate director of the UAHS Asthma & Airway Disease Research Center and a member of the Arizona Asthma Coalition, helped in passage of a bill by the Arizona Legislature to allow schools to stock and administer asthma medication via inhalers. Dr. Gerald testified before the House in early February. It passed the House on Feb. 21 and the Senate on March 14. Now, it awaits the governor’s signature…
El Charro Café Downtown Site of Next Petersen Clinics ‘Meet-Your-Pharmacist’ Event, April 11
Hear about healthy eating at the next “Meet-Your -Pharmacist” event hosted by the UA Petersen Clinic pharmacy team—also known as the T-Rx Group (or Team Rx)—at El Charro Café, 311 N. Court Ave., on Tuesday, April 11, at 6 p.m. The dinner is sponsored by ViiV Healthcare, a pharmaceutical firm that specializes in HIV therapies. RSVP today…
Cerner EHR Transition Postponed, Training Sign-Ups, Forums, Workshops Still On
The June 1 go-live for the new Cerner electronic health record from the Epic EHR has been delayed, it was announced Friday, March 10. A new date is expected to be announced within two weeks. Physicians and staff are encouraged to take advantage of the extra time to practice in the Cerner environment. Please sign up for training by March 17…
UA Percussionist Seeks to Raise $10,000 for Alzheimer's with Final Recital, March 22
Trevor Barroero, a Tucson native, Flinn Scholar and senior percussion student in the UA Fred Fox School of Music, presents a free benefit concert to raise $10,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association. The UA Center on Aging-supported event, titled “…in loving memory,” is presented in memoriam to Trevor’s late father and grandmother. His grandmother, who died in 2012, suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. It will be Wednesday, March 22, 7:30 p.m., at Crowder Hall. Donations will be accepted at the event or online…
Final WLSC Speaker Draws Packed House on ‘Pulmonary Vascular Disease’ Talk
Dr. Serpil Erzurum, a world-renowned translational scientist on respiratory diseases from the Cleveland Clinic/Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, had them in the aisles for the final Winter Lung Series Conference for the 2016-17 academic year. With a full audience, late attendees either stood or sat on steps. Her lecture—“Metabolism and Hypoxia in Pulmonary Vascular Disease”—doubled as the March 9 installment in the DOM Research Seminar Series…