News - Internal Medicine Residency - Tucson Campus

Experimental, three-drug chemotherapy regimen didn’t improve survival rates for patients, but treatment might still prove helpful for a small subset of patients, according to Dr. Rachna Shroff, trial leader and Hematology & Oncology division chief.

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. 

Proving a stitch in time saves nine, the associate medical director for the Lung Transplant Program at Banner – University Medical Center Tucson spotted an incorrect measurement on a patient’s donor wait list information. A quick update got them a donor offer soon after.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.