Research News

AzAHEC Grant to Improve Training, Education and Coordination among Cochise County Elderly Care Providers

UA geriatrician and UA Center on Aging member Dr. Monica Vandivort has won a $50,000 start-up grant from the Arizona Area Health Education Centers (AzAHEC) for a clinical research initiative entitled, “A Community Paramedicine-Primary Care Partnership in Rural Cochise County Pilot Project to Improve Health Outcomes of Seriously Ill Elders.” It involves a multidisciplinary, collaborative effort between multiple health care organizations in and around Sierra Vista, Ariz…


Liver Disease Foundation Awards Dr. Archita Desai $150K for Predictive Care Needs Research

Dr. Archita Desai, a UA assistant professor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and research associate with the UA Liver Research Institute, won a two-year, $150,000 grant from the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease Foundation to fund her project, “The Intersection of Precision Medicine and Population Health to Improve Health Equity in Liver Disease”...


Sleep Center Director Gets $250K Grant to Evaluate Telemedicine Consults for Insomnia Patients

With funding from the American Sleep Medicine Foundation, Dr. Sai Parthasarathy and his research team at the UAHS Center for Sleep & Circadian Sciences will investigate if delivery of therapy for insomnia is effective and more convenient for patients through telehealth visits rather than conventional in-person consultations. They look to enroll up to 85 patients in a clinical study over next few months...


Sarver Director Emeritus Dr. Gordon Ewy to Receive Honorary Georgetown Degree

Founding UA Division of Cardiology faculty member who oversaw construction of Sarver Heart Center building, to be recognized for his research contributions to defibrillation and resuscitation for cardiac arrest victims with a Doctor of Science (DSc) degree at the Georgetown University School of Medicine commencement, May 26, in Washington, DC’s DAR Constitution Hall…


UA Presence at American Thoracic Society 2017 International Conference More Expansive

A large contingent from UA Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allegy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, and UA Health Sciences Asthma and Airway Disease Research Center are set to take the stage with impactful scientific findings at the ATS 2017 International Conference in Washington, DC, May 19-24. They include faculty, researchers, fellows, residents and students from the UA College of Medicine – Tucson. Two more have won scholarships to attend… 


Three NCI-Funded T32 Research Post-Docs Positions Available at UA Cancer Center

The Cancer Prevention and Control Health Disparities Training T32 Program offers a multi-disciplinary mentored environment integrating behavioral to biological science research focused on cancer disparities and understanding and preventing cancer...


Resident, Fellow Headed to 2017 ATS Conference Courtesy of Bressler-Alpert Travel Fund

Two more physicians in training within the University of Arizona Department of Medicine—Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine fellow Joshua Dill, DO, and Internal Medicine Program Tucson Campus resident See-Wei Low, MBBS—received Bressler-Alpert Travel Awards. The awards will assist them in presenting their research at ATS 2017, the annual conference of the American Thoracic Society. A third physician, Tucson Campus resident Khushboo Goel, MD, won an ATS Abstract Scholarship to present at the conference, too…


Tech Launch AZ Honors Inventors, Startups, Impact-Makers at I-Squared Awards & Expo

Tech Launch Arizona—the University of Arizona office that brings inventions stemming from faculty research from the lab to the world—held its fourth annual awards event at the Jim Click Hall of Champions at McKale Center. The I-Squared Expo & Awards honors those whose work directly affects the quality of life for people in Tucson, across Arizona and worldwide through research, collaboration and technology commercialization. Drs. Steve Goldman and Bhaskar Banerjee were among those recognized… 


Liver Disease and Advanced Endoscopy Topics for DOM Research Seminar Lectures, May 11

Two faculty members from the UA Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology—Drs. Archita Desai, a Liver Research Institute research associate, and Bhaskar Banerjee, who also is a professor of optical sciences and biomedical engineering—will be presenters at the next DOM Research Seminar Series lecture on Thursday, May 11, noon-1 p.m., in the Room 5403 auditorium of the UA College of Medicine – Tucson. Save the date and post the flyer…


Get a Head Start on Your Translational Science Career at This Panel, Reception, April 26

Save the date Wednesday, April 26, 5-7:30 p.m., for the next Southern Arizona Biomedical Research Symposia 2017, which features a Translational Research Career Panel  & Reception with six panelists. Among them are three faculty of the UA Department of Medicine – Tucson: Drs. Julie Bauman, Monica Kraft and Prabir Roy-Chaudhury. Panel discussion and Q&A in Kiewit, with reception after in UA Cancer Center lobby. Register now… 


Reminder: DOM Research Seminar on Cardiovascular Phenotypes in Sickle Cell Disease, and HIV and B Cell Follicles, April 13

We’re down to the last three (or six, if you’re counting speakers) lectures in the inaugural season for the DOM Research Seminar Series. Speaking Thursday, April 13, noon-1 p.m., are Dr. Ankit Desai on “Bench-to-Bedside Approaches Unravel Inflammatory Mechanisms Underlying Novel Cardiovascular Phenotypes in Sickle Cell Disease,” and Dr. Liz Connick on “The Role of B Cell Follicles in HIV Replication and Persistence.” Be there—COM-T Room 5403. A light lunch will be served…


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…


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…


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…


Dr. Monica Kraft, 11 Other UAHS Investigators Secure ABRC Grant Awards Worth Nearly $6M

Twelve UA Health Sciences investigators—including DOM Chair Monica Kraft, MD, cardiologist Steven Goldman, MD, and physiologist Heddwen Brooks, PhD, who is a UA Center on Aging and Sarver Heart Center member—won grants worth a total of $5.85 million over three years from the Arizona Biomedical Research Commission, it was recently announced…


With Audience of 200, Dr. Kraft Caps Banner ‘Doc Talk’ Lecture Series — Daily Wildcat

Two hundred people showed for the final Doc Talk lecture at the Westin La Paloma on Tuesday evening, Feb. 28, to hear DOM Chair Dr. Monica Kraft talk about the path forward to an asthma cure. It was the last of the Banner Health-sponsored lectures that attracted more than 800 people in Tucson and 400 in Phoenix. It also provided a platform to plug the UAHS/Banner partnership for the All of Us℠/Precision Medicine Initiative. See archived video of all talks here…


Don’t Miss Precision Medicine Panel Discussion on March 9

Arizona cohort leaders of the All of Us℠ Research Program/Precision Medicine Initiative and the deans of the University of Arizona Colleges of Medicine in Tucson and Phoenix will hold a PMI Panel Discussion on Thursday, March 9, at 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the fifth floor auditorium, Room 5403. Light refreshments will be served. Bring your questions. Faculty are asked to RSVP by March 7…


University of Utah Pulmonary Chief Addresses Winter Lung Series Conference

University of Utah pulmonary chief Robert Paine, MD, was the presenter Thursday, Feb. 16, at the Winter Lung Series Conference in UA College of Medicine – Tucson Room 8403. His topic was “Oxygen, Pulmonary Innate Immunity and Goldilocks—What Happens When Things Aren’t Right”…


Combined WLSC/DOM Research Seminar, March 9, to Feature Cleveland Clinic Respiratory Expert

Dr. Serpil Erzurum, a world-renowned translational physician-scientist on respiratory diseases from Case Western University and the Cleveland Clinic, is the speaker for a now combined event that merges the Winter Lung Series Conference (WLSC) and DOM Research Seminar Series lectures, noon-1 p.m., March 9, in Room 5403 of the UA College of Medicine – Tucson…


See BUMG Newsletter for Doc Video Profiles, Cerner Champions and Critical Care Training

Visit the Banner Health YouTube Channel for physician profile videos on 42 Banner – University Medical Group doctors (with more to come), physician champions step up for the Cerner transition in June and “The Practice of Advanced Critical Care,” a sim-based training event at the COM-Phoenix Center for Simulation & Innovation will be Feb. 17-18—these are only a few items you may have missed in the BUMG Wildcat Connection newsletter…


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