Research News

Dr. Gordon Ewy to Receive Women's Heart Health Advocate Award at Nov. 3 Luncheon

Dr. Gordon Ewy, professor and director emeritus, UA Sarver Heart Center, and founder of the center’s Women's Heart Health Education Committee, will be honored with the Mary Anne Fay Women's Heart Health Advocate Award. It will be presented at the 2017 Heart of Women's Health Luncheon at Skyline Country Club, Friday, Nov. 3. Drs. Elizabeth Juneman and Khadijah Breathett are featured speakers…


UA to Take Home Big Share of 2017 AZBio Awards

In October, the Arizona Bioindustry Association will honor industry leaders from across Arizona. Many of those to be honored have deep connections to the UA and have brought UA ideas and inventions to the marketplace. Among them are Drs. Marvin Slepian and Steven Goldman of the UA Division of Cardiology…


SAVAHCS to Host VA-UA College of Medicine – Tucson Research Fair, Sept. 14

“A History of Research and Collaboration” is the theme for a research fair sponsored by the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System (SAVAHCS) and the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson. The event takes place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 14, in the R.E. Lindsey, Jr., Auditorium at the Tucson VA Medical Center campus, 3601 S. Sixth Ave., the SAVAHCS flagship facility… 


Two Projects to Promote Translational Research Win $100K UA Cancer Center Support Grants

Two projects underscoring basic/clinical partnerships in translational research have been awarded the two-year, $100,000 grants from the University of Arizona Cancer Center. Congratulations to Drs. Linda Garland and Heidi Hamann and Drs. Daruka Mahadevan and Nathan Ellis. This award is supported by the NCI Cancer Center Support Grant…


NIH Awards $4.8M Grant to UA Valley Fever Center for Excellence to Accelerate Vaccine Development

The center, led by Dr. John Galgiani, will use the money to speed development of a Valley fever vaccine for dogs that it’s hoped will lead to a successful human vaccine. A California-based biotech company, Anivive Lifesciences, which has licensed the candidate vaccine from the UA, and Colorado State University have joined the center in that effort…


UAHS Healthy Dose Blog Focuses on Your Brain, Healing Ceremonies, Lung Cancer & Sun Safety

If you haven’t kept up with the UA Health Sciences’ Healthy Dose Blog, you might be missing some interesting stories on and by colleagues. Topics this summer include “NURSE-ing Your Brain to Protect it From Stress,” “The Healing Power of Ceremony,” “How Precision Medicine is Directing Cancer Therapy Today” and “Eight Ways to Play it Safe in the Sun”…


ASN Kidney News Shines on ‘All of Us’ Research Program in Arizona

UA nephrologist Dr. Akinlolu Ojo, a principal investigator on the Arizona All of Us℠/Precision Medicine Initiative Research Program, was quoted in an article on the program that appears in the August issue of the ASN Kidney News, a publication of the American Society of Nephrology. Read the full article here…


Diabetes, Pulmonology Topics for First Talk in Second Year of DOM Research Seminar Series, Sept. 14

Dr. Craig Stump, Division of Endocrinology, and Dr. Charles Downs, a pulmonary and critical care researcher with the Division of Translational and Regenerative Medicine, are the first speakers in this academic year’s DOM Research Seminar Series, set for Thursday, Sept. 14, noon-1 p.m., COM-T Room 5403. See current 2017-18 calendar of speakers here, including Nov. 9 guest speaker Dr. Judith Voynow, of VCU’s Children’s Hospital of Richmond Cystic Fibrosis Center…


Once in a Decade Symposium Catalyzes Recent Media Buzz on Valley Fever

A burst in media coverage recently on Valley fever coincides with a yearly  increase in cases around monsoon season, but this year a journal article with significant findings, newly funded research into genetics of the disease and a syndicated video on research into a vaccine—as well as a global symposium at Stanford University—make for a busy summer for infectious diseases specialist Dr. John Galgiani, director of the UA Valley Fever Center for Excellence…


Positive Airway Pressure Therapy Could Reduce Hospitalizations for COPD Patients, says UA Study

The UA pulmonary division’s Drs. Sai Parthasarathy and Stefano Guerra are co-authors on the study in the American Journal of Medicine that notes, at a time when chronic obstructive pulmonary disease hospitalizations are at an all-time high, 92 percent of U.S. COPD patients studied didn’t receive therapy to help them breath better while sleeping. The study was the subject of several articles in July…


Dr. Persky Named Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s 2017 Man of the Year

Dr. Daniel Persky, associate professor in the UA Division of Hematology and Oncology, associate director of UACC Clinical Investigations and director of the UACC Clinical Trials Office, was instrumental helping raise $150,000 for the local chapter. The money helps patients afford copays and funds cancer research. In other news, H-H. Sherry Chow receives the Sydney E. Salmon Award and the Cancer Biology Program announces a new Genome Editing Facility… 


Final DOM Research Seminar of 2016-17 Delivers on Data for Precision Medicine Solutions

Drs. Elizabeth Juneman and Andrew Kraft closed out the DOM Research Seminar Series for the 2016-17 academic year, June 8, speaking about electrophysiology in heart failure and targeted therapy of cancer. See the photo gallery and archived video for this and all the lectures in this inaugural year for this series that showcases the breadth and innovation of research into solutions for some of the most challenging medical conditions being conducted at the UA Department of Medicine… 


Asthma Research Gets Spotlight in Arizona Republic Op-Ed by UA Senior VPs

A recent Arizona Republic op-ed article co-written by the UA senior VPs Drs. Kimberly Andrews Espy (research), and Leigh Neumayer (health sciences), on federally funded research under way at the UA to ease breathing woes of those suffering from asthma. The May 31 article spotlights the work of Drs. Fernando Martinez and Monica Kraft, both of whom received large NIH grants in the past year…


Australian Respiratory, Immunology Researcher to Give DOM Visiting Lecture, June 5, Noon

Dr. Phil Hansbro, professor and chair of immunology and microbiology at Australia’s University of Newcastle will speak on “Understanding Pathogenesis to Develop New Treatments for Respiratory Diseases” as a special DOM Visiting Lecturer on Monday, June 5, noon-1 p.m., in the Chase Bank Auditorium, Room 8403, at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson…


Department of Medicine Chair Named Fellow of the European Respiratory Society

University of Arizona Department of Medicine Chair Dr. Monica Kraft has been elected as a Fellow of the European Respiratory Society (FERS). She is one of 17 people and two Americans to receive the honor this year. She has been named previously as a fellow of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, American College of Physicians and American College of Chest Physicians…


You Ought to Be in Pictures – UA-Banner PMI/All of Us Research Program Seeks Faces of Diversity, Volunteers as Early Enrollees

The UA-Banner All of Us℠/Precision Medicine Initiative team is looking for people to volunteer to have their photo taken to advertise the diversity of our unique Southwest population AND volunteers – or friendlies – to enroll during this “soft launch” before the national research program goes into full swing later this summer. Good news, you don’t have to be a Banner-bonded patient! Ask your family, friends and colleagues to join. Also see the latest All of Us℠ newsletter for June, out now…


UA Researchers to Evaluate New Therapeutic Platform in Targeted Treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Drs. Louise Hecker and Heidi Mansour won a $415,491 National Institute on Aging grant to see whether the active ingredient in an FDA-approved oral drug that inhibits relapse and progression in multiple sclerosis might be effective in treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), an advanced lung disease that affects the elderly. The two UA researchers will examine efficacy and safety of oral versus inhaled administration of new antioxidant formulations of the drug designed specifically for IPF. Their findings could lead to clinical trials…


DOM Research Seminar Looks at Heart Failure Electrophysiology, Precision Cancer Therapy – June 8

The final DOM Research Seminar of the 2016-17 academic year will be Thursday, June 8, Room 5403, noon-1 p.m., with speakers Drs. Elizabeth Juneman, UA Division of Cardiology, and Andrew Kraft, Division of Hematology and Oncology. Dr. Juneman will speak on “Electrophysiology in Heart Failure: Pre-Clinical Assessment of Sudden Cardiac Arrest.” Dr. Kraft, director, UA Cancer Center, will talk about, “Targeted Therapy of Cancer – Have We Succeeded?”…


1in9 Kidney Challenge Founders Visit UA Nephrology Faculty, Researchers

A Phoenix couple touring the country on behalf of sufferers of chronic kidney disease (CKD), Raymond and Analyn Scott, made a stop in Tucson earlier this month to meet with faculty and investigators within the UA Division of Nephrology and the Arizona Kidney and Vascular Research Center. Their organization, 1in9 Kidney Challenge, underscores the fact one in nine U.S. adults suffers from kidney disease. They offered a patient perspective on living with CKD and heard about the latest related UA research…


Winners of the Academic Half Day (AHD) Research Day poster competition for the University of Arizona Internal Medicine Residency Program – Tucson Campus were Drs. Jawad Bilal, Matthew Adams and See Wei Low. The three also had their work chosen for oral presentations as Clinical Vignettes during the Medicine Grand Rounds on May 17…


Pages