Research News
![[A new study found that adult lung health can be influenced by nutritional problems during pregnancy, low birth weights for gestational age and being underweight in childhood. (Getty Images)]](https://deptmedicine.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/styles/1x_widescreen/public/gettyimages-1176140066-card.jpg?itok=X5hIehsU×tamp=1721926164 "A new study found that adult lung health can be influenced by nutritional problems during pregnancy, low birth weights for gestational age and being underweight in childhood. (Getty Images)")
A UArizona Health Sciences-led study involving several researchers from the Asthma and Airway Disease Research Center, including Dr. Stefano Guerra, identified poor childhood nutrition and growth as risk factors for lung disease and weaker health as an adult.
![[Man in shorts outdoors on a road holding his knee as if in pain during a run.]](https://deptmedicine.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/styles/1x_widescreen/public/knee_pain_1309561958-card.jpg?itok=5OPryeZT×tamp=1694623407 "A $2.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health will allow researchers to determine if changes in knee structure during aging can predict pain, functional limitations and the need for future knee replacements.")
University of Arizona Health Sciences researchers will study the links between knee structure changes and clinical outcomes in people with osteoarthritis.
![[Bhupinder Natt, MD, Medicine ICU medical director at Banner – University Medical Center South, was presented with a Clinical Excellence Award.]](https://deptmedicine.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/styles/1x_widescreen/public/card_natt-bhupinder_202100662_com_faculty_excellence-7558.jpg?itok=DQ3gxb0-×tamp=1708383206 "Bhupinder Natt, MD, Medicine ICU medical director at Banner – University Medical Center South, was presented with a Clinical Excellence Award.")
The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson presented the winners of the 2021 Faculty Excellence Awards at the August 11 Faculty Excellence Reception. Among those earning recognition were Drs. Laura Meinke and Bhupinder Natt.
The center, led by Dr. John Galgiani, a professor in the Department of Medicine's Division of Infectious Diseases at the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson, focuses on research, outreach and education to fulfill its mission of protecting people against a deadly fungal disease native to the Southwest.
![[The UArizona Health Sciences Asthma & Airway Disease Research Center has spent decades researching the origins of adult respiratory diseases, including asthma and COPD, which often begin in the wheezing and lower respiratory infections of youth.]](https://deptmedicine.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/styles/1x_widescreen/public/asthma_airway_1310226962_card.jpg?itok=UEG9Wz63×tamp=1721928985 "The UArizona Health Sciences Asthma & Airway Disease Research Center has spent decades researching the origins of adult respiratory diseases, including asthma and COPD, which often begin in the wheezing and lower respiratory infections of youth.")
The Asthma & Airway Disease Research Center, with numerous faculty from the Department of Medicine’s pulmonary and other divisions throughout the years, has revolutionized our scientific understanding of asthma and other respiratory diseases.
![[Children on playground: The hygiene hypothesis, the idea that children exposed to more germs early on in life develop greater immunity and are less likely to get asthma and other diseases, will be explored in a UArizona-led cross-border study.]](https://deptmedicine.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/styles/1x_widescreen/public/hispanic_kids_playing-149847186_card.jpg?itok=rPrfgUtQ×tamp=1721934792 "Children on playground: The hygiene hypothesis, the idea that children exposed to more germs early on in life develop greater immunity and are less likely to get asthma and other diseases, will be explored in a UArizona-led cross-border study.")
UArizona Health Sciences researchers – including the Pulmonary division’s Dr. Tara Carr – are taking a three-pronged approach to analyze asthma in children in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, and Tucson, Arizona – even before they’re born.
Kudos to Dr. Sairam Parthasarathy, who authored a paper named among the “Top Studies of 2020” published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.
Division of Infectious Diseases chief at UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson receives NIH-supported AIDS Clinical Trials Group award at virtual ceremony in November.
After months apart due to COVID-19, University of Arizona Health Sciences faculty, staff and students are returning to campus. Among changes we're becoming familiar with, all are required to wear face coverings, and team Health Sciences – including Drs. Kevin Moynahan and Indu Partha, for the Department of Medicine – is leading by example.
A $2.2 million federal grant will allow Dr. Eugene Chang, a sinus surgeon at the UArizona College of Medicine - Tucson, to investigate human genetic viral interactions in the development of sinus disease.
Juanita Merchant, MD, PhD, has received the 2020 Distinguished Mentor Award from the American Gastroenterological Association. A professor and chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Dr. Merchant is a cancer biology program researcher at the UArizona Cancer Center, an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, and a renowned physician-scientist on gastric or colon cancer.
![[A technician peers into a microscope in a laboratory]](https://deptmedicine.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/styles/1x_widescreen/public/mjff_and_parkinsons_shutterstock_586637258_zpswz2hmtby_card.jpg?itok=QlOXFf9_×tamp=1700161861 "Research in the Madhavan Lab concentrates on stem cells and their applications to neurological diseases, particularly Parkinson’s disease. The ultimate goal of these studies is to use this research to devise brain repair strategies for neurological disorders, based on the manipulation of stem cells and also in combination with other alternates approaches.")
Dr. Lalitha Madhavan is among researchers receiving grants. She and her team are developing dopamine neurons and patient-derived skin cells – called fibroblasts – to evaluate potential Parkinson’s therapies and biomarkers for early identification of the disease.
Coccioidomycosis, or Valley fever, is a fungal infection that occurs when a person inhales spores that live in the soil. Hot and dry weather conditions allow those spores to become airborne, thus making Arizona a hotspot for Valley fever, especially in the summer. According to experts from the University of Arizona Health Sciences, Valley fever can easily be confused for COVID-19.
A UArizona Cancer Center collaboration between Dermatology's Dr. Clara Curiel-Lewandrowski and Dr. Dongkyun Kang, an assistant professor in optical sciences and biomedical engineering, connects the lab with the clinic to develop and test a portable skin cancer diagnostic device.
A UArizona Cancer Center confocal microscope imaging project to improve skin cancer diagnosis and treatment is built on collaboration of Dermatology interim chief Drs. Clara Curiel-Lewandrowski and Dongkyun Kang, co-leader of the Cancer Imaging Program.
The funds – administered by the Arizona Board of Regents and University of Arizona BIO5 Institute – enable researchers to combat the global pandemic and positively impact the health of Arizonans.
The University of Arizona Health Sciences Career Development Awards (CDA) program recently selected Salma Patel, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine, College of Medicine – Tucson, as one of four recipients in its latest round of awards.
University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center cardiologist Marvin Slepian, MD, was inducted as a Regents’ Professor Jan. 13, 2020. Dr. Slepian also is founder and director of the Arizona Center for Accelerated Biomedical Innovation.
The University of Arizona, No. 1 in astronomy and astrophysics expenditures, ranks in the top 4% of all U.S. universities in research and development expenditures, according to data from the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research and Development survey, which ranks more than 900 colleges and universities. UArizona Health Science ranked 48th in research funding with a 21.5% increase in federal dollars over the prior year...
At the Governor's Celebration of Innovation Awards, Oct. 24, entrepreneurial researchers and friends of the University of Arizona received several awards. Pulmonary researcher Dr. Louise Hecker took the top award in academia for her work on Nox4 small molecule inhibitors to treat fibrotic diseases like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Learn more about the event and other honorees...