A cross-campus collaboration spearheaded by the College of Public Health seeks to understand ‘long COVID’ and other coronavirus mysteries.
Will vaccines bring life back to normal? “When community transmission rates are very high, as they are now, you will hear of people getting infected even after the vaccines,” said Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson. “But as more and more people get vaccinated, the chances of that happening will drop by a lot. At that point, we can very much look forward to going out to dinner, etc., and still be safe.”
Dr. Thomas Ardiles of the College of Medicine – Phoenix said it's incredible just how quickly Covid can cause permanent scarring to an otherwise healthy person's lungs. "The accelerated damage can happen in a period of weeks where a smoker may take 30 to 40 years to develop permanent damage," Dr. Ardiles said.
"Arizona Spotlight" host Mark McLemore talks to William "Scott" Killgore, PhD, from the University of Arizona Department of Psychiatry, about his research into emotions and decision making. It’s an attempt to better understand the changes that come from living through a global pandemic, focusing on topics like stress, loneliness, and how to measure people’s willingness to take a coronavirus vaccine. McLemore also talks to Judith S. Gordon, PhD, the lead researcher behind "See Me Serene," a free guided imagery phone app developed by a College of Nursing team. It is designed to help reduce anxiety and the negative health effects that arise from social isolation.
