New Canadian data suggests those who received AstraZeneca and then an mRNA vaccine are well-protected. Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD, an immunologist at the College of Medicine – Tucson, who was not involved in the study, was initially skeptical about mixing vaccine brands, a view that was far from unusual. But Dr. Bhattacharya said the results are "very encouraging" and provide evidence of "improved real-world protection" from delaying second doses.

The first antiviral pill to treat COVID-19, called molnupiravir, could be available soon. “What this drug is doing is actually making the virus mutate so quickly that it kills itself,” said Koenraad Van Doorslaer, PhD, an assistant professor in virology at the College of Medicine – Tucson. “It’s pushing it to make so much mistakes that essentially the virus as it comes in and tries to make more copies of itself, it makes so many errors that now the source code is no longer interpretable and you no longer make virus.” He says vaccination is still key as it is better to not get COVID in the first place.

A discussion of the book “Heal Your Life” by Louise Hay, which explores the idea that our physical body is influenced by our thoughts, emotions, and feelings. Ann L. Baldwin, PhD, a professor of physiology at the College of Medicine – Tucson, explains the phenomenon of “Biofield” discussed in the book.

A research team at the University of Arizona Cancer Center has discovered a new way of controlling blood vessel growth in tumors, a development that could make it easier to treat cancer patients. Noel Warfel, PhD, assistant professor of cellular molecular medicine at the College of Medicine – Tucson, initiated this project after studying the role of a pro-survival protein, Proviral Insert for the Moloney murine leukemia virus, or PIM1.

Steven Wang, MD, professor and chair of the department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at the College of Medicine – Tucson said transmission usually occurs at a very young age. "It's a long period of time specifically around 15 years or more between someone who is initially infected in their throat with the HPV virus, and if the cancer ever develops that's the reason why we think the typical patient that presents to me is someone who probably contracted oral HPV infection in their twenties or even earlier." Dr. Wang said the best prevention is getting vaccinated.

The Poison Center’s snakes, scorpions and spiders at the College of Pharmacy train future doctors and pharmacists to recognize venomous bites and stings.

Nathan Price, MD, an associate professor of pediatrics at the College of Medicine – Tucson discusses the similarities and differences of COVID-19 infection in children and adults, the rise of the Delta Variant and the importance of vaccination.

Shad Marvasti, MD, with the College of Medicine – Phoenix, said this year's Halloween still won't be like years past, but it can still be fun provided parents and kids are following the CDC’s trick-or-treating guidelines. “Making sure to keep your hands clean and sanitized is one part of it… making sure that we do things mostly outdoors and having either masks or distancing appropriately outdoors,” he said.

The month of October is when young rattle snakes go looking to hibernate in places where homeowners might not want them. These calls have not coincided with an increase in the number of people getting bitten by snakes, according to the UArizona Poison and Drug Information Center, which collects such data for all of Arizona except for Maricopa County. As of October 6, 146 bites had been reported statewide. That’s down from 162 at this time in 2020.