Why are many health officials saying we don’t need a COVID-19 booster shot, at least not yet? Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD, an immunobiologist at the College of Medicine – Tucson, said the efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine isn’t waning several months after being vaccinated. Bhattacharya explained what’s happening in our bodies that allows the vaccine to be so effective, even with the variants.

Bacterial vaginosis is the most common and recurrent gynecological condition affecting nearly 30% of women between the ages of 15 and 44, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A University of Arizona Health Sciences-led study recently identified a specific bacteria family and uncovered how it contributes to bacterial vaginosis, paving the way for new insights into disease prevention and treatment. "Using this study and our 3D model as a foundation, we hope to determine if and how other species are altering the environment to contribute to bacterial vaginosis," said Melissa Herbst-Kralovetz, PhD, a member of the BIO5 Institute and associate professor of basic medical sciences at the College of Medicine – Phoenix.

Dr. Roberta Diaz Brinton discusses her passion for Alzheimer's disease research and what's next for the Center for Innovation in Brain Science.

A new University of Arizona Health Sciences study found women on hormone therapy were up to 58% less likely to develop neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease, and reduction of risk varied by type and route of hormone therapy and duration of use. The findings could lead to the development of a precision medicine approach to preventing neurodegenerative diseases.

Two fully vaccinated people have died from COVID-19 in Pima County, according to the county health department. This is an extremely small number compared to the number of fully vaccinated people countywide. The percentage of fully vaccinated people who have died from COVID-19 is about 0.00037%. "At the individual level it's a tragedy because someone took the effort to protect themselves and it failed," said Joe Gerald, MD, PhD, an associate professor of public health policy and management at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. "But at the population level it doesn't represent a threat because these numbers are so small."

Rubin Naiman, PhD, a psychologist, clinical assistant professor of medicine, and sleep and dream specialist at the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, discusses how we can better understand who we are through our dreams and our unconscious.

Q&A with Candice Mason, a cancer researcher at the UArizona Cancer Center and skin cancer survivor. She started her own brand of apparel and accessories with UPF 50+ protection, the maximum sun protective rating for fabrics.

When it comes to post-menopausal hormone therapy, the type, route and duration all play a role in reducing the risk of neurodegenerative diseases.

Given the chronic and incurable nature of COPD and the limited impact of available therapies, it is understandable why the lure of a promising new treatment approach would be appealing to individuals living with COPD. Unfortunately, these factors also render patients with COPD vulnerable to exploitation by companies offering false hope for novel remedies, explained Marilyn K. Glassberg, MD, of the Division of Pulmonology, Critical Care, and Sleep at the College of Medicine – Phoenix, and colleagues, in a recent review in Chest.

There is widespread scientific consensus that fully vaccinated people have an excellent chance of being protected from severe illness or death from any coronavirus strain, including delta. Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD, an immunobiologist at the College of Medicine – Tucson, wrote in a tweet: “Please, no more cries of wolf on variants/vaccine efficacy. The vaccines still work fine in the real world."