A clinical trial at the University of Arizona Health Sciences designed to study the safety and effectiveness of a personalized cancer vaccine in combination with the immunotherapy drug Pembrolizumab will expand its cohort after promising preliminary data was presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Immunotherapy of Cancer.

University of Arizona College of Nursing student Jaime Criswell, DNP, is the recipient of the Uniform Advantage-GNSA Scholarship Fund, which supports students who are seeking a master’s or doctoral degree in nursing and are members of the Graduate Nursing Student Academy.

In a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon, Governor Doug Ducey announced COVID-19 testing sites would be added to three Arizona airports. "If it's a PCR test, it's more reliable," said Dr. Shad Marvasti, with the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix. "But a negative test result by itself again it’s just one snapshot in time."

Researchers are expanding research showing that creating good sleeping habits can help people quit smoking to focus on smokers who are HIV positive.

An early interest in how the mind works led Dr. Rastogi to specialize in pediatric headaches, a widespread and under-studied health problem.

More studies will be required to back up the not-yet-peer-reviewed findings, but it's not "unreasonable to think that these immune memory components would last for years," Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona told the New York Times. It may also be another layer of good news on the vaccine front, since vaccinations typically provide better, longer-lasting protection than natural infections. If that holds true in the case of COVID-19, people would theoretically get to avoid an annual booster shot. Bhattacharya was not involved in the study cited in this article.

The University of Arizona Health Sciences is launching Wellness Wednesdays: Celebrating Health & Holiday — a free, seven-week e-newsletter series beginning Nov. 18, designed to encourage participants and build a sense of community to increase health and decrease stress.

An opinion columnist writes that hospitals could reach capacity quickly as coronavirus cases surge in Arizona. The article cites the research of Joe Gerald, an associate professor with the University of Arizona's Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

Once a person develops immunity against COVID-19, it could last for years, a new study suggests. At the very least, exposure appears to at least set up the body for immunity “memory,’’ meaning its protective system should kick in and significantly fight off a second attack. “I don’t think it’s an unreasonable prediction to think that these immune memory components would last for years, said Immunologist Dr. Deepta Bhattacharya from the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson who was not involved in the study.