Health Sciences In The Media

Richard Carmona, MD, MPH, distinguished laureate professor of public health at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, writes that the COVID-19 vaccine is another in a long, well-researched and well developed history of lifesaving vaccines.

Geoffrey Ahern, MD, PhD, who held the Bruce and Lorraine Cumming Endowed Chair in Alzheimer’s Research and was a professor of neurology and psychiatry at the College of Medicine – Tucson, as well as a professor of psychology and a member of the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute, recently passed away.

Tiktok has quickly become a virtual wellspring of sleep advice with the hashtag #sleephacks garnering over 200 million views on the app. But do these trending sleep hacks have any scientific standing? Michael Grandner, PhD, director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the College of Medicine – Tucson, is quoted.

Innovations in Healthy Aging, an initiative of the University of Arizona Health Sciences, is hosting a new lecture series featuring several topics important to aging, including isolation and loneliness, integrative health and sleep. The lectures will be presented as webinars that are free and open to the public.

When, in March 2020, a science story became the biggest news story in the world, scientists became household names overnight, even celebrities. But many also became the targets of new and extreme levels of harassment, intimidation, and threats. Saskia Popescu, PhD, infectious disease epidemiologist and infection prevention expert at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, is quoted.

A $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense is supporting researchers in the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center for Innovation in Brain Science as they examine whether an investigational drug has the potential to reduce inflammation and increase the regeneration of nerve cells in people with Lou Gehrig’s disease, or ALS.

The Mobile Outreach Vaccination and Education for Underserved Populations (MOVE UP) program, a coordinated effort at the University of Arizona Health Sciences, responded to the specific needs and opportunities to distribute COVID-19 vaccines in border communities. Cecilia Rosales, MD, associate dean of community engagement and outreach at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and leader of the MOVE UP program, is quoted.

Terry Badger, PhD, RN, professor and Eleanor Bauwens Endowed Chair in the UArizona College of Nursing and UArizona Cancer Center member, was one of only four recipients of a $4 million American Cancer Society grant to develop a “Cancer Health Equity Research Center” with the goal of improving health equity for Hispanic cancer survivors and family care givers.

Researchers have found that guided, group exercise can significantly improve strength and mobility for seniors 65 years and older. Kathleen Insel, PhD, RN, a professor at the UArizona College of Nursing, is quoted.

The UArizona Health Sciences Sensor Lab aims to bring students, faculty and the community together through the use of software sensor systems and human-centered hardware. The Health Sciences Office of Communications assisted with this story.