Health Sciences In The Media

The University of Arizona Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine has established a new scholarship funded by a generous gift from Paul Stamets, an internationally known mycologist and advocate of the medical benefits of mushrooms.

The more social determinants of health a person has, the higher their risk of dying from coronary heart disease over the next decade, observational data on more than 22,000 people confirm. "This is yet another study to show that social determinants of health matter maybe even more so than traditional risk factors when we’re talking about risk of fatal cardiovascular disease," said Dr. Khadijah Breathett, an assistant professor of cardiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson.

University of Arizona immunobiologist Deepta Bhattacharya in the College of Medicine – Tucson, says the COVID-19 vaccine is safe, and he will take it when it becomes available.

Loneliness, particularly among folks under shelter-in-place orders, is a growing issue for Americans during the coronavirus pandemic, new research finds. "Our society is becoming lonelier the longer the pandemic continues, which will likely lead to increased mental health issues in the near future," said the letter's author, William Killgore, a professor of psychiatry in the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson and director of the Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab.

Kelly A. Reynolds, PhD, MSPH, a professor and environmental microbiologist at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, writes about the effectiveness of sanitary survey scores to predict water quality at the point of use.

Valleywise Health said Tuesday that all of its ICU beds are being used and the ICU is at 100% capacity. "It's hard to know how bad it's going to get," said Joe Gerald, an associate professor in the University of Arizona's Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. "But we do know we're currently seeing record levels of hospitalization and ICU admissions."

Often, cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting are terms people use interchangeably. However, there is a difference between the three. “Cleaning is the physical removal of visible soils and organic matter,” explains Dr. Kelly Reynolds, professor and director of the Environment, Exposure Science and Risk Assessment Center at the University of Arizona. “Disinfection is the process of killing at least 99.99 percent of bacteria and other microbes, such as viruses.”

Joe Gerald, an associate professor in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and a member of the University of Arizona's COVID-19 modeling team, warns of a worsening COVID-19 surge during the Christmas-New Year holiday.

The Tucson office of engineering consulting firm Terracon presented a $6,000 check from its foundation to the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. The grants fund scholarships for students enrolled in environmental and occupational health, industrial hygiene and environmental health sciences graduate and Ph.D. programs.

Joe Gerald, an associate professor in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and a member of the University of Arizona's COVID-19 modeling team, warns of a worsening COVID-19 surge during the Christmas-New Year holiday.