A new study helps quantify the improved protection against COVID-19 achieved with a third booster dose of the vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE in cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy. “Chemotherapy can weaken the ability of cancer patients to fight off infections and to respond appropriately to vaccines,” said Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD, and immunologist at the College of Medicine – Tucson and co-author of the study reported in Nature Medicine.

University of Arizona scientists are examining ways to make opioids safer and creating better solutions for pain management. John Streicher, PhD, a member of the Comprehensive Pain and Addiction Center and associate professor of pharmacology in the College of Medicine – Tucson, is interviewed.

Paleoanthropologists have wondered for a long time how and why humans evolved molars that emerge into the mouth at the ages of six, 12, and 18 and why those ages are so delayed compared to living apes. A study by scientists at the University of Arizona and Arizona State University that may finally cracked the case. "One of the mysteries of human biological development is how the precise synchrony between molar emergence and life history came about and how it is regulated," said lead author Halszka Glowacka, PhD, assistant professor and co-director of the clinical anatomy program at the College of Medicine – Phoenix.

BSN programs ranked No. 1 in Arizona, No. 23 nationally and No. 16 among public universities.

If you've got blue nails and it's not from nail polish, you likely have what's called cyanosis. This is when all the fingernails or toes are tinged blue. Cyanosis of the nail bed is caused by low oxygen levels in the blood. If the blue color isn't just from frigid temperatures, "your physician will probably want to do a simple rapid-blood gas analysis to measure the oxygen in your blood and perhaps some tests to check your heart and lungs," said Andrew Weil, MD, director of the UArizona Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine.

Medical experts continue to emphasize the importance of getting the COVID vaccine and now the flu shot as the United States approaches an unpredictable flu season and potential “twindemic.” Saman Nematollahi, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at the College of Medicine – Tucson, is interviewed.

An impassioned and vocal member of the Endocrine Society, Ricardo Correa, MD, EdD, talks about his research, outreach to potential Latinx endocrine scientists, the importance of addressing health disparities, and how a trip to the endocrinologist when he was a teenager changed his entire life.

Infectious disease experts weigh in on how they are personally dealing with the pandemic. Elizabeth Connick, MD, chief of the division of infectious diseases and professor of medicine and immunobiology at the College of Medicine – Tucson, discusses dining indoors with The Washington Post.