Multiple new health care initiatives will leverage strengths developed during the pandemic and coincide with the academic medical center’s 55th year.

University of Arizona Health Sciences researchers discovered a potential treatment to reduce the risk of post-stroke dementia, which may be influenced by the immune response to dead brain tissue left in the wake of a stroke, according to a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Arizona continues to average more than 20,000 COVID-19 infections per day — more than double the average number of daily cases reported during last winter's peak. Joe Gerald, MD, PhD, associate professor of public health policy at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, said the record-high case numbers are probably a fraction of cases actually out there.

People who contract Omicron will have even broader immune responses, said Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD, an immunologist at the College of Medicine – Tucson. Though its constellation of mutations is unique, it is made up of individual changes that have been seen in other variants. “

Advances in data collection, digital communications and technology are taking several UArizona Health Sciences initiatives to new frontiers for better health.

The risk of developing dementia after a stroke may be reduced by a drug that could help immune cells process stroke-generated, cholesterol-rich brain debris.

The environmental stressor alters the receptor involved in the brain’s response to psychedelic drugs and schizophrenia in a matter of hours.

Americans can start ordering free COVID-19 tests this week at covidtests.gov. Shad Marvasti, MD, an associate professor of family and community medicine at the College of Medicine – Phoenix, encourages everyone to get the tests even if they haven't been exposed.