Diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have spread beyond the Colleges of Medicine as the other Health Sciences colleges address racism in health care.

Michael Grandner, PhD, director of the Sleep and Heath Research Program at the College of Medicine – Tucson, explains the history of weighted blankets, originally an occupational therapy tool designed to help children with developmental disabilities who often sleep restlessly and benefit from movement restriction therapies.

Researchers are exploring a potential link between COVID-19 vaccination and tinnitus. Shaowen Bao, PhD, an associate professor of neuroscience, physiological sciences, and physiology at the College of Medicine – Tucson, discusses his research on the association between tinnitus and SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination, and whether patients who develop tinnitus after vaccination should receive a booster dose.

Researchers at the College of Medicine – Phoenix have received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how medications used to treat hypertension may provide insight into novel treatments to produce long-lasting protection against heart disease. Taben Hale, PhD, associate professor and director of the Hale Laboratory, will lead the study.

U.S. Representatives Kevin MacCarthy (R-CA) and David Schweikert (R-AZ), co-chairs of the Congressional Valley Fever Task Force, have previously called for research funding to combat the disease. Both congressmen were praised by the Valley Fever Center for Excellence at the University of Arizona and Valley Fever Institute at Kern Medical for their efforts.

Dr. Karen Lutrick of the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson was recognized for her work to further research on COVID-19 and vaccine effectiveness.

Health Sciences experts in a variety of fields are part of an international movement to encourage girls and women to enter STEM fields.

The University of Arizona Health Sciences has provided medical care to hundreds of families in need during the pandemic. It’s through free student-run clinics at the College of Medicine – Tucson with a commitment to underserved people, also known as CUP clinics.

John Galgiani, MD, director of the UArizona Valley Fever Center for Excellence, estimated a vaccine would cost $200 million to fully develop. Dr. Galgiani is currently testing a vaccine that will be used in dogs and hopes to deploy to veterinarians by 2023.

For Frank Moreno, MD, professor of psychiatry at the College of Medicine – Tucson, migrants have levels of stress and depression associated with their condition that reflect other social factors, conditions he assures are conducive to developing other types of health problems such as "headaches, ulcers, high blood pressure, problems regulating blood sugar, all chronic diseases are complicated by stress."