In a Thursday report developed by nearly two dozen researchers from Arizona State University and University of Arizona Health Sciences, researchers say that Arizona will likely surpass the prior peak of ICU COVID-19 patients as soon as Dec. 18 with holiday travel and by mid-January with current transmission and no increase in holiday travel.

Joe Gerald, an associate professor at the University of Arizona's Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and an epidemiologist working on modeling the COVID-19 pandemic, has been named to Arizona Sen.-elect Mark Kelly's 13-person bipartisan transition team. Gerald said he is encouraged by recent reports of two promising vaccines now in the works, though he cautioned against using such announcements as an excuse to relax.

Francisco A. Arabia, MD, a professor of surgery and internal medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix and a Banner Health physician, received the 2020 Health Care Heroes Award by the Phoenix Business Journal.

With Thanksgiving approaching, families who have loved ones in assisted living centers may want to bring them home for the holiday. Dr. Melvin Hector, a geriatrics specialist and associate professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson, said the severity of mental health effects of isolation, like those seen during the shutdown, depend on the person's pre-existing health.

It's not uncommon for healthcare workers to encounter patients who still think COVID-19 is a hoax -- even when they have the disease themselves. Researchers at the University of Arizona's College of Nursing have also been hearing from exasperated healthcare workers about this issue. Jessica Rainbow, PhD, RN, is monitoring a voicemail box she set up to capture their stories. "I hear a lot of hopelessness," Rainbow told MedPage Today. "There really isn't an end in sight, as far as when this will go away. It's continuing to build and they're already feeling so burned out."

Ronald Weinstein, MD, FCAP, FATA, a professor of pathology and director and co-founder of the Arizona Telemedicine Program at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson, has received the Health Care Heroes 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Phoenix Business Journal.

How long might immunity to the coronavirus last? Years, maybe even decades, according to a new study – the most hopeful answer yet to a question that has shadowed plans for widespread vaccination. These studies "are all by and large painting the same picture, which is that once you get past those first few critical weeks, the rest of the response looks pretty conventional," said Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson who was not involved in the studies.

A clinical trial at the University of Arizona Health Sciences designed to study the safety and effectiveness of a personalized cancer vaccine in combination with the immunotherapy drug Pembrolizumab will expand its cohort after promising preliminary data was presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Immunotherapy of Cancer.

University of Arizona College of Nursing student Jaime Criswell, DNP, is the recipient of the Uniform Advantage-GNSA Scholarship Fund, which supports students who are seeking a master’s or doctoral degree in nursing and are members of the Graduate Nursing Student Academy.

In a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon, Governor Doug Ducey announced COVID-19 testing sites would be added to three Arizona airports. "If it's a PCR test, it's more reliable," said Dr. Shad Marvasti, with the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix. "But a negative test result by itself again it’s just one snapshot in time."