SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can relieve pain, according to a new study by University of Arizona Health Sciences researchers. The finding may explain why nearly half of all people who get COVID-19 experience few or no symptoms, even though they are able to spread the disease, according to the study's corresponding author Rajesh Khanna, a professor in the College of Medicine – Tucson's Department of Pharmacology.

In October 2019, the FDA approved emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide (FTC/TAF) as a second option for HIV PrEP in at-risk adults and adolescents but excluded cisgender women from the approval because of a lack of efficacy data. The FTC/TAF decision underscored existing concerns over leaving women out of clinical research. “There are sex differences in immune responses, drug metabolism and disease states. Some differences are mediated by hormonal differences and others by other biological factors,” said Infectious Disease News Editorial Board Member Elizabeth Connick, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the division of infectious diseases at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.

Experts say access to affordable and reliable health care is one of the hot topics of this election. "I believe everyone in Arizona and across the United States should have access to care," said Dr. Daniel Derksen, associate vice president for health sciences at the University of Arizona and director of the Arizona Center for Rural Health. "We are certainly spending enough as a nation and spending enough as a state to cover every single person with the care that they need, so that they get it when they need it, such as during a COVID-19 pandemic."

The gift from breast cancer survivor and longtime UArizona supporter Ginny Clements establishes an endowment for the new institute, along with endowed positions and renovated lab space.

As the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health celebrates its 20th anniversary, look back at the important events and people that contributed to its success.

By considering the general public a key audience, researchers can generate more enthusiasm, trust and funding for science.

Can Some Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Patients Skip Radiation? The new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, enrolled 132 eligible patients with stage I and II diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The study was led by Dr. Daniel Persky, a professor of medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and associate director for clinical investigations at the University of Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson.

Quit smoking. “Cigarette smoking is probably public enemy number one,” says Joseph Alpert, MD, a cardiologist as the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center. “People who smoke a pack of cigarettes a day are twice as likely to get a heart attack over non-smokers.”

A breast cancer survivor and longtime supporter of the University of Arizona has given $8.5 million to the University of Arizona Cancer Center to strengthen the center's breast cancer patient care and research programs.