News

BIO5 member Cynthia Thomson, accepts her Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's UACC Awards Dinner. For several decades at the University of Arizona Comprehensive Cancer Center, that person has been Cynthia Thomson, who has changed the lives of patients, cancer survivors, students and colleagues through her passion for cancer prevention and compassion for people.

BIO5 member Jianqin Lu at the R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy is the recipient of the 2024 Research Prize for Translational Science from the Cancer Center. Research prizes were awarded in support of excellence to recognize published work that has had the greatest impact on cancer research this year. 

BIO5 Member Justin Starren is a medical doctor turned data scientist who has been building bridges between people, computer systems and organizations for 30 years. Earlier this year, Starren joined the University of Arizona Health Sciences as the director of the Center for Biomedical Informatics and Biostatistics and a professor of medical imaging at the College of Medicine – Tucson.

A new international study provides a shortlist of the wildlife species present at the market from which SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, most likely arose in late 2019. BIO5 member Michael Worobey was one of three co-corresponding authors on the paper.

BIO5 member Judith Su has led research that developed a new biological sensing method that can detect substances at the zeptomolar level – an astonishingly miniscule amount.

BIO5 member Taben Hale, has been named vice chair of the Department of Basic Medical Sciences (BMS) and associate dean of Graduate Studies at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix.

A study led by BIO5 member Luciano Matzkin studied the reproductive tissues of female flies to see if the act of mating can cause bodily changes at a molecular level. His study uncovered that females create their own male-derived, female translated proteins after mating.

A pilot study co-led by 2023 BIO5 Postdoctoral Fellow Nicole Jimenez at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix brings together a diverse team to lay the groundwork for linking the microbiome to poorly understood gynecologic conditions.

Researchers hope to prove that babywearing rapidly improves recovery for babies born with NAS while helping mothers with substance use disorder. BIO5 members Todd Vanderah and Alicia Allen worked on the study to see whether babywearing, the act of holding an infant with the use of a carrier or cloth tied to secure the infant to the caregiver, offers any benefits for babies experiencing withdrawal from opioids and mothers with opioid use disorder.