Congratulations to Erika Eggers, Lisa Elfring, Kirsten Limesand, Kathleen Rodgers, Janet Roveda, Lisa Shubitz, and Stacy Tecot on their awards.

A record number of KEYS alumni presented their research as the biosciences community recognized Kelle Hyland for her outstanding leadership in science outreach and education.

BIO5 member Deepta Bhattacharya is shepherding a new era in immunology research as the inaugural executive director of the U of A Health Sciences Center for Advanced Molecular and Immunological Therapies. He is a renowned immunologist who studies stem cells and antibody responses to infections and vaccines.

Using data collected from agricultural sensors, BIO5 member Nirav Merchant along with a team of other researchers, are creating a tool that combines virtual reality and artificial intelligence to analyze large datasets.

BIO5 member Jianqin Lu, a John A. and Frances P. Ware Associate Professor at the University of Arizona R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy, is the recipient of the 2024 Research Prize for Translational Science from the University of Arizona Comprehensive Cancer Center. Lu joined the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in 2019 after completing his postdoctoral training in nanomedicine and tumor immunology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

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.