In The News

Dr. John Galgiani, head of UArizona’s Valley Fever Center for Excellence and BIO5 member, is heading up vaccine research at the center and is working on a vaccine shown to prevent valley fever in mice. Dr. Galgiani discusses the vaccine’s progress and the different hurdles valley fever researchers face in developing a viable vaccine for humans.

Three University of Arizona undergraduate students were competitively chosen to work virtually alongside BIO5 Institute administrative staff to enhance their personal and professional skills.

As youth sports begin to come back, many parents are weighing the safety of their children with the social benefits of playing team sports. Dr. Marvin Slepian, UArizona regents professor of medicine and BIO5 member, shares the risks of contracting coronavirus while playing and practicing sports, and preventative measures that can be taken to protect against coronavirus.

Dr. Roberta Diaz Brinton, director of UArizona Center for Innovation in Brain Science and BIO5 member, is testing whether a drug called allopregnanolone is a safe and effective way to restore cognitive function in Alzheimer's patients. If the results are good, she’ll be one step closer to bringing the world’s first regenerative therapeutic for Alzheimer’s to the millions of people living with the disease.

Cellular and molecular medicine master’s student Mallory Thompson interacts with COVID-19 patients daily, strengthening her desire to pursue a medical degree following graduation.

After she and nine family members were infected with SARS-CoV-2 during a family vacation, Jennifer Uhrlaub now advocates for the importance of wearing a mask and social distancing not only in public, but also around those close to us.

UArizona officials said that the campus’s wastewater COVID-19 detection technique — developed, in part, by UArizona WEST center director and BIO5 member Dr. Ian Pepper — possibly prevented a sizable outbreak on campus. Wastewater samples from the dorms have been regularly tested for signs of COVID-19 since students returned to campus in August.

Dr. Elizabeth Connick, UArizona COM- T head of infectious diseases and BIO5 member, discusses the safety and science behind the Moderna vaccine being tested and developed by the National Institute of Health. Dr. Connick believes the early results from phased clinical trials show the vaccine is safe, although we don't yet know how effective it is.

The BIO5 Postdoctoral Fellowship provided Jennifer Lising Roxas with a steppingstone to attain a two-year USDA fellowship award that funds her salary, research and travel to professional development opportunities.

Since the University of Arizona opened its doors, more than 9,000 students, faculty and staff had been tested for COVID-19 and everyone on campus was wearing a mask. The school had even begun sampling its wastewater to quickly detect a potential hot spot. But the centerpiece in the school's preemptive battle against COVID-19 was the "Covid Watch" smartphone app, which uses Bluetooth technology to send an alert to someone's phone if they are exposed to the virus.

Through her research, Dr. Renee Duckworth has found that birds' maternal stress can be important for offspring during development. During this episode of Arizona Science on NPR 89.1, she discusses how her work makes parallels about stress from birds to other species like humans.

Endometriosis is a chronic, often painful, gynecological disorder affecting 15% of U.S. women of childbearing age. This condition often causes higher incidences of infertility, miscarriage and stroke. Dr. Leslie V. Farland of the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health has been awarded federal funding from the National Institutes of Health to study the association among endometriosis, infertility and risk of stroke.

Innovative minds spanning several disciplines created partnerships to advance research and impact the lives of Arizonans at the second annual BIO5/BIOSA Faculty Industry Networking Event.

To understand the path from pandemic to vaccine, Dr. Yin Chen, an associate professor in UArizona College of Pharmacy and BIO5 member, explains what it takes to train the immune system to fight off a virus. Dr. Chen is not working on a COVID-19 vaccine, but he has spent his career studying the effect of viruses, such as those that cause the common cold and the flu, on the lungs.

Teaching labs will be among the first University of Arizona classes to meet in person when the fall semester begins, but they'll look a little different than usual. Dr. Hamish Christie, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and BIO5 member, offers a look inside a UArizona chemistry teaching lab as it prepares to welcome students back to campus.

In the case of colorectal cancer, the detection of early metastases to the liver is crucial for patient survival. A University of Arizona Health Sciences research team featuring Dr. Ali Bilgin is developing a novel imaging technique to detect the spread of colorectal cancer. The group aims to provide better outcomes for patients through the use of novel MRI methods to diagnose early tumor spread, providing patients and physicians greater treatment options, including non-surgical alternatives.

A group of astrobiologists, led by UArizona' Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology associate professor and BIO5 member Dr. Betül Kaçar, hope to find clues about how life emerged by tinkering with some of life's oldest components. In a recent paper they reported an unexpected discovery, hinting at an effect that prevents organisms from ever reaching evolutionary perfection

Dr. Judith Brown, UArizona evolutionary ecologist and BIO5 member, shares the importance of the partnership between ants and wildflowers in preserving ecosystems, especially forests that could be disturbed by human activity. This relationship was reported during the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, where researchers discussed the seed dispersion that ants complete.