In The News

Researchers, including UA COM-T Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine professor and BIO5 faculty member Dr. Donata Vercelli, are beginning to explore the various ways that microbes in the soil might protect us and benefit our health. This marks a turning point in soil research, as scientists used to hold the belief that soil is nothing more than a matrix to hold plants and minerals.

People who suffer catastrophic breaks to their long leg bones usually face multiple surgeries, and all too often, amputation. UA COM-T Scientists, led by Orthopedic Surgery professor and BIO5 member Dr. John Szivek, have been working for more than 20 years to improve the treatment protocol by developing

Leading experts including UA Pharmacology and Toxicology assistant professor and BIO5 member Dr. Jun Wang, say understanding how the influenza virus replicates inside the body helps researchers develop a wider range of antiviral drugs. After finding medication resistant mutations within multiple flu viruses, Dr. Wang and other research teams across the globe, are looking to develop new drugs to target them.

Dr. Laura Meredith, rain forest science director for Biosphere 2 and BIO5 member, is one of the leaders of a four-month-long drought study. the aim of the research is to learn about how a hotter, drier future will alter tropical rain forest ecosystems. This European Research Council grant funded study will use Biosphere 2’s unique ability to control model ecosystems to collect data about multiple rain forest climates.

The demand for potable and irrigation water has never been greater, and as such methods are being developed so new plant cultivars, farming technology, and irrigation can draw more out of arable land. UA Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering professor and BIO5 faculty member Dr. Joel Cuello, has developed the Vertical-Hive (V-Hive) Green Box, an indoor vertical modular growth system. The V-Hive reduces water consumption by 80 to 90 percent compared to traditional field farming.

Dr. Irving Kron, a BIO5 member, professor of surgery with the UA College of Medicine - Tucson, and senior associate vice president for UA Health Sciences, has been named the new contact principal investigator (PI) for the UA Health Sciences and Banner Health 'All of Us' research program and precision medicine initiative. In his new role, Dr. Kron will lead the multiple UA and Banner Health established PI leadership teams, which include a team led by fellow BIO5 member Dr. Eric Reiman.

The deadly swollen shoot disease is ravaging cocoa trees across West Africa, where about three-quarters of the world’s cocoa is grown. The disease was identified nearly a century ago, yet scientists, including BIO5 researcher and professor in the UA School of Plant Sciences Dr. Judith Brown, say a cure is years away and early detection methods are only just being introduced. The severity of this devastating disease has been muted, as the Ivory Coast experienced a record cocoa crop year.

A team led by The BIO5 Institute's Roberta Diaz Brinton, PhD, director of the Center for Innovation in Brain Science, received the multi-million dollar grant from the National Institute on Aging. The five-year grant will fund a national multi-site Phase 2 clinical trial to determine the effectiveness of allopregnanalone, or allo, as a treatment for individuals with early-stage Alzheimer’s who carry the genetic risk factor for the disease. This award supports the goals of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act.

The use of new technologies and automation raises questions about the impact on the job market and their respective hacking vulnerabilities. Dr. Larry Head, BIO5 faculty member and professor of Systems and Industrial Engineering at UA, discusses the importance of consumers doing research about the safety of autonomous vehicles before using them. 

Scientists lead by The BIO5 Institute's Dr. Michael Worobey at the University of Arizona were able to extract from the tissue a nearly complete genetic sequence of an HIV virus — the oldest nearly full-length genetic code for an HIV-1 virus recovered thus far, and one that supports the theory that the virus that causes AIDS began to transmit among people within the first decade or two of the 20th century.

A new program to support veterans studying in a STEM field is launching at the University of Arizona. Dr. Michael Marty, UA assistant professor of chemistry and member of The BIO5 Institute, started researching veterans participation in STEM fields after retired Lt. Col. James Rohrbough joined Marty's lab as a staff scientist.

The BIO5 Postdoctoral Fellowship recognizes outstanding postdoctoral researchers at the University of Arizona who are engaging in multi-disciplinary research projects aligned with the foci of the BIO5 Institute. These grants are specifically designed to support and enhance the independent research goals of BIO5 postdoctoral researchers, showcase their research at a BIO5 Research Symposium via short talks and/or poster sessions, and to facilitate a “forward thinking” mindset by requiring each fellow to form a three-member mentoring committee.

As his term as interim senior vice president for academic affairs and provost comes to a close, BIO5 faculty member and newly appointed Dean Emeritus Dr. Jeff Goldberg, reflects on his 34 years at UA. Dr. Goldberg’s journey at the University will continue as a half-time adviser to the president, working on the campus master plan, and supporting development and mentoring strategies.

Tanning (and burning) can lead to Melanoma, one of the most common skin cancers among adolescents and young adults. New prevention and treatment methods for skin cancers are being developed by the UA Cancer Center’s Skin Cancer Institute (SCI). The Institute houses experts including SCI founder Dr. David Alberts and SCI co-director Dr. Clara Curiel, both BIO5 faculty, who are collaborating to help make skin cancers a thing of the past.

BIO5 Faculty Dr. Haijiang Cai, lead a team of UA neuroscientists in a new study which shows that multiple neurons within the brain come together to regulate the need to eat and feeling of fullness, or satiety.

A new study led by scientists at the UA has uncovered a potential new way to treat patients with ALS, a debilitating neurodegenerative disease. “The fact that we uncovered a compensatory mechanism surprised me,” says UA Molecular and Cellular Biology professor and BIO5 researcher Dr. Daniela Zarnescu.

Funded by the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute at the National Institute of Health, Jacob Schwartz, Ph.D., professor at Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Arizona College of Science and researcher at The BIO5 Institute, has created a new drug treatment for a class of cancers. Schwartz’s primary focus is Ewing’s sarcoma, a childhood cancer that is driven by the proteins he and is students are investigating.

It seems Valley Fever is spreading. Some of the increase may be explained by improved diagnosis, but other factors are also at work; including increased migration and visitation to the Southwest where coccidioidomycosis is endemic. The director of the Valley Fever Center for Excellence and BIO5 member Dr. John Galgiani, weighs in on the challenges and progress regarding the development of a vaccine for the disease.