Health Sciences In The Media

The relatively low number of West Nile cases has been a roadblock for development of a vaccine. In Phase III clinical trials, a significant number of individuals has to be infected and enrolled in order for a vaccine or treatment to demonstrate efficacy. Only a proven effective vaccine will be approved for use in humans, explained Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD, a professor of immunobiology at the College of Medicine – Phoenix. “That was one of the reasons why the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines were able to be deployed so quickly: at the time Pfizer and Moderna were testing the vaccine, there was a ton of community spread,” Dr. Bhattacharya said.

Many factors weaken the aging immune system. But vaccines—and booster doses—do offer protection from hospitalization and death. Experts say they still don’t have an adequate explanation for why older people were more susceptible to COVID-19 even before vaccines were available. “It’s just one of the great mysteries of the virus,” says Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD, professor of immunobiology at the College of Medicine – Tucson.

Nicola Finley, MD, a board-certified internal medicine physician and adjunct faculty member at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, will lead a panel on how the pandemic exposed inequities in both health care and wellness and how that will be tackled in the future.

The article cites research led by Roberta Diaz Brinton, PhD, director of the Center for Innovation in Brain Science at the University of Arizona, on changes in the brain that occur during female midlife aging that lead to greater risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Continuing coverage: Scientists at the University of Arizona and Arizona State University released a study in Science Advances that explains how and why molar teeth emerge in stages during your and why that happens so much more slowly compared to other living apes. “One of the mysteries of human biological development is how the precise synchrony between molar emergence and life history came about and how it is regulated," said lead author Halszka Glowacka, PhD, assistant professor and co-director of the clinical anatomy program at the College of Medicine – Phoenix.

After battling health challenges several years ago, a Valley mom is now on the path to becoming a doctor in hopes of helping others. Amy Arias, first year medical student at the College of Medicine – Phoenix, was granted a spot in UArizona’s Primary Care Physician Scholarship program, hoping to use her medical degree and Spanish-speaking skills she picked up while living abroad in Ecuador, to help patients in Phoenix.

Congressional Valley Fever Task Force Co-Chair and Congressman Kevin McCarthy introduced a bipartisan bill, the Finding Orphan-disease Remedies with Antifungal Research and Development (FORWARD) Act of 2021, to combat Valley fever. “This year in Arizona, our data shows that for every four new diagnoses of COVID-19, an additional person with the same symptoms has Valley fever,” said John Galgiani, MD, director of the Valley Fever Center for Excellence at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson.

Murtaza Akhter, MD, an emergency room physician and clinical assistant professor at the College of Medicine – Phoenix, discusses the state of the COVID-19 pandemic and the news that the FDA backed Moderna booster shots.

A first-year medical student at the College of Medicine – Phoenix wants to inspire moms it is not too late in life to start a career path. Amy Arias, a mother of three, said after medical scares between her and her husband she decided she wanted to get into the medical field.

An FDA advisory panel unanimously voted to recommend Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine booster six months after initial vaccination for vulnerable Americans. Those included in the recommendation are people ages 65 and older, adults with underlying health conditions and those with an increased risk of contracting the virus due to their job. Shad Marvasti, MD, director of the public health, prevention and health promotion curriculum and associate professor at the College of Medicine – Phoenix, is interviewed.