Health Sciences In The Media

The University of Arizona College of Nursing has announced a series of key new appointments, promotions, honors and awards. Three cardiologists recently joined the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center.

As patients avoided hospitals and doctors' offices, conditions such as cancer and heart disease went untreated. Health care providers now stress the importance of non-COVID-19 care as the pandemic stretches on. "We certainly know we didn’t cure heart disease overnight," said Dr. Martha Gulati, division chief of cardiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix and editor-in-chief of CardioSmart.org, an online resource produced by the American College of Cardiology.

Three new faculty cardiologists, Drs. Arka Chatterjee, Talal Moukabary and Madhan Sundaram, bring significant expertise in interventional cardiology and electrophysiology to the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center and Banner – University Medicine Tucson.

The University of Arizona is launching a new app to help trace COVID-19 as students return in-person to campus. It's called COVID Watch and it's completely anonymous. Dr. Bhuyan, a clinical assistant professor in Family, Community and Preventive Medicine at the College of Medicine – Phoenix says the Covid Watch app is a step in the right direction but the next steps are what’s important. The university is offering testing to any students or staff members with concerns of exposure.

While Arizona's coronavirus situation may be improving, some public health officials fear people may lose sight of what has worked to get us here. Dr. Farshad Fani Marvasti, director of Public Health, Prevention and Health Promotion at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, is interviewed.

As the University of Arizona prepares for the start of classes on Monday, a number of measures have been implemented to help mitigate the risk for COVID-19. As of Wednesday afternoon, there were nine confirmed cases of COVID-19 among the 4,274 nasal-swab antigen tests administered since last Friday to students who are planning to live on campus. A negative test is required to move into the dorms. With those initial results, Dr. Richard Carmona, the UA’s reentry task force leader and distinguished professor of public health, said the campus may be in a better position than other universities that have reopened but had to shut down campuses due to virus outbreaks.

Dr. Victoria Maizes, executive director of the University of Arizona Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, provides tips and advice on what we can do to make ourselves feel happier.

COVID 19 data compiled by the Arizona Department of Health Services is facing a new challenge over whether it truly reflects the percentage of positive tests. Percent positive is a key metric that’s now guiding decisions to reopen schools and businesses. The number for Arizona varies depending where you go to get the information. Dr. Joe Gerald, associate professor from the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, who tracks the spread of COVID-19 in Arizona, discusses the methodology behind the numbers.

Maricopa County's mask mandate, implemented as Arizona’s COVID-19 cases spiked in June, remains in place as the health crisis improves. Dr. Shad Marvasti, director of public health at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, said as Arizona’s novel coronavirus cases have decreased, the number of ICU beds in use has gone down.

The University of Arizona Cancer Center received a $3 million grant to continue working with Indigenous communities to remove barriers around screenings for colorectal cancer, the second-most diagnosed cancer and the third-most common cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S.