Arizona Biosciences

Get Smart Breakfast Series

2010-09-09 13:51:36 -0700

Get Smart Breakfast Series

Centralized science outreach center developed

Matt Nelson — 2010-09-09

With nationally competitive scientific research and programs, an initiative is under way to elevate the visibility and status of the University of Arizona's science-based outreach.

New to the UA College of Science is UA Science Connections, a centralized resource for outreach, service learning, community building and professional development for K-12 teachers.

Arizona leaders call on Brewer to fix state's image

Matt Nelson — 2010-09-09

While Arizonans might prefer that Arizona be defined by its unique Sonoran desert, the Grand Canyon and gorgeous sunsets, it may well be better known today for its housing collapse and especially its tough new immigration law that Hispanics say makes them feel unwelcome.

"Our brand has been beaten up," said Arizona Cardinals President Michael Bidwill during a panel discussion Wednesday on how to restore Arizona's image. Bidwill is also board chairman of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.

Day of Discovery: Acting Against Cancer

2010-09-08 13:30:26 -0700

Day of Discovery: Acting Against Cancer

Scottsdale Healthcare is site of Stand Up to Cancer 'Dream Team' pancreatic cancer clinical trials

Matt Nelson — 2010-09-08

The Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare announced today it is participating in the Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C) Dream Team pancreatic cancer research project as a primary clinical research site.

"Cutting Off the Fuel Supply, A New Approach to the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer,'' seeks ways to deprive pancreatic tumors of crucial nutrients, increasing the percentage of patients surviving beyond one year and improving quality of life.

Fighting disease with lasers, light

Matt Nelson — 2010-09-08

Have you ever wondered why, or rather how, flowers have such bright colors? As you might imagine, some fairly complex physics and chemistry lie behind the vibrant reds, yellows, blues and greens that shine when sunlight meets leaf or flower.

Sunlight includes all the rainbow colors of the visible light spectrum, plus some invisible ones such as ultraviolet and infrared. Desert lavender, for instance, is blue because pigments in its flowers absorb yellow light and reflect other colors, which appear blue in combination.

But what, exactly, happens in that minuscule fraction of a second after a photon of sunlight strikes an atom in a plant pigment? In fact, what happens when a photon of light hits any atom in any substance, including the human body?

WICHE program boosts health-professions education

Matt Ellsworth — 2010-09-08

The Arizona Board of Regents has reported on its website that a program sponsored by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) is proving highly successful in easing the workforce crunch in the bioscience-related fields of dentistry, occupational therapy, optometry, osteopathy, physician assistant, and veterinary medicine. Demand for professionals in all of those fields is expected to see rapid growth over the next several years:

According to the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics, by the year 2018, the demand for practitioners in five of these fields is expected to grow nationwide by 20 percent or more. The exception is dentistry, which is expected to grow by 14-19 percent. Arizona’s demand for professional practitioners is expected to at least match, and more likely surpass, national rates.

The WICHE program enables Arizona students to pay in-state tuition rates for programs in the six fields noted above, which are not avaiable at Arizona's public universities. For each year that students benefit from the WICHE program, they must work for one year in Arizona, or repay half of the funds paid on their behalf. That incentive for studetns to return to Arizona has paid dividends:

The good news is that the vast majority of Arizona WICHE recipients - an average of 90 percent from 2005-09- do return to practice in Arizona, the highest return rate among WICHE states. That means that in these tough economic times, Arizona is helping fill a critical workforce need without having to build and maintain additional professional programs in Arizona.

Over the past five years, ABOR says that 295 Arizona students have participated in the program.

[More]

Undergrads give labs a hand

Matt Nelson — 2010-09-07

Some undergraduate students analyze DNA, tumors or enzymes to earn their spending money.

Students working in labs within the Arizona Health Sciences Center are paid to contribute to research projects. Undergraduate students can be found in labs throughout research centers, the BIO5 Institute and the College of Medicine.

Scorpion antivenin tested in University of Arizona study

Matt Nelson — 2010-09-07

A study of an experimental scorpion antivenin administered at hospitals statewide shows encouraging results, but the timeline for government approval remains unknown.

The antivenin, Anascorp, is the subject of a study led by the University of Arizona to test the medication's safety and effectiveness.

UA undergrads give labs a hand

Matt Ellsworth — 2010-09-07

[Source: Arizona Daily Wildcat]

Some undergraduate students analyze DNA, tumors or enzymes to earn their spending money.

[UBRP is funded by grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET).]

“There’s such a wonderful culture here of including undergraduate research,” said Carol Bender, director of the Undergraduate Biomedical Research Program (UBRP).

[More]

Arizona Heart Institute informs patients of bankruptcy filing

Matt Nelson — 2010-09-03

Arizona Heart Institute has started telling patients that it has filed for bankruptcy and is pursuing a sale to a Tennessee-based health-care company.

A Bankruptcy Court this week ordered the cardiac physicians group to inform patients about its financial standing and planned sale after the court's trustee raised concerns that patients need to know such details to make informed medical decisions about their care.

Heart Institute representatives argued that mandatory notification about the practice's bankruptcy filing and proposed sale to Vanguard Health Systems was unnecessary because it would not affect patients.

Students flock to biomed program at Gilbert high school

Matt Ellsworth — 2010-09-03

[Source: Arizona Republic]

This academic year is the second that Campo Verde High School in Gilbert has offered the Project Lead the Way program, a non-profit organization that works with school districts to offer the four-year biomedical courses as well as courses in other fields related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). It also offers an engineering program, available in Gilbert Public Schools at Desert Ridge High School in Mesa.

Campo Verde's biomedical program is one of only two in the state - Douglas has the other - and is considered in the nation's top eight, Hardina said.

Four students and two teachers were invited to showcase the school's program in October at a Project Lead the Way conference in Washington, D.C., Hardina said.

The biomedical class is an elective course at Campo Verde, and has 110 students, including 37 in their second year of the program, he said.

[More]

BioFest 2010

2010-09-01 10:22:39 -0700

BioFest 2010

NCI-SBIR Workshop - Tucson

2010-09-01 10:16:19 -0700

NCI-SBIR Workshop - Tucson

NCI-SBIR Workshop

2010-09-01 10:10:13 -0700

NCI-SBIR Workshop

2010 Arizona Science Teacher Symposium at BIO5

2010-08-31 14:58:05 -0700

2010 Arizona Science Teacher Symposium at BIO5

Summer STEM internship introduces student to research world

Arizona Biosciences — 2010-08-25

Arizona's educational programs in the STEM fields--science, technology, education, and mathematics--hold substantial responsibility for cultivating the state's future bioscience workforce. Among many dynamic STEM initiatives aimed at young people are several summer programs sited at universities and research institutions around the state. In this narrative, Laura Moedano, a first-year student at the University of Arizona, describes her participation in the KEYS Research Internships at UA.

2010 Governor's Rural and Regional Development Conference

2010-08-23 16:02:49 -0700

2010 Governor's Rural and Regional Development Conference

Greater Phoenix AZBio Mixer

2010-08-23 09:43:35 -0700

Greater Phoenix AZBio Mixer

Longtime Arizona Policy Expert to Lead New Flinn Foundation Initiative

Arizona Biosciences — 2010-08-23

The Flinn Foundation has appointed Nancy Welch, a nationally recognized public-policy analyst, to lead an emerging program to strengthen civic leadership in Arizona.

Renewable Energy Orientation & SBIR/STTR Phase I Writing Proposal Workshop

2010-08-12 12:51:49 -0700

Renewable Energy Orientation & SBIR/STTR Phase I Writing Proposal Workshop

Phoenix Children's Hospital, College of Medicine-Phoenix expand partnership

Arizona Biosciences — 2010-08-06

Under a pact approved yesterday by the Arizona Board of Regents, the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix and Phoenix Children's Hospital will launch a robust collaboration that will include the establishment of a new academic department, joint research projects, and revenue exchanges to preserve federal funding for graduate medical education.

City pursues private developer for Biomedical Campus facility

Arizona Biosciences — 2010-08-06

The City of Phoenix has begun a process to identify a private developer of a new building on the downtown Phoenix Biomedical Campus. The new building, which would be at least 100,000 square feet, would make available laboratory and office space for biotech companies that have coveted proximity to some of the Arizona's most important bioscience institutions.

ASU Center for Healthcare Innovation & Clinical Trials (CHICT) Event

2010-08-04 13:30:22 -0700

ASU Center for Healthcare Innovation & Clinical Trials (CHICT) Event

Banner Alzheimer's Institute secures $13.6 million in grant funding

Arizona Biosciences — 2010-07-02

In the fierce competition for research funding, the Phoenix-based Banner Alzheimer's Institute has been doing quite well for itself over recent months. In a one-month span between May and June, it announced the receipt of $13.6 million in grants to support facility construction, equipment purchase, Alzheimer's prevention studies, and more.

New economic-development authority to prioritize bio, other "high growth clusters"

Arizona Biosciences — 2010-07-02

By executive order, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has created the Arizona Commerce Authority, a public-private partnership intended to transform the state's commerce department and support development of "high growth clusters," especially industries like aerospace, the biosciences, solar energy, and defense.

C-Path consortium unveils online trove of Alzheimer's research data

Arizona Biosciences — 2010-06-28

A coalition built by the Tucson-based Critical Path Institute has opened access to an online database of records from some 4,000 participants in clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease treatments. C-Path hopes to give scientists at both large drug companies and tiny biotech startups a chance at turning a long record of frustration into the discovery of successful therapies for Alzheimer's.

NAU allied-health programs to expand with new Biomedical Campus facility

Arizona Biosciences — 2010-05-20

There was plenty to celebrate at last week's groundbreaking for the Health Sciences Education Building at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix: the end of long and delicate negotiations; new construction jobs right away; and more doctors and pharmacists soon. A less-publicized benefit of the new facility, but one of great importance to Arizona, is major growth of Northern Arizona University's role in educating health professionals.

Chandler opens bioscience-focused business incubator

Arizona Biosciences — 2010-05-07

Until a few months ago, the former Intel facility was a cavernous, empty building, emblematic of recent years' wrenching shifts in Chandler's manufacturing base. But as of April 30, a 40,000 square-foot section of the building represents something else: the city's aggressive pursuit of a dynamic segment of the bioscience industry. The Innovations Technology Incubator is open for business.

Arizona represented well at BIO Convention

Arizona Biosciences — 2010-05-03

Arizona has sent another large delegation to Chicago this week for the 2010 BIO International Convention, the largest annual meeting in the world for the bioscience industry. Executives from bioscience companies have been joined at the Arizona Pavilion by representatives of Arizona's universities, economic-development officials, and the leaders of the Arizona BioIndustry Association.