Arizona Bioscience News: COVID-19 in Arizona

December 10, 2020

By Matt Ellsworth

Arizona continues to play an active role in COVID-19 research as new cases and hospitalizations continue their rapid rise and preparations are made to distribute vaccines. Arizona State University received a $12.5 million contract from the National Cancer Institute to help build the nation’s largest coordinated effort to study immune responses to COVID-19. And Translational Genomics Research Institute researchers found that one molecule created from a person’s DNA could be making COVID-19 infections better or worse.


ASU receives $12.5 million to help build U.S. COVID-19 serology project / KJZZ


Arizona researchers discover potential new genetic target against COVID-19 infections / Arizona Republic


Arizona company tests possible short-term COVID-19 vaccine alternative / Arizona Republic


Arizona company hopes its COVID-19 nasal spray can help people as they wait for vaccine / Fox 10 News


Phases 1, 2, 3: Here’s how Maricopa County plans to distribute COVID-19 vaccines / Arizona Republic


Vaccines a “silver lining” to the dark cloud of COVID-19 / KAFF


HonorHealth practices for first phase of drive-thru COVID-19 vaccinations for health care workers / Arizona Republic


Logistical challenges ahead as Arizona prepares for COVID-19 vaccines / KJZZ


Banner Chief: Arizona COVID-19 outbreak will get ‘A lot worse before it gets better’ / KJZZ


‘There’s a way to work through this’: Why ASU President Michael Crow is optimistic about spring learning / KJZZ


UA enhancing COVID-19 testing efforts, requirements for students this spring semester / KJZZ


UA sees uptick in COVID-19 cases; ASU, NAU end semesters with low positivity rates / Arizona Republic


ASU ends fall semester with 3,357 cumulative COVID-19 cases / State Press


North Phoenix land auctioned Wednesday will become massive international semiconductor company factory / Arizona Republic

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.—the world’s largest contract producer of silicon chips—is buying a large tract of undeveloped state land in north Phoenix to build its multibillion-dollar semiconductor factory.


A 73-year-old-woman who should have gotten Alzheimer’s, didn’t—revitalizing a search for the cure / Newsweek

Dr. Eric Reiman, executive director of Banner Alzheimer’s Institute in Phoenix, talks about one of the most surprising developments to emerge from a study of Colombians cursed with a gene that usually dooms its victims to full-blown Alzheimer’s disease by the age of 50.


Cord blood banks sell parents on promising stem cell research, but with no guarantees / Arizona Republic

Stem cells in umbilical cord blood could one day be used for regenerative medicine, as current clinical trials show promise for the use of umbilical cord blood to treat a host of conditions such as neurological disorders, orthopedic injuries and even diabetes. Read more: Donated cord blood saved Sophie Lee’s life, but most parents throw it away

UA creates online skin cancer prevention training for massage therapists / Arizona Public Media

Researchers at the University of Arizona have created a training program for massage therapists to identify possible signs of skin cancer.


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