Biozona Weekly: Banner Sun Health discovery; AZ-tested skin-cancer drug debuts; Banner in NY Times editorial

June 21, 2012

By hammersmith

Maricopa students, teachers participate in STEM program
06/15/2012 | Maricopa Monitor | Eric Mungenast

Several Maricopa teachers and students have participated in programs meant to spur an interest in scientific learning.

BSHRI Reports Alzheimer’s Discovery
06/12/2012 | Daily News Sun | Nora Avery-Page

Detecting Alzheimer’s disease before a patient shows symptoms may only be a few years away, thanks to work being done by Dr. Larry Sparks at the Banner Sun Health Research Institute.

Banner Alzheimer’s Foundation rolls out $40M campaign in Phoenix
06/08/2012 | Phoenix Business Journal | Matt Haldane

The Banner Alzheimer’s Foundation announced a $40 million campaign today to advance promising Alzheimer’s disease treatment and prevention.

Colorado family donates $6 million to fight Alzheimer’s
06/06/2012 | KTAR | Taylor Summers

The Banner Alzheimer’s Foundation is celebrating the generosity of Jerre and May Joy Stead from Englewood, Colo.  The couple donated $6 million to the foundation for an experimental Alzheimer’s immunization that is being studied by the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute.

Banner Health to open 4 clinics, new tower
06/12/2012 | Arizona Republic | Ken Alltucker

Banner Health will spend more than $190 million on a new 144-bed hospital tower at Banner Estrella Medical Center in Phoenix and four outpatient health centers in the East Valley.

New drug can fight inherited skin cancer
06/09/2012 | Arizona Republic | Ken Alltucker

Vismodegib, a new drug to fight skin cancer initially tested at Scottsdale Healthcare, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in January for people with an advanced form of one type of skin cancer, basal-cell carcinoma. New research unveiled last week by local doctors and other scientists shows that people with an inherited form of the skin cancer also benefit from the drug.

Phoenix GE unit gets FDA approval for ultrasound probe
06/01/2012 | Phoenix Business Journal | Angela Gonzales

With approval secured from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, GE Healthcare is ramping up production of the cardiovascular ultrasound system developed at its Phoenix facility.

A New Attack on Alzheimer’s
05/20/2012 | New York Times Editorial

The Obama administration has announced a bold research program, led by Banner Alzheimer’s Institute in Phoenix, to test whether a drug can prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease well before any symptoms appear. It is a long shot, but the payoff could be huge.