Improving the quality of life in Arizona to benefit future generations.
As dismal as 2009 was for Arizona's economy, the state would have been in significantly worse shape without the strong performance of the health-care sector, the only segment of the economy to add jobs for the year. And as a recent study illustrates, health-care providers like Scottsdale’s Mayo Clinic have an outsized economic impact in the state.
The Arizona Legislature's Joint Committee on Capital Review (JCCR) has included on its March 23 agenda a review of the 268,000-square-foot Health Sciences Education Building (HSEB), part of the planned expansion of The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partnership with Arizona State University in downtown Phoenix. The $187 million expansion of the Phoenix Biomedical Campus - supported by lottery and university dollars, not by the general fund - requires review by the JCCR before the project can break ground.
"We would like to thank House Speaker Kirk Adams for his leadership in helping to see this project through, and Representative Kavanagh, chair of JCCR, for assigning this tri-university project for review," said Ernest Calderon, President of the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR). "We are one step closer to training much-needed physicians and health-care professionals in Arizona with expanded facilities at the Phoenix Biomedical Campus."
The Food and Drug Administration is devising guidelines that could accelerate testing and approval of multidrug regimens for some of the world's most deadly diseases.
At least two pharmaceutical consortia are poised to take advantage of the forthcoming policy: a group of 10 drug companies and several nonprofit organizations convened by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop medicines to fight tuberculosis; and pharmaceutical giants Merck & Co. and AstraZeneca PLC, which are jointly testing two anticancer agents.
Abraxis BioScience Inc. announced that its chemotherapeutic compound ABRAXANE® has demonstrated a significant improvement in overall response rate in the treatment of the most common form of lung cancer when compared to Taxol®, based upon independent radiologist review.
The study was a randomized registrational Phase 3 clinical trial comparing ABRAXANE (protein-bound paclitaxel) with Taxol (paclitaxel) injection, both in combination with carboplatin, for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). One of the largest NSCLC clinical studies ever conducted, it involved over 1,000 patients, at 102 different sites around the world.
Ahead of World TB Day, US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg helped public and private sector partners launch a new collaboration to significantly accelerate the development of combination treatments for tuberculosis—and replace an almost 50-year-old drug regimen. Created by the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, the Critical Path Institute, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the initiative could potentially reduce the time it takes to introduce new combination TB treatments from as much as a quarter century to as few as six years.
Known as the Critical Path to TB Drug Regimens (CPTR), the initiative will test promising combinations of individual TB drug candidates from different companies early in the development pipeline—and identify the best new treatment regimens. Initial groups engaged in CPTR include scientists from FDA and the pharmaceutical companies Johnson & Johnson, sanofi-aventis, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer, Otsuka, Novartis, Sequella and Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed its support for the initiative.
In response to a plea by the Innocence Project, Chromosomal Laboratories in Phoenix, Arizona has offered its accredited DNA testing services to help pursue justice. The offer was made to the Honorable Rick Perry, Governor of Texas for testing DNA evidence that could prove the innocence or guilt of Hank Skinner. Mr. Skinner is set to be executed on March 24th for the murder of his girlfriend and her two adult sons, which he was convicted of in 1995. The Innocence Project has asked that concerned individuals to urge Governor Perry to order a stay of execution until the testing can be completed.
CSI Clarkdale: 7th graders learn about criminal investigation, apply STEM concepts
Philip Wright, Verde Independent, March X, 2010
http://verdenews.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=35387
CLARKDALE - Seventh-grade students at Clarkdale-Jerome School became Crime Scene Investigators Monday. They investigated a mock homicide in the school gymnasium.
The school's Resource Officer Robert Church has put on these CSI scenarios for his students for several years. Church develops two entire crime scenes - for both seventh-grade classes -- along with victims and planted evidence. Then the students investigate.
"I set up identical crime scenes and each class processes their own crime scene," Church said.
Church knows how the crime played out, who the key witnesses are and who the murderer is. The students must ask the right questions to develop their witnesses and finally gain access to the guilty person.
To do this, the students collect evidence, have the evidence analyzed, obtain search warrants, conduct interviews and, if they do everything correctly, make an arrest.
During the process, students not only learn how a criminal investigation unfolds but also how to apply much of the science and math they have been learning in class.
"They're working on state standards (for AIMS)," Church said. They apply those standards through skills in inquiry, using data tables, comparison and analysis, forming a hypothesis and supporting it, and writing detailed reports.
As a resource officer, Church must teach 180 hours of law-related topics. He said the study of forensic science fits that requirement. He also teaches civics classes for eighth-grade students. For that class, Church puts on a mock trial, and he introduces them to actual laboratory processes used to analyze evidence.
Church's students also learn such topics as juvenile law and discuss subjects such as bullying.
Eighth-graders also have units on street law and consumer law.
The program is funded by the State of Arizona in partnership with the Arizona Department of Education and the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education.
Intel program brings Arizona teachers up to date on technology
Luci Scott, Arizona Republic, March 9, 2010
The father of a student at Galveston Elementary School in Chandler needed to write a letter, but he didn't know how to use a computer.
The family didn't have a computer at home.
So, with the blessing of the school, they visited Galveston when classes weren't in session, and the child showed his father how to write the letter. The child is a first-grader.
"School computers are available to parents, who learn from their children," said Allison Davis, the child's teacher.
"It's neat to see a 6-year-old teach a parent how to write a letter on Word."
Davis herself brushed up her skills on the Word software through a wide-ranging program by Chandler microchip manufacturer Intel, called Intel Teach.
The program helps teachers enhance learning through the use of technology with a focus on developing 21st-century skills.
Intel helps the Arizona Department of Education create a core group of trainers, who in turn train other teachers in technology and methods. Intel has provided the initial training, ongoing updated curriculum and funding as well as consulting with administrators.
There are currently 66 school districts in Arizona involved with the program. At one time, there were more than 100.
Davis, who took the training several years ago, learned more about Word, Publisher and PowerPoint software and was introduced to Movie Maker.
Each quarter, Davis tries to do a big project in science or social studies, and the Intel training showed her how to set up a unit and plan long term "so as not to crunch everything into two days," she said.
The training went beyond nuts and bolts, and gave her inspiration.
"It piqued my curiosity about how to use technology effectively to make students be engaged and be more curious," she said.
"I keep wanting to learn more; the training was kind of like a spark."
Her first-graders are so savvy with technology that they made a movie on desert animals.
The Intel Teach program was recently honored by the National Governors Association with a Public-Private Partnership Award.
Since the beginning of Intel Teach almost 10 years ago, more than 17,500 Arizona educators have participated in professional development, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said in an association news release.
"This effective program has been designated as one of the state's key initiatives for increasing the use of educational technology in Arizona classrooms," Brewer said.
The initial training was not the end of Davis' contact with Intel. Employees stay at the ready for teachers' questions.
"Intel volunteers work with us; they're fabulous people who really want to help children in the schools," Davis said.
"It's neat that teachers and engineers can work together to make sure students will be ready to go into math, science and technology."
Editor's Note: Below is background information about a program initiated in southern Arizona. On Friday, March 26, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Science Foundation Arizona offices in downtown Phoenix, representatives from the Unversity of Arizona, Raytheon, and Southern Arizona Leadership Council will introduce the Teacher Industry Internship and Masters program to metro Phoenix businesses.
While the program started in Tucson, there are now teachers and a need to find internship spots in Maricopa County. The lunch is an informational session to introduce Phoenix area employers to the program with the hope they will participate, perhaps as early as this summer. If you/your business is interested in attending this lunch, contact Darcy Renfro, Vice President and Director of STEM Initiative, Science Foundation Arizona, at 602-682-2881 or [email protected]
PROGRAM BACKGROUND
The University of Arizona and Tucson Values Teachers (TVT) are collaborators on a unique internship program for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers in Arizona middle and high schools, focusing primarily on those in their first five years of teaching. The primary goals of the program are to increase the retention of science and math teachers and to improve science and math teaching and learning. Science Foundation Arizona (SFAz) approved the three-year program, conditioned on matching funds from industry, with a clear mandate to create a model of success that could be used throughout the state.
Unlike any other program in the country, the internship is linked with a three-year Master’s Degree program that transforms the practical workforce experience into classroom curriculum, providing a critical bridge between education and businesses. The program creates a unique opportunity for business and teacher collaboration. Businesses benefit from the contributions of a high-quality, Master’s level K-12 teacher who will bring top-level STEM skills into the workplace. And, as part of the Master’s program, the teachers incorporate these first-hand business skills into curriculum and classroom teaching techniques. Importantly, the program emphasizes 21st Century Skills as a central part of the internship experience. Now in its second year, the program is expanding to reach all parts of the state.
The teachers selected for the program are simultaneously enrolled in a Master of Arts degree program at the University of Arizona. The SFAZ grant will cover the majority of the costs for coursework in the MA program. Teachers will be available four days per week on a full-time basis throughout the period of the internship. Businesses are asked to place teachers in a meaningful job experience for the teachers and pay industry wages. (Fridays are reserved for university coursework). All teacher applicants will be initially screened by the University, then businesses will be provided with the resumes of a choice of candidates who will be interviewed and ultimately hired by the participating businesses.
Businesses who participated in the first year include Raytheon Missile Systems, BioVigilant, SEBRA, Texas Instruments, BeachFleischman, Sundt, SEBRA, The University of Arizona’s Biosphere 2, Fort Huachuca and General Plasma. These companies are all continuing their involvement during year 2 of the program. In addition, several more companies including Walgreens, Ventana Medical Systems, C-PATH and others are joining the collaboration for the 2nd year.
Internship Description: In agreeing to participate in the industry internship program, businesses are agreeing to:
CONTACT: Dr. Julia Olsen [email protected] or (520) 621-5682
For information about Bioscience, please contact:
bioscience@flinn.org or (602) 744-6831
