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 The "Dog Days" of August may be too disparaging a term to call a month that has shown such promise at the UA Department of Medicine. As you'll read below, we've got a lot of things to cheer about, including kudos to clinical teams that ranked well on the most recent U.S. News "Best Hospitals" list and physicians who made Tucson Lifestyle's "Top Doctors" list, both released in the last few weeks.
Congratulations also to Dr. Clara Curiel-Lewandrowski for being named AZBIO "Researcher of the Year," Dr. Kent Kwoh for landing a prestigious committee spot with the American College of Rheumatology and Dr. Khadijah Breathett for winning a K01 award for her research on racial inequities in advanced heart treatment.
There are several continuing medical education opportunities to cheer in this issue as well, including an 8-CME, Oct. 20 UA/Banner Health/TMC event, "The Tucson Conference," which will be led largely by UA College of Medicine – Tucson faculty members—many from our department.
 We also can cheer UA Center on Aging Co-Directors Drs. Mindy Fain and Janko Nikolich- Žugich for their leadership in the CHiiLi iniative. Their goal is to build a UA Health Sciences interdisciplinary network to support pilot project research funding that could eventually lead to our designation as an NIA Claude D. Pepper Older American Independence Center. See that and other funding opportunities below, too.
Likewise, I want to thank faculty members who supported the BLAISER Program this summer, which is designed to promote diversity in attracting and supporting students from more underserved areas and their interest in health sciences. Serving as research mentors were Drs. Steve Black, Jane Mohler, Jil Tardiff and Jason Yuan. In addition, Dr. Ken Ramos was one of the speakers in the BLAISER Minority Health Disparities Lectures.
With the UA's designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution, this couldn't be more timely. I mentioned in a recent email the launch of a new DOM Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Please contact my office to join this group and help address departmental issues. In addition, be aware the college's Office of Diversity and Inclusion will offer unconscious bias recognition training for "diversity champions" to assist in faculty-wide workshops later this year. Separately, the UAHS ODI hosts a second annual Welcome Back Open House on Sept. 18 (see the flyer).
Lastly, our fellows should all attend the Third Annual Fellows Retreat in Kiewit Auditorium, Sept. 12, 5:30-7:30 p.m. I hope to see you there!
Monica Kraft, MD
Robert & Irene Flinn Professor of Medicine
Chair, Department of Medicine
University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson
Banner – University Medicine and Tucson Medical Center will host an 8.0 CME event, “The Tucson Conference,” Oct. 20, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., at the Tucson Marriott University Park, 880 E. Second St. Lead organizer for the event is DOM Chair Dr. Monica Kraft and UA College of Medicine – Tucson faculty members will participate as instructors or panelists. Among them are Drs. Edwin Aquino, Tara Carr, Steve Knoper, Merri Pendergrass, James Sligh and Nancy Sweitzer. See agenda topics. Register today…
Dr. Clara Curiel-Lewandrowski, a professor of medicine in the UA Division of Dermatology and director of the Cutaneous Oncology Program at the UA Skin Cancer  Institute, was named 2018 AZBIO Researcher of the Year by the Arizona Bioscience Association, Announced on its website, along with several other award winners, the honor will be presented Oct. 3 in a ceremony at the Phoenix Convention Center…
Dr. Monica Kraft, chair of the UA Department of Medicine, the Robert and Irene Flinn Endowed Chair of Medicine at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson and deputy director of the UA Health Sciences Asthma and Airway Disease Research Center, attends her first teleconference as an official member of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council in late August. She joins UA President Dr. Robert Robbins, who also is a member of the advisory group to the NIH and NHLBI...
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Several free “Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Workshops” will be offered this fall. They count toward RCR education required for students, postdocs and certain junior faculty funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and/or National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The UA Office for Research, Discovery and Innovation offers RCR Certificates to meet requirements of these federal funding agencies. Enroll in one today…
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Up to three grants for new investigators valued at $30,000 each are available along with a at least a fourth at $30,000 for a new investigator “in areas of special interest.” Dr. Andrew Kraft, UA Cancer Center director and associate vice president for oncology programs at the UA Health Sciences, is the principal investigator. All applications are due by Aug 31…
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The 2018 Department of Medicine Fellows Retreat, with more than 75 fellows and faculty expected to attend, is set for 5:30-7:30 p.m., Sept. 12, at the University of Arizona Cancer Center’s Kiewit Auditorium. Come learn about career trajectories of junior and senior faculty, opportunities in research and academic medicine, mentorship and more. You’ll hear from Drs. Irving Kron, Monica Kraft, Jil Tardiff, Tara Carr, Anita Koshy and your peers. By invitation only…
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The Academy of Medical Education Scholars (AMES) at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson announced to faculty and department heads the deadline for submission of nominations for the 2018 Vernon and Virginia Furrow Excellence in Teaching Awards has been set for Friday, Sept. 14. The awards will be presented at noon, Wednesday, Nov. 7, in DuVal Auditorium. Get your entries in and save the date…
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If you missed Tucson Lifestyle’s annual “Top Doctors” listings this year, that’s because it moved from its traditional spot in the July issue to June—where it was a bit crowded by the magazine’s summer style and weddings themes. Overall, 85 UA/Banner – University Medicine physicians made the list (down from ~100), but DOM docs stayed at about a quarter of the total. See top/best doctors lists going back to 2012…
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Four faculty members in the UA Department of Medicine—Drs. Steve Black, Jane Mohler, Jil Tardiff and Jason Yuan—participated as mentors in the Border Latino and American Indian Summer Exposure to Research (BLAISER) Program and were recognized Aug. 7 at the closing ceremony for the class of 2018 student participants. Dr. Ken Ramos was one of the program's lecturers. See the video, program and photos…
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Kudos to UA College of Medicine – Tucson clinical specialties given high placement for Banner – University Medical Center Tucson on recently released U.S. News & World Report 2018-19 “Best Hospitals” rankings. Only one of the three national ranked specialties and six “high performing” specialties or procedures recognized was not associated with the UA Department of Medicine this year…
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The Banner – University Medicine Division of Banner Health launched a new monthly newsletter for physicians and clinical staff that work at Banner – University Medical Center facilities in Tucson and Phoenix.  Check your inbox or see the PDF version here for those without access to the Banner intranet. In other news, learn about a Banner Town Hall, Aug. 31, with UA Men's Basketball Coach Sean Miller.…
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The recently established Annual UA College of Medicine – Tucson Clinical Excellence Award recognizes physician faculty members at the assistant or associate professor level for outstanding clinical care. This competitive award is acknowledged by a plaque, UA Health Sciences media coverage and includes a monetary prize. Deadline for submissions: Friday, Sept. 7…
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Dr. Khadijah Breathett, an assistant professor of medicine in the UA Division of Cardiology and member of the UA Sarver Heart Center, recently was awarded a 5-year, $875,000 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, a unit of the National Institutes of Health, for her research on gender and racial inequities in advanced heart treatment for African-Americans. She also kicked off this year’s Medicine Grand Rounds. See the archived video to learn more…
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The UA Treatment, Research and Education of Adipose Tissue (TREAT) Program has converted a free seminar hosted for health-care providers last fall into an online course worth the same 3.5 CME hours. Like the seminar, the course is supported by the Lipedema Foundation, which funded creation of the TREAT Program. The course, developed by Drs. Karen Herbst and Elle Ross, helps clinicians learn to recognize this most common form of fatty or adipose tissue disorder, diagnosis it and the latest research and treatment options…
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The UA Department of Medicine hosted the Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Dr. Sanjeev Gupta for a guest lecture Aug. 29, as a candidate for director of the UA Thomas D. Boyer Liver Institute. The position is in the UA Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. An NIH-funded physician-scientist for nearly 25 years and contributing author to Zakim & Boyer’s Hepatology, he spoke on “Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Liver Regeneration.” See a link to the video…
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The UA College of Medicine – Tucson, UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, UA Center on Aging and UA BIO5 Institute have sponsored an “Aging and Resilience Seminar Series,” which began Aug. 28 with presenters Drs. Mindy Fain, Janko Nikolich- Žugich and Zhao Chen. At the event, they put out an RFA for projects with funding up to $75,000 as part of a long-term effort to land a Claude D. Pepper Older American Independence Center designation from the National Institute on Aging. The deadline is Oct. 1. Other seminars are planned for September–November…
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A fall series of the popular UA/Banner Health “Doc Talks” lectures launches Sept. 4 with Dr. Irving Kron, senior associate VP, UA Health Sciences, and interim executive dean, UA College of Medicine – Tucson. The cardiothoracic surgeon’s topic: “Valves R Us.” Also speaking Sept. 11 in this month-long series will be Dr. Julie Bauman, chief, UA Division of Hematology and Oncology. UAHS Senior VP Dr. Michael Dake and Dr. Roberta Diaz Brinton, director, UA Center for Innovation in Brain Science, fill out the calendar. Be at the Westin La Paloma, Tuesdays, 5-7 p.m…
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The UA Department of Medicine’s Helen Hill, pulmonary fellowship programs manager, was among 11 UA College of Medicine – Tucson employees honored at the awards presentation Aug. 2 for the 2018 "Lura Hanekamp" Dedicated Staff Awards for Excellence. Congratulations, Helen! Speaking on her behalf were Drs. Sairam Parthasarathy and James Knepler. See the video and a photo album…
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Dr. Kent Kwoh, chief, UA Division of Rheumatology, director, UA Arthritis Center and the Charles A.L. and Suzanne M. Stephens Endowed Chair in Rheumatology at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson, will serve a three-year term on the Division Directors Special Committee. This is a prestigious assignment with the American College of Rheumatology charged with advancing rheumatology through support of clinical care, research, education and advocacy. Read on to learn about Dr. Kwoh's research and recent grants to study knee osteoarthritis…
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