University of Arizona in the News

CNN Friday
The quest for longer-lasting COVID-19 vaccines

As waves of new coronavirus variants circulate the globe, one thing has become clear: human immunity against the virus fades over time. University of Arizona immunologist Deepta Bhattacharya studies the lifespan of plasma cells, a type of long-lasting cell that makes protective antibodies. He's also interested in how various vaccine technologies influence the persistence of these cells in our bodies. "There have been a few side-by-side studies that have compared the mRNA vaccines to infection-induced immunity, and it seems like it slips a little bit faster than that," he said.
The Huffington Post Thursday
Stop saying 'breastfeeding is free.' It absolutely isn't.

The nationwide baby formula shortage – caused by supply chain issues and a February safety recall that shuttered a major manufacturing plant – prompted some on social media to suggest women should breastfeed because "it's free!" "Breastfeeding – and relatedly pumping breast milk – is not free because it consumes women's time and resources in ways that amount to another job on top of being a mother," said University of Arizona professor of management and organizations Allison S. Gabriel, an organizational psychologist. "This means that breastfeeding is only free if we do not value women's time and the efforts it takes to physically be the ones to produce breastmilk to feed their child."
The Arizona Republic Wednesday
Forests often regenerate after wildfires. Why the climate crisis could change that

University of Arizona associate professor of natural resources Donald Falk and colleagues in March published a review paper that looked at the ecological processes involved with dry, brittle and, often burning forests. Falk discusses how resilient the state's forests might be to increasing threats from climate change and what people can do to protect these beloved landscapes.
The Joy of Why Podcast Wednesday
Will the James Webb Space Telescope reveal another Earth?

University of Arizona Regents Professor of Astronomy Marcia Rieke, principal investigator for the Near Infrared Camera aboard the James Webb Space Telescope, discusses how Webb may transform our understanding of the universe.
PBS NewsHour Wednesday
President Biden warns of 'another tough hurricane season' this year

President Joe Biden warned Wednesday that the country will likely see "another tough hurricane season" this year, and he pledged that his administration was prepared to respond to the storms and help Americans recover from them. This year, the University of Arizona and other major national forecasting centers predict a busier-than-average hurricane season. "We know hurricanes are coming our way. They grow more extreme every season," Biden said.
Space.com Wednesday
Building a better black hole with supercomputer simulations

The international Event Horizon Telescope collaboration has snapped a second image of a black hole – this time at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy. But to give the image meaning, the collaboration had to compare it with black hole simulations. "Snapping an image is just the beginning. To really understand the object we're observing, we had to compare it to simulations," said Chi-Kwan "CK" Chan, a University of Arizona associate research professor in the College of Science's Steward Observatory.
USA Today Wednesday
'We don't feel safe': Many Black Americans experiencing grief, trauma after Buffalo shooting

In the wake of a recent shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, many African-Americans remain on edge. From lynchings and church bombings to the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police and beyond, hate crimes have a cumulative impact. It shatters trust and can fuel collective anxiety, stress, depression, hopelessness and post-traumatic stress, experts said. "Unfortunately, the shooting in Buffalo is another incident of racist violence, that follows a legacy of anti-Black violence that goes back to even before this country's founding," said Da'Mere Wilson, a psychology researcher at the University of Arizona. "This incident of collective grief, felt most acutely by the Black community in Buffalo, has reverberating effects through the coverage of these incidents through mass media."
The Conversation Monday
How media reports of 'clashes' mislead Americans about Israeli-Palestinian violence

Maha Nassar, an associate professor in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Arizona, writes about the historical imbalance of media coverage regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Arizona Daily Star Monday
U of A researcher awarded $4 million cancer grant to focus on Hispanics

University of Arizona professor of nursing Terry Badger received a four-year, $4 million American Cancer Society grant to improve health equity for Hispanic cancer survivors and their family caregivers through the creation of a Cancer Health Equity Research Center. "By looking at social determinants of health, we're hoping to come up with ideas of how we can decrease health disparities and enable people to access the health care they need," Badger said.
The Conversation Monday
How media reports of 'clashes' mislead Americans about Israeli-Palestinian violence

Maha Nassar, an associate professor in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Arizona, writes about the historical imbalance of media coverage regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.