David S. Alberts, MD. Throughout his career, Dr. Alberts has focused on translational cancer prevention and treatment research. The emphasis of his laboratory-based and clinical research has been on the chemoprevention and treatment of such pervasive and potentially deadly diseases as cancers of the breast, colon, ovary, and skin. He has been the UA Cancer Center’s director since 2005.  Under Dr. Alberts’  leadership the extensive research portfolio of The University of Arizona Cancer Center includes more than $60 million in annual research funding, including four large NCI interdisciplinary programs, and two Special Programs of Research Excellence, one in gastrointestinal cancers and one in lymphoma.  Clinically, Dr. Alberts pioneered new treatments for advanced ovarian cancers, including in vitro tumor cell chemosensitivity testing for personalized medicine strategies, intraperitoneal  chemotherapy , and maintenance chemotherapy. Presently, Dr. Alberts helps to coordinate Phase I and II and pharmacokinetic drug studies at The University of Arizona Cancer Center for molecularly-targeted chemopreventive agents. His laboratory research is concentrated on the evaluation of new surrogate endpoint biomarkers for cancer prevention trials with a special focus on precursor lesions for bladder, breast, colon, cervical, endometrial, ovarian, prostate, and skin cancers, using quantitative histopathology (i.e. karyometric) approaches.  His NCI funded drug and diagnostics research has resulted in more than two dozen patents and the co-founding of five Arizona pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

2013 Commencement UA College of Medicine – Phoenix Fifty University of Arizona College of Medicine -- Phoenix medical students were officially conferred with their medical degrees at ceremonies on May 8 in the third graduation for the downtown Phoenix medical school. Read more: http://phoenixmed.arizona.edu

AZBio CEO, Joan Koerber-Walker shares highlights from  the 2011 AZBio Awards.  Meet some of this year's award winners.

Jennifer Kehlet Barton, Ph.D., Associate Vice President for Research and Professor, Biomedical Engineering at The University of Arizona was named the 2012 Michael A. Cusanovich Bioscience Educator of the Year by the Arizona Bioindustry Association. Dr. Barton was nominated by students, past and present with supporting nominations by her co-workers, and selected for this honor by an independent panel of judges from across the state of Arizona for her contributions to all aspects of bioscience education. They include her skill as a course instructor, her compassion and patience as a mentor and adviser to undergraduate and graduate students, her strategic leadership in creating a learning environment and career path for students via her development and leadership of the UA Biomedical Engineering Programs, her recent role as Assistant Director of the BIO5 Institute, and her participation with industry in a broad range of industry association and community groups.

Sit back and enjoy this conversation with Arizona Bioscience Pioneer Dr. Tom Grogan.

The AZBio Awards are an Arizona tradition that recognizes the best of the biosciences, showcases our companies, connects our future bioscience leaders to today's. 

Brain State Technologies  has a mission statement that is  three words: To Help People. The corporate headquarters is based in Scottsdale, AZ and has nearly 200 providers in 18 countries that have helped over 50,000 people. Lee Gerdes is the Founder and CEO of Brain State Technologies®  and the creator of the breakthrough neuro-technology Brainwave Optimization with Real-Time Balancing™, which helps people of all ages and conditions to overcome cognitive, emotional, and physical challenges and is transforming and likely saving lives all over the world.   The firm and its process have been featured on ABC, FOX, CBS, OWN, People, The New York Times, USA Today, PARADE, The Arizona Republic, BrainWorld, Frontiers in Neuroscience, and more.  Brain State offers a non-invasive process versus using drugs or surgery for a wide range of applications to overcome cognitive, emotional, and physical challenges including sleep disorders, alcoholism, meth addition, and PTSD. Their work has resulted in the largest relational database of brain patterns on planet Earth.  Brain State’s patent-pending procedure compares over 48,000 brain frequencies and its patented Relational Sound (Wave Aid) program provides for ongoing process support.  Committed to serving our veterans, the company offers pro bono services to soldiers with debilitating symptoms of PTSD. 

Thomas M. Grogan, M.D., Founder of Ventana and SVP, Medical Affairs of Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. (Ventana), a member of the Roche Group, receives the AZBio Pioneer Award for Lifetime Achievement at the 2013 AZBio Awards on October 10, 2013. Dr. Grogan was a pathologist and professor at the University of Arizona when in the mid 1980’s he and a small team set out to challenge the limitations of the then current standards and processes for cancer pathology.  What was to become the company’s first digital pathology instrument evolved from Grogan’s notes on a yellow pad into the BenchMark IHC/ISH staining platforms.   Under Grogan’s leadership, Ventana was founded in 1987, went public in 1996, and was acquired by Roche for $3.4 billion in 2008. Over the last 25 years, Ventana has grown to become a global leader in developing and manufacturing tissue-based diagnostic instruments and tests focused on the detection of cancer. Ventana employees continue to pursue the same deeply rooted mission of innovating diagnostic testing and enabling personalized healthcare to improve the lives of all patients afflicted with cancer worldwide. Dr. Grogan has made it his personal mission to make life better for the millions of patients who battle cancer each day.  His passion and dedication are infectious and has spread across the company that he and his team built. Through their efforts they have revolutionized the field of cancer diagnostics and are pioneering new roads in the field of personalized healthcare.”

In 2013, Dr. Leslie Boyer was been named one of 30 heroes of rare diseases by the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Orphan Products Development.  Her work includes a clinical studies program conducted throughout Arizona with protocols for placebo-controlled, double-blind trials, open-label studies, historical control studies, and the statewide STING project. She has coordinated phase 2 and phase 3 multicenter clinical trials of pit viper antivenom, developed the Antivenom Index, and participated in the establishment of the Pan-American Lymphotoxinology Taskforce. Boyer, who is a member of the UA’s BIO5 Institute, has focused her scientific career on venomous bites and stings, which are often unrecognized public health issues. She began by developing public education programs that offer poison and toxin emergency treatment advice. In 2004 and 2005, with an FDA Orphan Product grant, she led a team that conducted clinical studies leading to the marketing approval of the first scorpion antivenom – representing one of more than 40 products developed through orphan grant-sponsored research.