There is still time to sign up for health coverage on the Arizona health insurance marketplace for coverage under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The last day to enroll or change plans is Jan. 31. The Center for Rural Health at the UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health has trained Navigators to answer questions and help people select health insurance during open enrollment. To speak with a Navigator or make an appointment, please contact Alyssa Padilla at (520) 343-9821.

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Health Medicine Network | A new breast cancer model, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, will help health care providers more accurately predict breast cancer risk in their Hispanic patients. Cynthia Thomson, professor of health promotion sciences at the UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, is a co-author of the study and investigator for the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI). One of two datasets used to develop the model was from the WHI using data collected from Hispanic women diagnosed with breast cancer.

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Yoshira Ornelas Van Horne, a doctoral student at the UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health received a grant from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization to support her research in the area of indigenous water issues. Felina Cordova received the UA Centennial Award which is given to graduate students who have shown outstanding academic achievement despite facing challenging social, economic, or educational obstacles. Celina I. Valencia Received a Dissertation Grant for her research on HIV and human papillomavirus (HPV) co-infections and cancer prevention among mobile Latino populations.

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The greatest wealth is health! The 5th Annual Tucson Marathon Family Fitness Festival took place on Dec. 3 at the University of Arizona Mall. It was all blue skies and sunshine on this particular Saturday morning as the races commenced. Sponsored by the Canyon Ranch Center for Prevention and Health Promotion (CRCPHP) at the UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, the event promotes an active lifestyle for school age children and it’s a fun way to introduce them to the UA. This year we had 364 runners from Tucson Unified, Amphitheater and Sunnyside school districts. Amphi Middle School took home the trophy this year in the HooDoo Challenge. Our sincere thanks to the many volunteers, including our Interns, students from Dr. David Garcia’s CPH178 course and members of Theta Chi Fraternity, who helped make this day possible.

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Highly addictive painkillers, which include commonly prescribed drugs such as Oxycontin, Percocet and Vicodin, now account for more drug overdose deaths than heroin and cocaine combined, according to a recent report by the National Safety Council. The UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and the UA College of Medicine offer two free online training courses for doctors on how to prescribe opioids for chronic back pain. Dr. Dan Derksen, director of the Center for Rural Health, said they are in the process of developing more continuing medical education (CME) courses on prescription drug abuse for Arizona doctors. The CME courses are also open to UA health sciences students. Funding for these online courses is provided by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which is administered through the Arizona Department of Health Services.

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