UA Co-Hosting Conference on Health Disparities

Numerous UA medical and health center directors are slated to speak at a conference that the UA is hosting with the University of Iowa.

The University of Arizona is co-hosting a conference that will explore issues related to genetics and health disparities in asthma, cancer and diabetes.

The conference, "Advances in Translational Science: Connecting the University of Iowa Institute for Clinical and Translational Science and Health Research Alliance Arizona," will be held March 11-13.

The event is meant to build collaborative opportunities in research and training and will be held at the Tucson Marriott University Park Hotel, 880 E. Second St.

The event is jointly sponsored by the Health Research Alliance Arizona, University of Iowa Institute for Clinical and Translational Science and the Iowa university's Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. The University of Iowa College of Nursing also collaborated on the event.

Faculty members and trainees involved in the conference are part of a "national initiative on clinical and translational research," said Keith A. Joiner, who directs the Health Research Alliance Arizona.

"The theme of this year's conference is genetics and health disparities, with a focus on asthma, cancer and diabetes," Joiner said. "It is intended to catalyze new collaborations and foster interdisciplinary research across geographic boundaries."

A reception will be held at 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday and a  dinner will be held at 6:30 p.m.

Dr. Anthony Hayward, who directs the clinical research divison at the National Center for Research Resources, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, is the guest speaker during the dinner. He will speak about opportunities for translational research.

The conference features a host of physicians and researchers from the UA, the Health Research Alliance, Arizona State University and University of Iowa who will speak during the conference.

Among those from the UA who will speak are Fernando Martinez, the Arizona Respiratory Center director; Donata Vercelli, Arizona Initiative for the Biology of Complex Diseases director; John Carpten, senior investigator and director of the Integrated Cancer Genomics Division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute; María Elena Martínez, the Cancer Health Disparities Institute director; and Horatio Rilo, Cellular Transplantation director.