University of Arizona BIO5 Institute

BIO5 member Paloma Beamer is helping lead the 2026 National PFAS Conference from June 8-10 at the University of Arizona, bringing together researchers, regulators and community advocates to address “forever chemicals,” their health impacts and solutions for reducing exposure.

What sets the conference apart is the way it is built, according Beamer. The conference is unique in that it is planned as a collaboration between researchers and community members, and the research that will be presented will be directly relevant to the people who are impacted.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4ekWT1S

BIO5 member Alexander Bucksch is part of a University of Arizona-led study that identified a previously unknown root cell in common beans that helps seedlings survive drought and nutrient-poor soils, offering insights that could support more climate-resilient crops and reduce fertilizer use.

"If you look at a biology textbook, for example, it often says seedlings spend their first couple of weeks living off stored reserves in the seed, but that's not quite true," Bucksch said. "We found these hooked hairs start taking up nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen from the soil much earlier."

Read more: https://bit.ly/43auS6S

BIO5 member Sairam Parthasarathy is leading a University of Arizona clinical trial funded by nearly $14 million to compare three widely used treatments for obstructive sleep apnea, with the goal of helping patients and physicians choose the most effective, patient-centered care.

"Sleep apnea can significantly affect quality of life and is costly to the workforce through lost productivity," said Parthasarathy, "Each of the three available therapies has benefits and downsides. Our goal is to understand which treatment works best for an individual patient."

Read more: https://bit.ly/4uM01cu

Congratulations to BIO5 member Travis Sawyer. He has been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award, recognizing his work advancing optical technologies for health care and strengthening international research partnerships through global collaboration.

“Now more than ever it’s important to facilitate international cooperation, and scientific research is an avenue to strengthen those partnerships. I’m excited to participate in the Fulbright program and to have an opportunity to contribute to that effort in the context of optics and photonics," said Sawyer.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4wNob8H

Meet graduating researchers: Lynette Valenzuela 🎓✨

From classes to the lab, Valenzuela spent her time at the University of Arizona helping advance ovarian cancer research in the lab of BIO5 member Jennifer Barton.

Graduating from the accelerated master’s program in biomedical engineering, she used light-based imaging tools to study fallopian tube tissue while gaining hands-on research experience with real-world impact.

“My interest in biomedical engineering began in high school when I learned about the total artificial heart and its impact on patients,” said Valenzuela. “Seeing how engineering principles could directly improve and save lives motivated me to pursue this path.”

Read more about Valenzuela’s research journey: https://bio5.org/news/focusing-lens-ovarian-cancer

Meet graduating researchers: Jacob Galloway 🎓✨

As he continues into a doctoral program at the University of Arizona this summer, Galloway focuses on researching how plants can help clean up toxic mining landscapes in the lab of BIO5 member Alicja Babst-Kostecka.

As an MS/PhD environmental science student, he studies special “hyperaccumulator” plants that can absorb heavy metals from soil — research that could help scientists develop greener approaches to environmental cleanup and sustainable mining.

"It makes science not a question of what is possible, but where you actually want to go,” Galloway said. "We can feasibly do a lot, which is really exciting."

Link in comments to read more about Jacob's research journey.