OneAZ Credit Union names Ken Bauer SVP

OneAZ Credit Union announced Ken Bauer as senior vice president, Credit Administration.

Bauer oversees OneAZ’s mortgage, business and commercial banking teams, emphasizing efficiency and excellence to help the organization succeed. He joined OneAZ Credit Union in 2020, bringing 20 years of experience in commercial banking with local and national banks and credit unions.

Established in 1951, OneAZ Credit Union is owned by its members and serves Arizona with 20 locations and more than 140,000 members

Spencer Fane adds veteran tax, trusts and estates attorney

Spencer Fane LLP announced Kelly Mooney has joined the firm as of counsel. She will be part of the Tax, Trusts, & Estates practice group and work out of the firm’s Phoenix office.

Mooney’s practice focuses on handling complex matters related to federal taxation, working with attorneys in other practice groups to structure transactions that comply with federal tax law, offer tax relief when applicable, and provide tax-efficient results for her clients. She regularly assists clients with tax planning and analysis for partnerships, LLCs, and corporations; real estate joint ventures organized as LLCs and general and limited partnerships; and individuals.

“Spencer Fane understands that tax issues impact virtually every aspect of business, investment, and personal wealth management,” said Andy Federhar, Spencer Fane office managing partner in Phoenix. “We understand our clients’ needs to assist them with finding the best solutions to favorably handle their tax liability, and Kelly’s experience in handling these matters through collaborative analysis fits well with our firm’s approach to client service.”

Mooney has an accomplished track record of representing clients before the Internal Revenue Service and other taxing authorities on ruling requests, civil controversy cases, and collection matters. Her work has included successfully negotiating the settlement of several complex and multiyear IRS examinations and cases involving the imposition of trust fund penalties and contested claims for refund.

UArizona College of Nursing celebrates people and programs

The University of Arizona College of Nursing has announced key new appointments, promotions, honors, awards and other notable items in recent weeks, including: 

Dr. Kelley Wilson to Head Master’s Entry to the Profession of Nursing Program

After a national search, the UArizona College of Nursing has named Kelley Wilson, DNP, MSN, CMSRN, as the new program director of the college’s Master of Science for Entry to the Profession of Nursing (MEPN) program. Dr. Wilson joins the college from Georgetown University’s School of Nursing and Health Studies, where she had been serving as program director for the school’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. She assumed her new role on July 13. 

“Dr. Wilson brings a wealth of experience in teaching and developing courses and academic programs,” said Connie Miller, DNP, RNC-OB, CNE, clinical associate professor and chair, General Nursing and Health Education Division. “She has solid experience in mentoring and leading teams, in addition to proven track record of service and scholarship. We look forward to welcoming her to our MEPN team.” 

Perinatal Mother-Infant Health Focus of New Faculty Member, Dr. Aleeca Bell

Aleeca Bell, PhD, RN, CNM, joined the College of Nursing in mid-July. Dr. Bell most recently was an associate professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), College of Nursing, Department of Women Children and Family Health Science. At UIC, she also earned her master’s degree in nursing in midwifery in 1998, practiced as a certified nurse midwife, and earned a doctorate in nursing in 2009. In addition, she was a postdoctoral fellow there from 2009-11.  

Dr. Bell’s research in translational, multidisciplinary and biobehavioral clinical studies focuses on the intersection of perinatal mother-infant health outcomes and the underlying oxytocin system. Oxytocin is a hormone that acts on organs in women’s bodies and as a chemical messenger in the brain, controlling key aspects of the reproductive system, including childbirth, lactation and some behavior. This includes women’s childbirth experience, intrapartum medical interventions, the endogenous oxytocin system (hormonal, genetic and epigenetic), maternal postnatal mood/anxiety and caregiving attitudes, newborn behaviors and mother-infant interaction. Learn more. 

Dr. Tracy Crane Collaborates with French Colleagues on Telephone-Based Cancer Intervention

Tracy E. Crane, PhD, a College of Nursing assistant professor, has focused much of her career on cancer survivorship. She is co-director of the Behavioral Measurements and Interventions Shared Resource at the UArizona Cancer Center and a member of the UArizona Data Science Institute. She’s also co-chair of the cancer prevention and control behavioral science working group for NRG Oncology, a research non-profit led by faculty at Columbia University, NYU Langone Health, the University of Michigan and UArizona.

With a research focus on improving adherence to healthy lifestyle behaviors in cancer survivors and their informal caregivers, Dr. Crane has developed interventions geared toward extending lifespans of post-treatment ovarian cancer survivors and telephone counseling to improve diet and physical activity in Latina cancer patients. In early 2020, Dr. Crane extended her expertise across the Atlantic when she helped researchers at Gustave Roussy, Europe’s largest cancer center, fine-tune a new cancer study, Motivating to Exercise and Diet, and Educating to Healthy Behaviors After Breast Cancer (MEDEA).

In keeping with Dr. Crane’s previous research, MEDEA aims to compare the effect of a personalized telephone-based health education weight-loss program based on motivational coaching, exercise and diet, compared with a standard health educational program control on fatigue of overweight or obese breast cancer patients. Learn more. 

Tai Chi Improves Lives of People with Heart Disease, UArizona Nursing Professor Finds 

According to new research from College of Nursing Associate Professor Ruth Taylor-Piliae, PhD, RN, FAHA, tai chi can be beneficial to the psychological well-being for adults suffering from cardiovascular disease. Published in June in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, Dr. Taylor-Piliae’s review and meta-analysis of more than a dozen studies on the topic found that the exercise eased stress, anxiety, depression and psychological distress for those who practiced the mind-body exercise that emphasizes concentration on posture, relaxation and breathing, using a soothing series of set movements. Go to the UArizona Health Sciences Connect website for a video on her research. Learn more.

3 new cardiologists broaden UArizona Health Sciences

Three cardiologists recently joined the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center. Arka Chatterjee, MD, Talal Moukabary, MD, and Madhan Sundaram, MBBS, joined the faculty of the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson and are now seeing patients at Banner – University Medical Center Tucson. 

 “With the addition of Drs. Chatterjee, Moukabary and Sundaram we continue the rapid growth in cardiovascular medicine at the University of Arizona and Banner – UMC Tucson and we enhance our ability to provide highly personalized and expert care in the most advanced cardiology procedures to our patients,” said Nancy K. Sweitzer, MD, PhD, director of the UArizona Sarver Heart Center, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine at the college.

“These three physicians not only bring experience in electrophysiology, coronary and peripheral interventions and minimally invasive valve replacement, but they will expand the research offerings of the Sarver Heart Center in important areas of cardiology. This will allow us to bring the latest advances in heart disease treatment to the people of Southern Arizona,” added Dr. Sweitzer.

Drs. Chatterjee and Moukabary are associate professors and Dr. Sundaram is an assistant professor of medicine. 

In addition, Dr. Chatterjee is associate director of the Structural Heart Program at Banner – UMC Tucson. He is board certified in interventional cardiology, cardiovascular disease, internal medicine and echocardiography. Dr. Chatterjee is experienced in transcatheter therapies for valvular disease and other congenital/structural heart defects. He has completed more than 200 transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures. He finds the best part of working in the structural heart team is the synergy that occurs when a multidisciplinary team of expert providers works together to identify the ideal treatment for each patient’s unique case. Dr. Chatterjee’s research interests include outcomes research after coronary, structural and adult congenital interventions, and advances in structural and device therapies for heart disease.

Dr. Moukabary is a cardiac electrophysiologist (a cardiologist specializing in heart rhythm disorders or arrhythmias). He is an expert in computer modeling of cardiac arrhythmia, imaging in the cardiac electrophysiology lab, cell-based arrhythmia therapy and clinical cardiac electrophysiology. He is board certified in clinical cardiac electrophysiology and internal medicine. Dr. Moukabary’s research interests include use of stem cell and iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cell therapies for heart rhythm disorders.

Dr. Sundaram is director of the Banner – UMC Tucson Cardiac Catheterization Lab and Endovascular Services. He is board certified in interventional cardiology, cardiovascular disease, echocardiography and internal medicine. His clinical interests include complex coronary interventions, chronic total occlusions, endovascular peripheral interventions, interventions for acute pulmonary embolism and structural heart disease interventions. His research interests include cardiac interventions in older adults and clinical trials in coronary artery disease, peripheral artery disease and pulmonary embolism.