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UTMB evacucated hospital patients beginning Thursday, Sept. 11 as Hurricane Ike bore down on the Texas Coast. Here, one of the tiniest patients had just been placed in an ambulance that was to take him to the airport and then on to San Antonio.
UTMB began evacuating patients early Thursday, Sept. 11, as Hurricane Ike bore down on the Texas coast. Here, one of the tinest of our patients was being taken by ambulance to the Galveston airport and then on to San Antonio.
A preemie was about to go into an ambulance.Â
One preemie seemed to be waving goodbye.
While the babies were being placed in ambulances, some of our senior patients were in the lobby of John Sealy Hospital waiting for the next round of ambulances that would take them to safety.
Ambulance crews from throughout the state and nation helped with the evacuation.
 GALVESTON, Texas - The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston will honor Houston Mayor Bill White on Monday, Sept. 15, with its annual HERO award acknowledging his exceptional leadership in reducing regional air pollution.
Dr. David L. Callender, UTMB president, will present the award on behalf of the Sealy Center for Environmental Health and Medicine and the National Institute of Environmental Health Science, which funds a toxicology center at UTMB.
“Mayor White took action to reduce toxic air pollutants and to begin cleaning up the poor air quality in Houston,” said Jonathan Ward, a toxicologist who directs the NIEHS Center in Environmental Toxicology at UTMB. “Gradually, the quality of the air we breathe is improving and we are all the beneficiaries.”
The presentation will be at 4:30 p.m. in UTMB’s Caduceus Room, following an address by Stephen Linder titled “Health Risks from Air Pollution in Houston.” Linder is the interim director for the Institute for Health Policy and an associate professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston.
During the past two years, Mayor White has taken action that has reduced levels of toxic pollutants butadiene and benzene. He formed a task force of regional scientists and asked them to develop a priority list of pollutants that required his urgent attention. Using data based on improved technologies for monitoring toxic air pollutants, White then negotiated a binding agreement with a facility on the Houston Ship Channel, which was a major source of butadiene. He also built a comprehensive plan for reducing benzene emissions along the channel by controlling chemical releases from specific sources such as refinery flares and tank seals.
Past HERO awards have been presented to Dina Cappiello and Carlos Rios of the Houston Chronicle for their reportage, “In Harm’s Way,” detailing exposures to toxic air pollutants in Houston neighborhoods and to John D. Wilson, former director of the Galveston Houston Association for Smog Prevention.
 GALVESTON, Texas - The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston will honor Houston Mayor Bill White on Monday, Sept. 14, with its annual HERO award acknowledging his exceptional leadership in reducing regional air pollution.
Dr. David L. Callender, UTMB president, will present the award on behalf of the Sealy Center for Environmental Health and Medicine and the National Institute of Environmental Health Science, which funds a toxicology center at UTMB. (more) (more…)
 GALVESTON, Texas - The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston will honor Houston Mayor Bill White on Monday, Sept. 15, with its annual HERO award acknowledging his exceptional leadership in reducing regional air pollution.
Dr. David L. Callender, UTMB president, will present the award on behalf of the Sealy Center for Environmental Health and Medicine and the National Institute of Environmental Health Science, which funds a toxicology center at UTMB. (more) (more…)
 The Washington Post, Sept. 9, 2008
UTMB’s Dr. Wayne Snodgrass is quoted is this article about the bombardment of drug-related messages that teenagers get from numerous sources, including text messages, television and from their peers. From the article: The challenge for teens, and for adults who care for them, is to figure out “how to wade through the clutter of messages they’re getting about drugs — both prescription and nonprescription ones — in order to make safe and appropriate choices.”
 Galveston County Daily News, Sept. 9, 2008
Dr. Allan R. Brasier has been appointed director of the new Institute for Translational Sciences at UTMB. Dr. Garland D. Anderson, executive vice president and provost, said the goal of the new institute is to “stimulate the rapid transition of significant discoveries in basic research into diagnosis, treatment and the prevention of common diseases.” Brasier, a nationally recognized researcher, said that he was honored to be selected director. The UT System and the Board of Regents recently approved the creation of the institute.
 Galveston County Daily News, Sept. 9, 2008
In his weekly health column, Dr. Michael Warren suggests that men and women conduct a self-examination of their body before a visit to their doctor’s office. “Whether male or female, each of us must take an active role in our own health care. Self-examination of our bodies is one of the most important steps we can take along the path of preventive health care. Disease can pop up when we least expect it. Prevention and/or early detection of disease are keys to successful treatment.”
 Medical Discovery News, Sept. 6, 2008
Saturday’s edition of Medical Discovery News, by UTMB professors Norbert Herzog and David Niesel, was about two new eye tests being developed that can detect Alzheimer’s disease. “They involve a low-intensity laser that briefly sends low-power light into the eye. It’s safe and not uncomfortable. In one test, a device detects any scattering of the light which would happen if small clumps of beta amyloid are present. In the second test a fluorescent dye is injected into the eye to bind to the proteins. When you shine an infrared light, they glow confirming Alzheimer’s disease.” Medical Discovery News airs at 10 a.m. on KUHF-FM in Houston. The program also airs on numerous radio stations across the country and in Mexico.
