Vishnu Subrahmanyam’s review of The Life Worth Living: Disability, Pain, and Morality by Joel Michael Reynolds, published in the International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics, offers a compelling and interdisciplinary engagement with the book’s call to rethink how disability and pain are conceptualized in philosophy and bioethics.  

Congratulations Dr. De Matas!    

Tiffany Bystra successfully graduated from the University of Louisville with a Master of Science in Social Work with Psychosocial Oncology concentration. She has also passed the national licensure board exam needed to practice social work!  

On May 24, 2025 Dr. Aparicio presented on "Reframing Longevity: Public Perceptions and the Challenges of Science-Society Engagement" at Vitalist Bay: Longevity Policy Conference.

Dr. De Matas presented at the Global Health Coffee Hour on April 23rd.    

On April 24, 2025 Dr. Aparicio presented on "Perspectives on Aging, Independence, and Longevity: Understanding Older Adults’ Attitudes Toward Geroscience Interventions and Barriers to Healthy Aging" at the Claude D. Pepper Annual Meeting. 

Dr. De Matas was lead author on a publication with Drs Jiefei Wang with UTMB and Vibhuti Gupta with Meharry Medical College. The publication proposes an ethical framework to improve informed consent by adapting narrative storytelling principle.    

On April 23, 2025 Dr. Aparicio presented on "Emerging Reproductive Technologies and the Legitimization of Reproductive Futures: The Ontological Choreography of In Vitro Gametogenesis Start-ups" at the Magee-Womens Research Institute & Foundation Seminar Series. 

Dr. Yu presented on "How should clinical ethicist respond to requests for an early induction of labor when there's no medical indication for it?" at the Sutter Health Clinical Ethics Unconference.  

On April 7th and 9th, I was able to present at both the IPE and National Public Health Week Symposiums at UTMB. The project presented consisted of work done by students from various UTMB programs, the School of Medicine and School of Health Professions. For the past year, we have worked with Special Olympics to bring a chapter of Young Athletes to the Galveston Community. This program work with children, ages 2-7, both with and without disability. We work on cognitive and motor skills through fun and play! 

On April 2, 2025, Dr. Jacob Moses presented a paper titled “Specters of (No) Regret” at the Health Humanities Consortium Conference at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. 

Dr. Molldrem was part of a World TB Day panel put on by Social Science & Health Innovation for Tuberculosis (SSHIFTB), a global network of social scientists working on TB-related topics. 

 Being recognized with an Honorable Mention in the NSF GRFP competition is a significant achievement. Every year, the GRFP competition considers thousands of applications from highly qualified students. Therefore, Peyton's inclusion in the Honorable Mention category is a testament to her outstanding achievements and her potential to become a future leader in STEM. 

On April 7, 2025, Dr. Jacob Moses delivered an invited seminar presentation to the Bioethics Network of Ohio. His talk, delivered virtually, was titled “Safeguarding or Gatekeeping: Mandated Ethics Review and Bioethical Expertise in the Public Imaginary.” 

Entry co-authored with Dr. Roger Mathew Grant (Wesleyan University) explores the influence of David M. Halperin. 

The article titled "Attentiveness as a Methodological Approach for Including Community Partners in Qualitative Health Data Analysis" discusses the ethical obligation to include community partners in qualitative data analysis and how attentiveness as a method can help in doing so. Subrahmanyam, Vishnu, and Elise Smith. 2025. “Attentiveness as a Methodological Approach for Including Community Partners in Qualitative Health Data Analysis.” International Journal of Qualitative Methods 24. Click here to read the article. 

On March 13, 2025 Dr. Aparicio presented on "Making death optional: the construction of the longevity subject as a reflection of hopeful and technology-driven futures" at Capturing the Invisible Seminar Series hosted by Jagiellonian University. 

Annual award honors a faculty member who exemplifies the values of the late Dr. Rose Grundfest Schneider, a longtime UTMB faculty member who made significant contributions to medical research and humanitarian causes. 

Dr. Elise Smith has been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure, effective September 1, 2025. As an internationally recognized scholar in research ethics and integrity, award-winning mentor, and Director of the Research Ethics Consultation Service, Dr. Smith has made significant contributions to UTMB.

Congratulations to Dr. Wellesley on successfully defending her dissertation titled "The Dying Shame: An analysis of sociocultural and clinical practices producing shame and stigma in medicalized death."