Angela McDowell likes to talk trash… and recycling. As UTMB’s sustainability coordinator, she’s passionate about promoting environmentally conscious attitudes and planet-friendly habits across the institution. It’s an ambitious endeavor, but she’s up to the challenge.

Although medical imaging technology is crucial to the timely diagnosis and management of many conditions, UTMB radiologist Dr. John Heymann admits: The volume of imaging tests has gotten out of hand.

“Doing more with less” has become a commonly heard phrase, as health care organizations across the country—including UTMB—face financial challenges. Employees throughout the institution are working tirelessly to accomplish our mission more effectively and efficiently—and for a team within Information Services, the hard work is paying off.

UTMB Alerts is our institution’s method of communicating with faculty, staff and students during severe weather conditions or other emergency events that have the potential to threaten safety or impact business operations.

Dr. Stephanie Zepeda serves in the primary leadership role for UTMB and Correctional Managed Care Pharmacy Services. As associate vice president, she oversees and directs all pharmacy-related services provided by the Health System and is responsible for strategic planning, client services, and overseeing operations and finances.

You might say that six of the 578 graduates who received their degrees from UTMB’s School of Nursing on April 20 were “keeping it in the family” because they have family members who either work or teach at UTMB.

If you work on the Galveston Campus, you may have witnessed UTMB nurse Vince Falco riding a unicycle to and from Jennie Sealy Hospital.

When it comes to stroke, every second counts. Recognizing symptoms early and responding quickly is critical to reducing a person’s chance of long-term physical and mental damage—or even death.

Dr. Thomas Jackson graduated in 1893 as a member of the second graduating class of UTMB’s medical school. How many total students graduated that year?

On April 6, I had the pleasure of announcing the three UTMB employees who were chosen as inaugural recipients of the Regents’ Outstanding Employee Award. Hearty congratulations to Chad Connally, Mike Mastrangelo and Scott Woodby—you have done UTMB proud!

UTMB School of Nursing Population Health students partnered with the Galveston Police Department to keep bicyclists safe by developing bicycle lanes near campus. As part of their clinical assignment, the students developed a study for the need of bicycle lanes and conducted numerous surveys that showed most respondents did not feel safe riding their bikes to campus without lanes and signage.

Three UTMB employees were chosen as inaugural recipients of the Regents’ Outstanding Employee Award. Chad Connally, nursing program manager, Emergency Services Administration; Mike Mastrangelo, program director, Institutional Preparedness—Facilities Risk Management; and Scott Woodby, nurse clinician V, MICU/CCU, received the prestigious award in recognition of their outstanding performance, innovation, enthusiasm and dedication in their jobs.

When it comes to opioid addiction, many people don’t see it coming. It can happen to anyone, anywhere—and quickly spiral out of control. “I’ve had patients who had a surgical procedure and three weeks later were addicted to heroin,” said Dr. Edythe Harvey, an addiction psychiatrist at UTMB.

Ruth Perez remembers the days when she could hardly get out of bed because of the headaches and shortness of breath. Always tired, she could hardly do a thing because her body couldn’t handle the exertion.

Flu? Poison Ivy? Spider bite? Broken bone? Rash? You name it, Tasheda Johnson has seen it. “Every day is different—you never know what situation is going to walk through the door when you work in urgent care,” she says.

When medical students Adam and Christine Kley sat in UTMB’s Levin Hall Auditorium in Galveston on March 16 to find out where they would be continuing their training, it was the culmination of a long and winding road that included marriage and a life-changing experience in South America.

“Burnout” is a word that gets thrown around a lot—especially between busy, working professionals. However, research shows that it’s not just a busy schedule that can trigger professional burnout. In fact, there are various levels of burnout that can be experienced by all types of professionals from all walks of life.

When Dr. Laura Rudkin was told not to worry who would be the next chair of their department because she would be there to “help him,” she took it as a challenge.

When Jesus Urzua ran across the Galveston Causeway on March 3 as part of the School of Health Professions’ FunD Run 5K, he did it not just for the stunning bay views—he did it to benefit students, much like himself.

Each year in January, “Warren” enters the UTMB learning environment. Close to 1,000 first-year students from all UTMB schools—Medicine, Nursing, Health Professions and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences—engage in a fictional interprofessional case study entitled “What’s Wrong With Warren?”