Impact

UTMB employees Sarah Burnett, Brenda Lundy and Betty Shipp received President’s Way to Go Awards at the July Town Hall meeting. Burnett, a medical lab specialist with Blood Bank Transfusion Operations, was recognized for a “long list” of accomplishments, including initiating several innovative projects to improve patient care and ensure blood products are used safely and efficiently, and for her volunteer work in the community.

Keeping patients safe is the No. 1 priority for nursing staff in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at UTMB’s Jennie Sealy Hospital in Galveston. For the past two years, they have been working to reduce health care-associated infections (HAIs), which patients can get while receiving medical treatment in the hospital.

Five minutes after landing in Nepal in 2015, Dr. Harold Pine and his UTMB medical mission team experienced a catastrophic earthquake that devastated the region. Their carefully planned three-week trek to hold ear, nose and throat clinics in remote villages was turned upside down. Since then, Pine, a pediatric otolaryngologist, vowed to return to the region to finish what his team started.

Immunizing female mice with a Zika vaccine can protect their developing fetus from infection and birth defects during pregnancy, according to new UTMB research. The UTMB study is the first to demonstrate that potential vaccines could protect a fetus from the Zika virus.

Managing asthma in adults can be tricky because the condition can stem from several causes and treatment often depends on what is triggering the asthma. A team of experts from UTMB examined and summarized the current information available from many different sources on diagnosing and managing mild to moderate asthma in adults.

If you’re an employee or patient who frequents UTMB’s League City Campus, chances are you’ve met Jessica Norris. For the past year, she’s donated her time and energy to pushing a beverage cart around all League City Campus clinics—making sure no patient, family member or employee is overlooked.

Annette Macias-Hoag joined UTMB in 2011 and currently serves as associate vice president for Health System Operations, as well as associate chief nursing officer for UTMB’s Angleton Danbury Campus.

Employee Advisory Council members had the opportunity to meet hundreds of UTMB Correctional Managed Care employees during a July 13 trip to the Huntsville area.

The importance of a good teacher is no secret. There’s longstanding research confirming that the most influential factor in student achievement is teacher effectiveness. That’s why UTMB’s Office of Educational Outreach provides programs not only for students but also for teachers.

UTMB’s three campuses continue to experience growth and expansion. The following are some of the projects currently underway across the institution.

The I Am UTMB Facebook page features news, information, photos and event coverage in a friendly and engaging community for employees and students at our three campuses and locations throughout the state.

While shows like the Netflix series “13 Reasons Why” have been criticized for glamorizing or romanticizing suicide, they have also stirred important conversations about suicide and depression among teens. The fact that about half a million teens every year have thoughts of suicide means that we should be talking about it more.

The first phase of renovations to the R. Waverley Smith Pavilion on the Galveston Campus will wrap up in October.

The July 6 Town Hall meeting provided an opportunity to discuss several subjects, including the close of the 85th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature and its impacts on UTMB.

Rebecca Clayton, a nurse in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU), was one of six finalists nationally to be recognized by American Nurse Today, the official journal of the American Nurses Association, during their “Spirit of Caring” contest.

Crowding in the emergency room and long wait times seem to be the “norm” at hospitals across the country. But Christine Wade and her colleagues in UTMB’s Emergency Department on the Galveston Campus are working hard to change that perception.

When young patients stay at UTMB Children’s Hospital, important milestones such as birthdays, last days of chemotherapy and even high school graduations don’t go uncelebrated.

Researchers have found a way to increase the effectiveness of a widely used cancer drug while decreasing the risk of heart-damaging side effects, according to a new study by researchers from UTMB and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

Researchers at UTMB may hold the answer to preventing premature cell death. According to Dr. Ken Fujise, head of UTMB’s cardiology division, the key finding of new research is that the protein fortilin plays a role in the death of cells that could help fight cancer or help preserve an organ that will be used in a transplant.

After moving to Texas from the Philippines nearly six years ago, Vincent Ong has found his niche. As nurse manager of the Ramsey Cluster, Ong oversees a nursing staff of about 50 UTMB CMC employees who provide care to more than 4,300 offenders.