Six UTMB staff, students named Daily News 40 Under 40 honorees August 14, 2026 • 8:00 a.m. by Margaret Battistelli Gardner Honorees are chosen based on professional accomplishments, professional growth, and community service. McWhorter appointed as chair of the UT System Employee Advisory Council July 24, 2026 • 8:40 a.m. by Margaret Battistelli Gardner After serving on the UT System Employee Advisory Council’s Resources and Support Committee and as vice chair of the executive board, Will McWhorter now leads the systemwide employee advisory group. Nishi named chief of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine at UTMB July 15, 2026 • 8:00 a.m. by Katherine Adams Shawn Nishi, MD, has been appointed chief of the UTMB Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine. A UTMB alumna and longtime faculty member, she aims to expand research, education, innovation, and access to specialized pulmonary care. Gov. Abbott appoints UTMB Health nephrologist to Texas Chronic Kidney Disease Task Force July 9, 2026 • 11:16 a.m. by Katherine Adams Ajay Israni, MD, chief of the Division of Nephrology at UTMB, has been appointed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to the state's Chronic Kidney Disease Task Force. A year after the Kerr County flood, two UTMB therapists reflect on their role in the search-and-rescue effort July 2, 2026 • 1:55 p.m. by Katherine Adams July 4 marks the first anniversary of the devastating flooding that killed 139 people in the Texas Hill Country. Two UTMB rehabilitation therapists were on the ground and in the water in the aftermath of the flood as part of an exhaustive search-and-rescue effort. UTMB AI innovators win international hackathon with radiology viewer and teaching tool June 26, 2026 • 11:48 a.m. by Leslie Sanderson A small team of developers at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) was one of 50 winners out of 4,096 entries in the Google DeepMind Kaggle hackathon. VibeRad, a teaching prototype of a radiology viewer, was created through vibe coding. UTMB Cardiovascular Symposium provides healthcare practitioners practical advice for managing heart health June 22, 2026 • 10:08 a.m. by Leslie Sanderson The second annual Cardiovascular Symposium — a day of education and clinical insight hosted by UTMB and the American Heart Association — was designed specifically for noncardiovascular specialists and emphasized practical, evidence-based approaches to managing common and complex cardiovascular conditions. Odigie-Okon recognized as a Fellow of the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance June 18, 2026 • 8:28 a.m. by Margaret Battistelli Gardner An accomplished advanced cardiac imaging cardiologist, Odigie-Okon is the medical director of Cardiac MRI and co-director of Cardiac CT at UTMB. Named AANA fellow, Rabe recognized for leadership in nurse anesthesiology June 16, 2026 • 2:52 p.m. by Leslie Sanderson Cora Rabe, DNP, nurse anesthesia program director and associate professor at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) School of Nursing (SON), has been selected as a 2026 Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) — one of the highest professional honors in nurse anesthesiology. Through leadership in nurse anesthesia education at UTMB, Rabe has played a key role in preparing the next generation of certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs). Jochen Reiser named Business Person of the Year by The Galveston County Daily News May 26, 2026 • 1:34 p.m. by Stephen Hadley and Margaret Battistelli Gardner From bold innovation to measurable impact, Jochen Reiser, MD, PhD, at UTMB is redefining what leadership looks like in modern healthcare. Learn why The Galveston County Daily News named him Business Person of the Year. Search Categories Awards & Accolades Education Faculty/Staff News Health Care In The News Innovations News Releases Top News UTMB Research Contact Media Team UTMB Experts
Six UTMB staff, students named Daily News 40 Under 40 honorees August 14, 2026 • 8:00 a.m. by Margaret Battistelli Gardner Honorees are chosen based on professional accomplishments, professional growth, and community service.
McWhorter appointed as chair of the UT System Employee Advisory Council July 24, 2026 • 8:40 a.m. by Margaret Battistelli Gardner After serving on the UT System Employee Advisory Council’s Resources and Support Committee and as vice chair of the executive board, Will McWhorter now leads the systemwide employee advisory group.
Nishi named chief of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine at UTMB July 15, 2026 • 8:00 a.m. by Katherine Adams Shawn Nishi, MD, has been appointed chief of the UTMB Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine. A UTMB alumna and longtime faculty member, she aims to expand research, education, innovation, and access to specialized pulmonary care.
Gov. Abbott appoints UTMB Health nephrologist to Texas Chronic Kidney Disease Task Force July 9, 2026 • 11:16 a.m. by Katherine Adams Ajay Israni, MD, chief of the Division of Nephrology at UTMB, has been appointed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to the state's Chronic Kidney Disease Task Force.
A year after the Kerr County flood, two UTMB therapists reflect on their role in the search-and-rescue effort July 2, 2026 • 1:55 p.m. by Katherine Adams July 4 marks the first anniversary of the devastating flooding that killed 139 people in the Texas Hill Country. Two UTMB rehabilitation therapists were on the ground and in the water in the aftermath of the flood as part of an exhaustive search-and-rescue effort.
UTMB AI innovators win international hackathon with radiology viewer and teaching tool June 26, 2026 • 11:48 a.m. by Leslie Sanderson A small team of developers at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) was one of 50 winners out of 4,096 entries in the Google DeepMind Kaggle hackathon. VibeRad, a teaching prototype of a radiology viewer, was created through vibe coding.
UTMB Cardiovascular Symposium provides healthcare practitioners practical advice for managing heart health June 22, 2026 • 10:08 a.m. by Leslie Sanderson The second annual Cardiovascular Symposium — a day of education and clinical insight hosted by UTMB and the American Heart Association — was designed specifically for noncardiovascular specialists and emphasized practical, evidence-based approaches to managing common and complex cardiovascular conditions.
Odigie-Okon recognized as a Fellow of the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance June 18, 2026 • 8:28 a.m. by Margaret Battistelli Gardner An accomplished advanced cardiac imaging cardiologist, Odigie-Okon is the medical director of Cardiac MRI and co-director of Cardiac CT at UTMB.
Named AANA fellow, Rabe recognized for leadership in nurse anesthesiology June 16, 2026 • 2:52 p.m. by Leslie Sanderson Cora Rabe, DNP, nurse anesthesia program director and associate professor at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) School of Nursing (SON), has been selected as a 2026 Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) — one of the highest professional honors in nurse anesthesiology. Through leadership in nurse anesthesia education at UTMB, Rabe has played a key role in preparing the next generation of certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs).
Jochen Reiser named Business Person of the Year by The Galveston County Daily News May 26, 2026 • 1:34 p.m. by Stephen Hadley and Margaret Battistelli Gardner From bold innovation to measurable impact, Jochen Reiser, MD, PhD, at UTMB is redefining what leadership looks like in modern healthcare. Learn why The Galveston County Daily News named him Business Person of the Year.