UTMB News

Elective surgeries that were postponed at Houston-area hospitals during the peak of the COVID Delta variant surge are being rescheduled now. UTMB facilities are open for elective cases and are rescheduling any that were postponed in the previous two months, said Dr. Timothy Harlin, executive vice president and CEO of the hospital system.

UTMB is studying people with diabetes and cardiac arrhythmia to see if they can safely travel into space. “This will help us better understand how individuals with certain medical conditions may tolerate spaceflight and how to best prepare them for the experience,” said Dr. Rebecca Blue, UTMB flight surgeon and the study's investigator.

Senior Reporter John Wayne Ferguson profiled Dr. Pei-Yong Shi, whose work on COVID-19 led to millions of people being inoculated against the virus. “We can man-make the virus and we can manipulate the virus in any way we want,” Shi said. “That’s really the landmark of being able to get a handle to study the virus, because all of a sudden, you can make changes in the virus.”

A UTMB study showed that pregnant women with symptomatic COVID-19 had a higher percentage of emergency complications when compared to those who tested positive but didn't have symptoms. Many other national news outlets also reported on this study.

Pregnant women who contract symptomatic cases of COVID-19 are much more likely to suffer emergency complications or have babies who need intensive care, a new study suggests.

The stress affecting direct service staffers who work with domestic violence survivors could lead to long-term psychological and emotional challenges, like burnout or secondary traumatic stress. NBC News interviewed Leila Wood, a social work researcher and associate professor at UTMB, who has studied the issue. “For front-line advocates, they’re interfacing with partners who are using violence, who are coming on-site, and there are real threats to safety, if you're working in an emergency shelter,” Wood said. “So, some of that anxiety is actually not secondary traumatic stress or burnout. It’s real adaptive safety concerns.” Other news outlets, including MSN.com and Yahoo! News, also ran this story.

Dating violence is a cycle researchers found can be broken among adolescents with the adoption of “a healthy relationship curriculum.” The multi-year study, led by Jeff Temple, director of the University of Texas Medical Branch’s Center for Violence Prevention, was published Oct. 6 in Pediatrics. “We teach kids everything,” Temple said. “We teach them about sports and athletics and music and math and English and history. But we don’t really teach them the most important skill, and that’s how to be in a relationship.”

UTMB Health Urgent Care was a finalist for Best Emergency or Urgent-Care Center in OutSmart’s 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards Winners. “OutSmart’s 24th annual Gayest & Greatest Readers’ Choice Awards are a celebration of Houston’s best and brightest,” the magazine said.

The Galveston/Bay Area Walk to End Alzheimer’s is Oct. 9 at Stewart Beach Pavilion in Galveston. Jim Byrom, chair of the campaign, mentioned UTMB in his column. “Through our walk and Alzheimer’s Association contributions, we’ve been able to partner with the University of Texas Medical Branch and award the hospital over $300,000 for research grants to support the projects of Drs. Balaji Krishnan, Yogesh Wairkar and Giulio Taglialatela all at the Mitchell Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases,” he wrote.

Health reporter Haley Hernandez asked Houston-area hospitals about policies on unvaccinated patients waiting for transplants. Hernandez read a statement from UTMB: “We encourage our patients undergoing transplant to protect themselves by getting vaccinated pre-transplant as post-transplant immunosuppression will reduce their likelihood to mount good antibody response. We are not denying anyone to get evaluated for transplant based on vaccination status.”