As the world continues dealing with the pandemic, an international team of computational scientists, medicinal chemists, biochemists, and virologist, led by Texas researchers, are working to rapidly identify drug like molecules that stop SARS-CoV-2. UTMB’s Stan Watowich is part of the effort. “It’s a bold, rapid, high-risk, high-reward, initiative to find new starting points for drugs for COVID-19,” Watowich said.

As hurricane season kicks off the Chronicle also looks at planning efforts undertaken by emergency officials to deal with any possible tropical threat during the pandemic. Mike Mastrangelo notes that UTMB started discussions two years ago around hypothetical situations involving a virus that limited the number of available beds at receiving hospitals during a major storm.

Graduating school of medicine students nominated for the Gold Headed Cane Award recently spoke with the local paper about their final months of school in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. While unable to gather at the traditional commencement ceremony, the students all had plans to make the day special. “I’m really proud of what our school has done to make it as special as possible,” said student Beatriz Thames. The recipient of this year’s Gold-Headed Cane Award was Jonathan Teran.

A local report on the number of patients seen in local emergency rooms, which has dipped during the pandemic. Health care officials point out efforts to make sure patients are safe when visiting an ER and say avoiding care can lead to problems that are more serious. UTMB’s Katrina Lambrecht provided input on UTMB’s emergency room volumes for the story.

The possibility of having to evacuate hospital patients due to a hurricane is never easy, and this season it is an even more daunting task given the pandemic. In this story, UTMB’s Mike Mastrangelo talks about the planning efforts taken to make sure those patient evacuations can take place if needed. “I think we’ve got some good plans in place,” Mastrangelo said.

As life goes on in the midst of the pandemic, Victor Sierpina says now is the time for kindness. He writes that tiny acts of kindness will warm us, and those around us in times of challenge and turmoil.

UTMB, along with other health care providers in the county have now started offering COVID-19 antibody testing, which identifies whether a person has had the virus. However, experts do note that the tests are not 100 percent accurate.

This local feature story narrates a local man’s battle with COVID-19, after 51 days of treatment at UTMB. Shawn Nishi speaks about the efforts of his entire care team. “Each person came to care for this patient and display their purpose and their calling to contribute to the well-being of others,” Nishi said. ‘It’s truly an honor to serve alongside such inpiduals that come together as a team to work wonders.”

Many people ask why we see novel coronavirus outbreaks in humans. Victor Sierpina points out that infectious disease experts strongly feel that the impact of humans on nature, overpopulation and climate change all play a role.

UTMB’s Galveston National Laboratory was one of three labs to confirm a therapeutics company’s drugs were able to neutralize the pandemic coronavirus. “Our lab tested a panel of antibodies against a real SARS-CoV-2 in biocontainment. We were pleased to see very good neutralizing activity for some antibodies,” said UTMB’s Alex Bukreyev.