The complex relationship between environmental stressors, extracellular vesicles (EVs), and adverse health outcomes was the focus of an NIEHS workshop held Sept. 27-28. Experts discussing the topic included Dr. Ramkumar Menon, from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, who described his work analyzing exosomes in the context of premature birth. He used an organ-on-chip device that mimics human biological interactions between fetus and mother. Menon showed that fetal exosomes shuttling the protein HMGBI functioned as a signal to trigger early labor.

The radio program explored the appeal of scary movies and the psychology of fear with Dr. Jeff Temple, psychologist and director of the Center for Violence Prevention at UTMB.

Media outlet Newsmax had no choice on Tuesday but to issue two statements that COVID vaccinations are safe and do not contain luciferase after a now-deleted tweet from the company’s White House correspondent. The enzyme is not in the vaccination, but researchers have used luciferase for bioluminescence tracking to study COVID. In July 2020, a report stated that scientists at UTMB were using luciferase to “develop faster and more accurate diagnostic tests for COVID-19 as well as to analyze potential therapies and gain a clearer understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself.”

The National Institutes of Health has launched a study looking at the long-term effects of COVID-19 in pregnancy. Researchers will recruit 1,500 pregnant patients with COVID-19 and their children and follow them for four years. A recent study from UTMB found babies born to symptomatic mothers were more likely to need respiratory support or be admitted to neonatal intensive care units.

A new state law sets minimum standards for how schools teach kids about teen dating and family violence, child abuse and sex trafficking. San Antonio City Councilman Manny Pelaez wants to make these lessons mandatory for students in San Antonio and heighten awareness about domestic violence. “Kids right now learn how to be in a relationship through mostly trial and error,” said Dr. Jeff Temple, director of UTMB Center for Violence Prevention. “Conflicts are inevitable in relationships. In fact, I would say they’re healthy. How we resolve those is what matters—some couples do it terribly with violence and other couples do it healthily. We want to teach those kids how to do it in a healthy way.”

Samples taken by CDC from a bottle of the Better Homes and Gardens Lavender & Chamomile aromatherapy room spray in the home of the Georgia victim found the presence of burkholderia pseudomallei, something known to cause meliodosis, primarily a disease of tropical climates, according to the CDC. Dr. Alfredo G. Torres, professor of Microbiology and Immunology at UTMB, talked about the bacteria and the possible but rare disease on “Morning in America.”

Dr. Timothy Harlin has a lot that could keep him up at night, and what’s always on his mind is the burnout and demand on his staff at UTMB. “Burnout is very, very real and something that keeps me very concerned,” said Harlin, the executive vice president and CEO of UTMB. “We have to create a culture where people want to stay. They’re part of a family at UTMB. They feel they have a voice. They feel that we really do emphasize quality and that we are not just in the business of grinding through employees.”

These increases point to significant mental health effects of COVID-19-related mitigation measures, particularly among women, researchers noted in a cohort study published in JAMA Network Open. “Most health care resources were focused on non-psychiatric aspects of COVID-19,” said Sadaf Arefi Milani, PhD, MPH, of the department of internal medicine-geriatrics and palliative medicine at UTMB. “We were interested in seeing if the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated mitigation measures exacerbated the already higher rates of mental health conditions and psychiatric prescriptions among women.”

A study finds that domestic violence shelters took in thousands of victims and many requests for services were unmet. Leila Wood, lead investigator on the UTMB study talked about the findings on “Good Day Austin.”

Blue Origin and Sierra Space are leading development of a privately funded space station known as "Orbital Reef" to provide a commercial destination in low-Earth orbit after the International Space Station is retired. UTMB is a member of the Orbital Reef University Advisory Council, a global consortium of universities with expertise in space and microgravity research.