UTMB is the first academic healthcare center in Texas to add an artificial intelligence-based tool to routinely check for prostate cancer, reports KHOU. “AI allows the doctors to become much better at their work by recognizing patterns in medical images that they might otherwise miss,” UTMB’s Dr. Harsh Thaker tells the Houston TV station.

UTMB’s Dr. Gregory Gray tells CBS that he isn’t concerned about the CDC not identifying new human bird flu cases in months. "I don't think that anybody's hiding anything," Gray told CBS.

The American Psychiatric Association highlighted new research by UTMB’s Alec Manning, Benita Lalani and Dr. Josheph Shotwell that examines trends in the way popular music reflects national trends in substance use and mental health. “As the world changed, so did the music—and the stories it told about how we’re coping,” the authors of the study write.

Dopamine plays a crucial role in our motivation, reward system, learning and even motor control. Understanding its importance and how to naturally influence its levels can significantly impact well-being and productivity, writes Dr. Hasan Yasin.

Once a safe, effective vaccine already exists, giving some participants in a vaccine study a placebo means knowingly withholding protection, write Drs. Richard Rupp and Megan Berman. So, when scientists need to test an updated version of an existing vaccine, instead of giving half the group a placebo, scientists compare the immune response from the new version to what was seen in earlier, already successful trials, Berman and Rupp explain in their Vaccine Smarts column.

UTMB’s Dr. Sarah Samreen shared insights and advice regarding surgical weight loss with KPRC. “Surgery is safe and can allow patients to lose weight without being on medication for life,” she tells KPRC.

Because of the increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria, scientists are looking to bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, as a treatment for bacterial infections, write Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel in this week’s Medical Discovery News column.

“My goal is to push innovation down to the desktop,” UTMB Vice President and CIO George Gaddie told Becker’s. UTMB signed a five-year deal with Microsoft to use the company’s AI and cloud computing capabilities. “We have not just made IT more innovative; we’ve made the organization more innovative, where if people have ideas, they can try them. They’ve got the tools necessary, the training necessary, they’ve got the expertise, the confidence,” Gaddie said. This news was also reported by hoodline.

"Saying we're going to devote resources to studying therapies instead of enhancing uptake of the vaccine is a profoundly inefficient way of addressing a vaccine-preventable disease," UTMB’s Dr. Susan McLellan told AFP for a story on the continued measles outbreak in the U.S. The story was picked up and printed in news outlets around the world including France 24, The Strait Times, News Central and The Times of India, among many others.

There is science to back up the need for humans to experience awe in their lives, writes Dr. Samuel Mathis in his latest column. For example, one study found that individuals who experience awe daily had lower levels of stress, fewer sick symptoms, and a greater sense of well-being.