“The Daily News is proud to have named Dr. Pei-Yong Shi as its 35th annual Citizen of the Year,” wrote Michael Smith, editor. “Naming the one from among that group of worthy citizens always is a hard decision for the panel of judges who reviewed and ranked each of the 20 applications. Ultimately, however, no other nominee contributed more to the public good over the preceding year than Shi, whose study of, and contribution to our understanding of, COVID delivered global benefit.”

Unfortunately, sports are all too often seen as the prime demonstration of intense competition. Children can be involved in sports activities of all levels and have successful and gratifying experiences and not have the pressures of intense win-loss events, writes Dr. Sally Robinson.

In Medical Discovery News, Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel report on an mRNA vaccine that might open new avenues for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. “While this treatment is extremely promising, keep in mind there’s a long road and a lot of research that will be required before this becomes a treatment for humans,” they advise.

“If your doctor offers telehealth visits for you, there are a few things you can do to better prepare for these visits to ensure you get the most of your virtual time together,” advises Drs. Victor Sierpina and Michelle Sierpina. “First, write it down. Write down whatever issues or concerns you want to speak about.” Sharpen your pencils.

As more facts in the Uvalde shooting come to light, Republican lawmakers continue to point to mental illness as the underlying cause of gun violence. But that is a “politically expedient” excuse that does not bear out with existing research, said Dr. Jeff Temple, director of the Center for Violence Prevention at the University of Texas Medical Branch. “We do need resources for mental health, but the fact is less than 5 percent of all gun violence is traced back to someone with a diagnosed mental illness.” Temple published a study in 2019 that found “individuals who had access to guns, compared to those with no such access, were over 18 times more likely to have threatened someone with a gun, even after controlling for a number of demographic and mental health variables.” Temple also discussed how people cope with these tragedies on KCBS Radio and Town Square on Houston Public Media. “The very best thing you could do is talk with your kids and start that conversation,” Temple said on Texas Standard. “Silence actually tells the kids that what happened is so horrible that you can’t even speak of it or that you’re scared that it’s going to happen again.”

The University of Texas Medical Branch’s World Reference Center for Emerging Viruses and Arboviruses has samples of monkeypox from past outbreaks and has started to grow more samples of the virus to distribute to other research labs working on diagnostic tools and treatments. The medical branch is home to one of the leading viral research programs in the world and has grown and distributed other viral samples to researchers in past outbreaks, including early on during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re gearing up to produce large amounts of those viruses to distribute to scientists who need them,” said Scott Weaver, the director of the Institute for Human Infections & Immunity at the University of Texas Medical Branch.

At the University of Texas Medical Branch, different departments have different virtual work policies, said Philesha Evans, associate vice president of human resources operations and employee health. Health-care workers have to show up, but the medical branch has many office workers. “A more commonly asked question during the interview process now on the part of the candidate is ‘Am I able to work some or all of this job from home?’” Evans said.

A partnership has evolved between the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and the University of Texas at El Paso to improve accuracy of medical imaging. The partnership came to be when the two worked together to develop a framework to improve the accuracy of lung segmentation shown in chest X-ray analyses. “We set out to bridge clinical expertise at UTMB with computational expertise at UT El Paso to develop machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities to better advance predictive diagnostics and clinical care,” said Alexander Vo, University of Texas Medical Branch commercialization and strategic ventures vice president and chief.

Publisher Yvonne Mintz wrote an editorial about a recent event in Angleton to recognize UTMB employees. “My heart swelled and eyes filled as Dr. Timothy Harlin, CEO of UTMB Health medical branch addressed his team and those who came to support them, taking us back to March 2020,” Mintz wrote. “While most of the world was working from home, shellshocked, healthcare workers donned whatever personal protective equipment they could find and held the hands of fearful, very sick patients. They cried with them when we, their daughters, sons, wives and husbands, could not.”

Women are at higher risk of serious complications from COVID when they’re pregnant. Should they get a COVID booster? Drs. Megan Berman and Richard Rupp examine the question in the recent Vaccine Smarts column.