• Virtual nursing emerged as solution to workforce shortage in Texas during pandemic surges

    The University of Texas Medical Branch School of Nursing will launch a nursing certificate program in January that aims to improve care for patients in rural areas where there are not enough professionals to care for these communities. “For telehealth to be a widely adopted solution across Texas, providers need resources, education and support to eliminate barriers and successfully implement telehealth tools into modern health care practice,” said Dr. Kristen Starnes-Ott, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor at UTMB School of Nursing.

  • Young guards dove right into leadership training

    For about three years, the Galveston Island Beach Patrol has been working toward a leadership program. Partnering with the Occupational Therapy team from the University of Texas Medical Branch, its leadership committee modified an existing program that was based on a program generated from a Navy SEAL team.

  • A sincere apology can give you a health bump

    “Studies have shown that both giving and receiving forgiveness can improve blood pressure, decrease symptoms of depression and anxiety, improved mental resilience and even improve our immune system and how we respond to illness,” writes Dr. Samuel Mathis

  • Image of Nipah virus

    Study Proposes a Live Attenuated SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Candidate

    In a new study published recently on Nature Communications, researchers engineered a live-attenuated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate that could potentially be studied at biosafety level 2 for easier COVID-19 research and countermeasure development.

  • Texas researchers develop COVID nasal vaccine

    The Austin television station reported researchers at UTMB developed a COVID-19 vaccine delivered through the nose. It can add extra protection against COVID-19 since it can “effectively” kill the virus where it enters the body— the respiratory tract. The vaccine can be delivered in a nasal spray. Researchers found the new vaccine is stable, but they need to do further animal and human trials. “These efforts are underway and crucial since more than 10 billion doses of vaccines are needed across the globe, particularly in middle- to low-income countries, where the affordability of the current vaccines is a big concern,” said Dr. Ashok Chopra, UTMB microbiologist and co-author of the study. World Pharma News reported this news as well, and i45now interviewed Dr. Chopra about this second-generation vaccine.

  • COVID-19-Related Stress, Isolation Negatively Impacts Adolescents

    Dr. Jeff R. Temple, from the University of Texas Medical Branch Health at Galveston, and colleagues assessed whether COVID-19-induced financial impact, stress, loneliness, and isolation were related to perceived changes in adolescent mental health and substance use. Dr. Temple also appeared on KHOU’s Sunday morning news program July 24 to discuss this research.

  • How climate change is 'creating' a new era of infectious disease danger

    Scott Weaver, director of science at Galveston National Laboratory, told The Paper that he believes a Nature study more formally confirms what many virologists intuitively suspected: that climate change will redistribute many habitats for zoonotic virus hosts, promoting the risk of virus cross-species transmission. In addition, the concentration of less diverse animal populations in smaller areas may facilitate zoonotic outbreaks, which would increase the risk of epidemics spreading to humans. However, Weaver also said that it is difficult to pinpoint climate change as “conclusive evidence” of known cross-species shifts, as several other important factors are involved, such as deforestation and land use. “We need better monitoring of viruses and their hosts to identify projected changes in virus distribution before we can directly determine the direct impact of climate change on humans,” he said.

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