Dr. Jochen Reiser, president and CEO of UTMB Health, will take part in one of the keynote interviews during Becker’s 16th Annual Meeting in Chicago. “At its core, the meeting has become a space for executives to take stock — not just of industry trends, but of how their own leadership must evolve to meet the moment,” Becker’s said.

“Covid vaccines have been proven to be effective at preventing hospitalization and death,” write Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel in their latest Medical Discover News column. Covid continues to spread, with deadly results. “Estimates for 2024-25 are that there were up to 13.5 million people infected, and up to 43,000 deaths,” Herzog and Niesel write. “It is clear that Covid isn’t done with us yet.”

“UTMB Health successfully launched a new initiative that we refer to as Medicine 2.0,” Dr. Jochen Reiser tells Becker’s for an article on value-driven care. “Our model balances clinical excellence with financial sustainability, positioning UTMB as a market leader and destination center for specialized therapies such as gene therapy,” Reiser said.

“We salute the vision and efforts of the University of Texas Medical Branch in placing value on such an essential element of community healthcare,” writes Leonard Woosley, the publisher of the Galveston County Daily News. Woosley was commenting on the recent announcement of the new Sealy Heart and Vascular Institute.

“Homemade cooking has been linked to a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and other chronic illnesses like hypertension and high cholesterol,” writes Dr. Samuel Mathis for his column on the benefits of cooking at home.

Dr. Ashok Chopra spoke to the Los Angeles Times about plague after a South Lake Tahoe resident was recently infected. While the plague can be treated with antibiotics, Chopra said if left untreated it can be fatal. “If the infection is overwhelming,” he said, “then the bacteria can spread fairly quickly into the bloodstream, and then it becomes very dangerous.”

UTMB Health has been recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best-In-State Employers for 2025. “To be honored by Forbes as one of America’s Best-In-State Employers for a second consecutive year is a true testament to the people of UTMB Health,” Dr. Jochen Reiser, president of the medical branch and CEO of the UTMB Health System, said.