For those planning to safari in Sub-Saharan Africa or cruise the Amazon River, the yellow fever vaccine is a must. Drs. Megan Berman and Richard Rupp explain why in the latest Vaccine Smarts column.

Chronic pain, chronic fatigue syndromes, sleep disorders like sleep apnea and restless legs, anxiety, medications, organ problems like a bladder issue — all these and more must be considered as part of assessing the cause of sleep problems and treating them. Dr. Victor S. Sierpina offers tips to help you get the sleep you need. One is to reduce screen time before bedtime, so go ahead and put your cell phone down now.

Galveston’s St. Vincent’s House, working with the University of Texas Medical Branch, has opened this clinic for the most underserved on the island at Central Methodist Church, 3308 Ave. O 1/2. “Here, they are in a safe, trusted environment,” said Dr. Miles Farr. “Working alongside the church leadership is a key element to the success of this collaboration.”

More than 200 fourth-year medical students learned March 18 where they will serve as residents during the annual Match Day event at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Match Day is a national event in which medical students find where they will do their postgraduate residency programs.

The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston is receiving an endowment of $250,000 toward a Doctor of Clinical Nutrition program from Sodexo, a health care food service and facilities management company, officials with Sodexo said Monday. Pending approval, the program will begin in the spring semester of 2023.

The University of Texas Medical Branch plans to provide a physician to help care for the thousands of patients Dr. Nancy Hughes treated at her medical practice. Hughes, 67, died March 18 after she was struck by a vehicle on the far east end of Seawall Boulevard. “Nancy Hughes has been a very valued member of our medical staff since she first opened her practice in the 1990s. We wanted to be sure to offer her patients that continuity of care,” President Ben Raimer said. Before opening her own practice, she worked at the medical branch and continued to have admission privileges there.

Attorneys for Melissa Lucio, a Harlingen mother of 14 who is on death row for the 2007 death of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, are calling on Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to grant her a stay of execution in a new clemency application. A slew of supporters and medical and forensic experts from across the state have joined in seeking clemency for her. One of those experts, Dr. Michael Laposata, chairman of the Department of Pathology at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, believes there is evidence to support Mariah had been a victim of Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation, a disorder that causes extensive bruising following a head trauma, which her lawyers say occurred after her fall down the stairs. Texas Public Radio also reported Laposata’s expertise.