Victor Sierpina opines that life can be short and while we may look at the past, we should remain optimistic about the future. According to Sierpina, life may not be perfect, and we may not be perfect, but with optimism as our underlying attitude, life is good.

The Galveston County Daily News, January 29, 2020 - UTMB scientists featured on popular national podcast - Research study volunteers needed - UTMB scientists ready for research on new coronavirus

In their regular column, Megan Berman and Richard Rupp discuss pneumonia vaccines and why high-risk individuals should receive one or both, Prevnar-13 and Pneumovax.

Reporting on efforts already underway to develop a vaccine against the new Chinese coronavirus. UTMB’s Vineet Menachery is a story contributor looking back at the SARS outbreak. Menachery’s work focuses on coronavirus vaccines.

Public health officials in the Houston metropolitan area feel they are prepared to deal with the coronavirus threat, partly due to their proximity to UTMB’s Galveston National Laboratory. “There’s a lot of reasons why it’s a concern, but the world id doing its best to control it,” said UTMB’s James Le Duc. “In the past two decades, the U.S. government has invested heavily in preparedness issues.”

In this interview with Italian media, Thomas Ksiazek discusses efforts being made at UTMB to develop a vaccine to fight the novel coronavirus. “The time to obtain this new vaccine is very fast from a scientific point of view, but the regulatory phase could take a few years,” said Ksiazek.

As the coronavirus, now called 2019-nCoV, continues to spread Chinese scientists sequenced the viral genome and made it pubic. Now researchers around the globe are examining the sequence as part of an effort to understand the disease. “It really is an amazing feat that they got these sequences out as quickly as they did,” says UTMB’s Vineet Menachery.

In this interview, UTMB’s Vineet Menachery provides answers to questions readers may have about the coronavirus that continues to spread. “The public in the United States should be aware, but not yet worried,” Menachery says. Yahoo! News also published the interview.

UTMB’s Samuel Mathis recently attended the Texas Medical Association’s Winter Conference where physicians from all over the state of Texas meet to discuss health care policy and issues that affect patients.

The Galveston County Daily News, January 22, 2020 - UTMB to serve as hub for homelessness count - MLK Community Service Award honorees - Lefeber Winter Series on Aging