UTMB’s Vineet Menachery answered questions about the current situation with COVID-19. According to Menachery, continued spread of the illness is a great concern with numbers continuing to rise.

One hundred days since the first case of COVID-19 reported in Galveston County, cases now number more than 1,000. Dr. Ben Raimer, president ad interim explains that due to preparations made in recent weeks, UTMB is prepared for a possible increase in the number of COVID patients. “The difference is now we’re prepared to handle the increase,” Raimer said. “Before, we were making some intelligent guesses, but at this point in time, we’ve taken the guess work out of it.”

A local profile story on UTMB professor Dr. Philip Keiser, who also serves at the Galveston County Health Authority for the Galveston County United Board of Health. Keiser has been instrumental in leading COVID-19 response efforts in the county.

Reporting on efforts by a team of UTMB researchers, led by George Saade, to learn more about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pregnancy and post-partum care. UTMB joins 11 other health care sites across the country that encompass the Maternal Fetal Medicine Units Network. KPRC Houston (Link valid 30 days) also reported the story.

As the world continues dealing with the pandemic, an international team of computational scientists, medicinal chemists, biochemists, and virologist, led by Texas researchers, are working to rapidly identify drug like molecules that stop SARS-CoV-2. UTMB’s Stan Watowich is part of the effort. “It’s a bold, rapid, high-risk, high-reward, initiative to find new starting points for drugs for COVID-19,” Watowich said.

As hurricane season kicks off the Chronicle also looks at planning efforts undertaken by emergency officials to deal with any possible tropical threat during the pandemic. Mike Mastrangelo notes that UTMB started discussions two years ago around hypothetical situations involving a virus that limited the number of available beds at receiving hospitals during a major storm.

Graduating school of medicine students nominated for the Gold Headed Cane Award recently spoke with the local paper about their final months of school in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. While unable to gather at the traditional commencement ceremony, the students all had plans to make the day special. “I’m really proud of what our school has done to make it as special as possible,” said student Beatriz Thames. The recipient of this year’s Gold-Headed Cane Award was Jonathan Teran.