UTMB News Articles

Dr. Ana Rodriguez, an obstetrician, became interested in raising rates of vaccination against HPV after watching too many women battle a preventable cancer. She worked for several years in the Rio Grande Valley along the U.S. border with Mexico, an impoverished rural area with poor access to healthcare and high rates of HPV infection. “I would treat women very young — not even 30 years of age — already fighting advanced precancerous lesions secondary to HPV,” said Rodriguez, an associate professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

A common objection to expanding naloxone access is that it acts as a safety net for people with addiction to continue their drug habits with few repercussions. But Dr. Kathryn Cunningham, director of the Center of Addiction Research at the University of Texas Medical Branch, said research has shown no evidence that naloxone leads to more drug use. Naloxone may actually convince people to find professional help because it gives them more opportunities to seek treatment and rehabilitation later in life. “You can’t seek medical services if you’re dead,” Cunningham said.

Your chances of surviving a heart attack and of receiving life-saving treatment are better if you’re from a wealthy neighborhood, according to a new study in JAMA that shows mortality rates are 10 to 20 percent higher among patients in low-income areas than those with a high-income postal code. “In virtually all high-income countries, patients who reside in poor neighborhoods are less likely to receive recommended … heart attack treatments and are more likely to die than their compatriots or peers who live in wealthier neighborhoods in the same country,” said senior author Peter Cram, an adjunct scientist at ICES (formerly the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences) and professor of medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. The Toronto Star also covered this story.

The most important thing is to listen to and believe in yourself, says Dr. Jeff Temple, a licensed psychologist and the founding director of the Center for Violence Prevention at University of Texas Medical Branch. “If you feel drained or self-doubting or just plain gross after most interactions with your mentor, then that’s a pretty good sign that you’re in a toxic relationship,” he says. “Mentors should acknowledge the accomplishments of, and encourage, their mentees to do good work. If instead, your mentor is taking credit for, or denigrating, your work, then it may be time to question the relationship.”

The hospital recently introduced the medical-focused robots created by Diligent Robots named Ann and Dan— a play on Angleton Danbury — to its nursing staff. It is the first facility in southern Texas to have Moxi Robots, hospital officials said. “These robots are not just convenient. They are necessary,” said Dr. Beth Reimschissel, UTMB Health Angleton Danbury administrator. “Nurses love it. When we did our time-in-motion study, I think we counted over 300 times they were leaving their patients to do a task that takes no talent. If you ask any nurse or doctor, they do want more time with their patient and the patient wants more time with them.”

Dr. Pei-Yong Shi, professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, explained the work his team did that contributed to the rapid development of the first COVID-19 vaccine in humans, the research done to understand the variants and the future strategy of the vaccine.

Collaborators at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston carried out experiments that showed a strong immune response in mice given the vaccine. The mice in this experiment did not die but were “humanized,” meaning that they had an HLA molecule found in human cells.

This session, the Texas legislature will look at two bills related to regulating kratom products – an herbal substance that can produce opioid-and-stimulant-like effects Despite its growing relevance, research on the substance is still in its nascent phases, said Dr. Kathryn Cunningham, director of the Center for Addiction Research at the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Public school students will see a gruesome depiction of the effects of drunken and drugged driving during an interactive presentation March 10. Texas City ISD, with the help of the University of Texas Medical Branch, will stage a live production to vividly portray the devastating effects of the common occurrence, officials said.

The major allergen that triggers allergies to cats has been identified, wrote Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel in Medical Discovery News. Scientists have developed alternative ways to lessen its effects.

“It may come as a surprise for some that fat is an essential food,” wrote Dr. Sally Robinson in her column. Healthy fat is critical for a child’s growth and brain development.