In a guest column for the Daily News, Dr. Jochen Reiser, president of UTMB and CEO of the UTMB Health System, wrote about the recently ended 89th Legislative Session in Austin and some of UTMB’s legislative wins. “At the University of Texas Medical Branch, we are thankful for these investments, both for the legislature’s vote of confidence for our Healthy Aging and Technology Initiative within our institution, and the broader establishment of the research institute, to fund competitive and thoughtful grants, for the betterment of all Texans,” Reiser writes.

“Cold water immersion is more than just a wellness trend,” writes Dr. Hasan Yasin. Submerging the body in cold water offers a range of physical and mental benefits, from accelerating recovery to enhancing circulation and boosting mood, Yasin writes.

“This distinction reflects the exceptional dedication of our multidisciplinary teams and our unwavering commitment to clinical excellence, innovation and patient-centered care,” UTMB’s Dr. Hani Jneid tells the Daily News. UTMB was ranked among the top 100 U.S. hospitals for cardiac care in the 2025 edition of Newsweek/Statista’s America’s Best Specialized Hospitals.

“Receiving the Marilyn G. Farquhar Lifetime Research Achievement Award is an immense honor — one that symbolizes the decades of work by my team to advance our understanding of podocyte biology and kidney disease,” said Dr. Jochen Reiser president of UTMB and CEO of the UTMB Health System upon receiving the prestigious award.

UTMB’s Dr. Scott Weaver spoke to USA Today for this story on NIH budget cuts. UTMB receives about $150 million in NIH grants annually and has already lost about $19.3 million due to cuts, Weaver told USA Today.

Researchers at UTMB have been awarded nearly $5 million in grants from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to forward their work as well as $2 million to recruit Dr. Xun Sun.

“Hidden among those microbes in our mouths and guts, are thousands of virus-like entities,” write Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel. Scientists have named the entities – flat rod-shaped loops of RNA found in bacteria – obelisks but don’t know if they influence our microbiome, affect our immune system or any other processes in our bodies. “It seems that Mother Nature still can surprise us, and hopefully, more science will enlighten us,” write Herzog and Niesel.

Texas has allocated $50 million to fund clinical trials of a psychedelic reported to help those with PTSD and Galveston County is in a good position to lead the way in that research, writes UTMB’s Dr. Jarrel De Matas. “Galveston stands at a critical intersection of education, public health and innovation,” De Matas writes.

UTMB’s League City and Clear Lake Campuses are highlighted in this news roundup by Community Impact. Updates in Clear Lake include new clinic openings as well as the comprehensive stroke center. In League City, the hospital began seeing oncology patients on the ambulatory side.

“I just always thought that was intriguing to work with viruses that were that deadly and try to come up with ways to stop them,” Dr. Thomas Geisbert tells The Scientist for an article about how scientists prepare to fight new and emerging pathogens.