UTMB News

Because of the increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria, scientists are looking to bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, as a treatment for bacterial infections, write Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel in this week’s Medical Discovery News column.

“My goal is to push innovation down to the desktop,” UTMB Vice President and CIO George Gaddie told Becker’s. UTMB signed a five-year deal with Microsoft to use the company’s AI and cloud computing capabilities. “We have not just made IT more innovative; we’ve made the organization more innovative, where if people have ideas, they can try them. They’ve got the tools necessary, the training necessary, they’ve got the expertise, the confidence,” Gaddie said. This news was also reported by hoodline.

"Saying we're going to devote resources to studying therapies instead of enhancing uptake of the vaccine is a profoundly inefficient way of addressing a vaccine-preventable disease," UTMB’s Dr. Susan McLellan told AFP for a story on the continued measles outbreak in the U.S. The story was picked up and printed in news outlets around the world including France 24, The Strait Times, News Central and The Times of India, among many others.

There is science to back up the need for humans to experience awe in their lives, writes Dr. Samuel Mathis in his latest column. For example, one study found that individuals who experience awe daily had lower levels of stress, fewer sick symptoms, and a greater sense of well-being.

Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel explore the different ways of controlling mosquitoes including new research that uses spider and sea anemone venom to kill mosquitoes when they breed.

“Cardiovascular health is failing, especially in women, and there are no signs that this stagnation is going back to a normal trend,” UTMB’s Dr. Octavio Bramajo tells the Daily News. Bramajo and Dr. Neil Mehta recently published a study that found that cardiovascular disease is the main reason for a growing life-expectancy gap between the United States and other high-income countries.

While AI can support clinicians in many ways that will benefit patients, it should not replace “real, flawed, human empathy, we must keep the soul of medicine intact,” writes UTMB’s Dr. Jarell De Matas.

“We have the science. Now it’s about infrastructure, education, and delivery,” UTMB’s Dr. Scott Weaver said at gathering of scientists at The University of the West Indies that came together to discuss the resurgence of mosquito-borne illnesses like dengue, chikungunya, and Zika.

Dr. Giulio Taglialatela coauthored an opinion piece for the Houston Chronicle on how “Houston region is positioned to become the global leader in the emerging brain economy.”

UTMB’s innovative uses of AI are featured in this article by VentureBeat. “The data is just sitting out there,” UTMB’s Dr. Peter McCaffrey told VentureBeat. “What I love about this is that AI doesn’t have to do anything superhuman. It’s performing a low intellect task, but at very high volume, and that still provides a lot of value, because we’re constantly finding things that we miss.”

“Despite the progress made, many challenges remain in providing life-saving screening imaging to underserved populations,” said UTMB’s Dr. Lidiya Biltibo at the recent American Roentgen Ray Society annual meeting. Biltibo highlighted the success of UTMB’s mobile mammography van as well as the challenges.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times when measles began to spread in Texarkana in 1970. The city straddles the state line between Texas and Arkansas and provides a lesson for today on the importance of vaccination, write Drs. Richard Rupp and Megan Berman in their Vaccine Smarts Column.

In his latest column, Dr. Victor S. Sierpina delves into the role of the naturopathic doctor. “Naturopathic Medicine emphasizes prevention, lifestyle counseling, nutrition, botanicals, and other non-invasive, natural methods of care,” Sierpina writes.

“With everything else going on in the world, it can be easy to miss new discoveries in biomedical science,” write Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel in their weekly Medical Discovery News column. Herzog and Niesel go over some of the past year’s biggest breakthroughs.

"If people would just get the standard vaccination, none of this would be happening," Dr. Scott Weaver tells 4029 News as the Arkansas Department of Health reports the state's first confirmed in-state case of measles transmission of 2025.

UTMB’s Dr. Shikha Wadhwani was one of three experts invited to a roundtable discussion organized by MedPage Today to discuss new guidelines released by The Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes group.