UTMB Newsroom

Scienceline, Nov. 5, 2009
A study in the journal Diabetologia by UTMB researchers found that insulin might play an important role in sarcopenia, age-related muscled loss. Sarcopenia occurs in part because muscle tissue doesn’t respond properly to insulin. Although researchers found that increased dosage of insulin restored muscle-building processes, it cannot be used in treatment because of its toxicity in high concentrations. “The new finding serves as a proof of concept,” said UTMB Dr. Elena Volpi. “It confirms our belief that the age-related decline in muscle growth is a true case of insulin resistance, which is an important piece to the larger puzzle of treating sarcopenia.”

Houston Chronicle, Nov. 5, 2009
Lauren Douglas, a second-year medical student at UTMB, spent part of the day Thursday at Yates High School in Houston talking with minority high school students about careers in health care. A graduate of Smiley High School, which closed in 2008 after years of declining enrollment, said, “I came from the same place as you.”

Bulletin of the World Health Organization, November 2009
One year after Hurricane Ike hit the coast of Texas, the evacuation of John Sealy Hospital is held up as an example of how to ensure patient safety during a crisis. Quoted in the article are Dr. Luca Cicalese, director of the UTMB Texas Transplant Center, Mike Megna, institutional emergency preparedness officer, Dr. Cristiana Rastellini, director of cell transplant and transplant research, and Mike Shriner, vice president of business operations and facilities.

Galveston County Daily News, Nov. 4, 2009
Prepackaged lunches, while convenient for parents, may contribute to childhood obesity, wrote UTMB Drs. Sally Robinson and Keith Bly in their Keeping Kids Healthy column. “Processed foods keep well, but the process of making them stable strips the nutrients away and all that remains are sugars and artificial flavors,” they wrote.

KUT-FM (Austin NPR), Nov. 4, 2009
Jason Sheaffer, a nurse clinician in UTMB’s Blocker Burn Unit, is quoted in this broadcast about the reopening of Shriners Hospital for Children-Galveston. The story starts at the 3-minute mark on the “sounds” audio clip.

Galveston County Daily News, Nov. 1, 2009
In this article about footwear, UTMB Dr. John Knecht advised against wearing higher-heeled boots. “Try to keep the heel under 2 inches,” he said. “If you’re going to be on your feet all day, it (a high heel) will tend to cause more problems with the foot and pain in the ball of your foot.”

Nature Medicine, October 2009
Biomedicine would be far easier if organisms were transparent. In 2007, a biologist created a transparent zebrafish and now more than 100 labs are using these fish to study cancer pathology and development in real time. Gracie Vargas, a biomedical engineer at UTMB, published a landmark study in 1999 that increased light transmittance through hamster skin by 50 percent using glycerol. In a paper published last year, she found it was possible to treat lesions such as birthmarks using greatly reduced laser power if tissue surrounding the birthmark was treated with glycerol first.

Galveston County Daily News, Nov. 3, 2009
Starting Monday, children 12 years old and younger no longer will be allowed to visit family and friends in John Sealy Hospital, a policy designed to slow the spread of the swine flu. “Obviously, there will be some inconvenience involved, but we need to protect our patients,” said Dr. Steve Quach, interim chief medical officer at UTMB. KTRK (Channel 13, Houston) carried this report featuring an interview with Quach.

Galveston County Daily News, Nov. 3, 2009
Whether riding a motorcycle or in need of eye protection, safety should be the primary concern when engaging in activities with a potential for injury, wrote UTMB Dr. Michael Warren in his It’s Your Health column. “Of course, nothing is 100 percent absolutely safe. But every safety device used brings you a whole lot closer to being protected than if you make no effort at all,” he wrote.

Houston Chronicle, Nov. 2, 2009
The Shriners Hospital for Children-Galveston will begin seeing patients Wednesday. However, it won’t accept burns patients until Dec. 1. The article notes that UTMB has two beds in its Blocker Burn Unit dedicated to pediatric burn patients.