Petrie Dish

The annual summer COVID wave hasn't peaked yet, and flu season is on the way, but this year brings new options to fight back. From a prophylactic pill you can take after exposure to COVID to a faster-made mRNA flu shot, Dr. Jason Bowling of UT Health San Antonio breaks down the new options.

Every organ in your body keeps its own internal clock, and UT Health San Antonio researcher Kevin Koronowski is studying how that clock controls fat metabolism. His lab is investigating a protein pair that decides when the body burns fat and when it stores it, work that could eventually improve treatments for metabolic disease.

When doctors can't identify a fungal infection, they often turn to UT Health San Antonio's Fungus Testing Laboratory, which has discovered more than 60 new species since 2013. The lab is now racing to fight drug-resistant fungi while helping bring new antifungal treatments to market.

A new UT Health San Antonio study finds that any amount of physical activity can slow cognitive decline in older adults, with Mexican Americans showing the greatest benefit. Researchers say the findings highlight a need for community investment in accessible spaces for movement and social connection.

Kirsten Eom studies everything that goes into getting a cancer survivor from their front door to a doctor's office: insurance, transportation, follow-up care, and more. The UT Health San Antonio researcher has found that a surprising number of survivors stop seeing doctors once initial treatment ends. Now she's working to build a statewide registry to track the barriers keeping them away.

Loneliness doesn't just feel bad. It appears to raise the risk of heart disease, dementia, and early death. In part one of a two-part Petrie Dish series on the loneliness crisis, Bonnie Petrie talks to a researcher separating marmoset monkeys from their mates to study the body's stress response, and a psychiatrist mapping what isolation does to the human brain.

A UT San Antonio researcher warns that dementia cases could triple by 2050 and that no health system on earth is ready for it. But Dr. Claudia Suemoto says the outlook isn't hopeless: everyday choices around exercise, diet, and community can meaningfully lower your risk, especially if you start by around age 35.

In the nearly half of Texas counties considered maternity care deserts, few health care workers are trained to handle a pregnancy emergency like maternal cardiac arrest. A simulation-based training program from an expert at UT San Antonio's Kate Marmion School of Public Health aims to change that, and reduce preventable deaths in the process.

Alcohol use disorder affects millions of Americans, but treatment options remain limited, and relapse is common. A UT Health San Antonio researcher is studying two unconventional approaches that he hopes could one day be combined into a single, more effective treatment.

Texas A&M AgriLife livestock entomologist Sonja Swiger discusses the risks New World screwworm poses to pets, people and livestock, addresses concerns about the food supply and explains why reporting infestations is critical.