Petrie Dish

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.

Around 17% of service members who deploy to combat zones come home with PTSD — and for many, the road to recovery is long, difficult, and often out of reach. A new study hopes to change that by pairing a single dose of MDMA — known colloquially as ecstasy — with intensive therapy, potentially compressing recovery into just two weeks.

Rapamycin may be able to help older adults live longer, healthier lives. Studies of mice suggest the drug may even reverse hardening of the arteries. Researchers at UT Health San Antonio have launched a clinical trial to see if the drug can restore the biological activity of older adults to levels more typical of younger people, and, if so, how much does it take to do it?

Hundreds of thousands of veterans live with traumatic brain injuries that can trigger chronic headaches, often made worse by PTSD. A researcher at UT Health San Antonio is using AI to help predict and prevent the pain before it starts.

For 26 years, April Burrell was lost to a psychosis that defeated every treatment. Then a doctor asked a different question: what if her immune system was the problem? Dr. Anthony Zoghbi worked on the team that discovered Burrell's immune system was attacking her brain. Now he's searching for a blood test that could identify millions of others who may have been misdiagnosed and could be treated.

Obesity rates in South Texas exceed the national average, but many patients hesitate to pursue bariatric surgery due to the risks involved. UT Health San Antonio now offers endoscopic alternatives that achieve comparable weight loss results with no incisions, shorter recovery times, and lower risk.

A UT Health San Antonio researcher is working to map the nerves involved in jaw pain as part of a federally funded consortium aimed at developing the first targeted, non-opioid treatment for chronic pain, research he hopes will give millions of suffering Americans their lives back and ultimately reverse or even prevent pain in the first place.

When hospital patients have trouble breathing, respiratory therapists often reach for Albuterol, but a San Antonio researcher thinks it may be overused. He and his students are measuring patient response to the drug, hoping to bring more evidence-based medicine to respiratory care.

Whole milk is back in school lunches, but millions of American kids can’t easily digest it. Pediatric dietitian Marina Chaparro breaks down the science and offers ideas to help families make sure their kids get the nutrition they need, no matter what’s in the carton.

Chronic kidney disease with no clear cause is killing young people who do physical labor in Central America at an alarming rate. A UT Health San Antonio researcher has spent a decade looking for answers, and this summer, he'll study similar workers in San Antonio to see if clues he uncovers here can save lives there.