Petrie Dish

UT Health San Antonio neuroscientist Yu Shin Kim, PhD, has discovered how stress causes migraines, which could lead to treatments that prevent them.

Texas vaccine scientist Dr. Peter Hotez spoke with Bonnie Petrie about what it's like to be the target of anti-science activists, his continued commitment to fighting medical misinformation, and his thoughts on the nomination of anti-vaccine crusader Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

Physical exercise impacts every type of tissue in the body and affects males and females differently. Data gathered at UT Health San Antonio. It’s part of a nationwide, multi-site study on exercise and the human body.

Around 30% of boys diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy also experience cognitive dysfunction and neurodevelopmental disorders like autism and ADHD. A UT Health San Antonio neuroscientist is doing research he hopes will uncover what is causing these deficits and how they might be treated.

For the last five years, first responders all over the world have been watching San Antonio.

Around 20% of teens who have experienced emotional trauma don't respond to talk therapy. UT Health San Antonio is using neuroimaging to track brain changes in traumatized teens during a course of therapy to see if they can figure out why, which could lead to the development of more personalized treatments that will help more teens heal.

As climate change-driven weather disasters become more frequent and intense, it's becoming clear that they are leaving a mark on children's mental health. Clinical psychologist Julie Kaplow explores the risks of this type of trauma to a child's long-term mental health and ways to mitigate the damage.

Up to two percent of Texans have epilepsy. Dr. Charles Szabo at UT Health San Antonio has developed an epilepsy surgery program and is leading groundbreaking research and clinical trials that offer hope to those with the seizure disorder who don't respond to existing medications.

CTE can rob a person of their memories and ability to make decisions and plans. It can also cause a person to become a threat to themselves and, sometimes, others. But the disease, caused by repeated head trauma, can't be definitively diagnosed before death. A San Antonio researcher hopes to help change that.

UT Health San Antonio oncologist Josephine Taverna envisions a revolution in lung cancer treatment.

Exercise can improve function and slow disease progression in people with Parkinson's disease, but why? A UT Health San Antonio researcher is studying patients who exercise and play virtual reality games to see if she can figure out the answer.

Caregivers for members of the military and veterans experience depression at a higher rate than any other group in the nation and that can be lethal.

Remote technology can bring health interventions to patients who may struggle to get themselves to care because of where they live or how much money they have. Tae Joon Moon, Ph.D., has found that transdermal alcohol monitors are a remote tech that might help treat people with alcohol use disorder.

Pediatrician Debra Hendrickson says climate change is the greatest crime ever committed against children. She's written a book detailing the impact of climate change on children's health and offers a call-to-action for parents and other adults to do something before it really is too late.

Cancer care is about to experience a silver tsunami.

THX mice can be used to study anything that requires a vigorous human immune response, from cancer medications to vaccines and organ transplantation. The mice were created at UT Health San Antonio using human stem cells, but what makes them unique is they also received a dose of estrogen. This is the critical point, according to Dr. Paolo Casali, that leads to the development of a robust human immune system in THX mice.

Shivani Ruparel, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director of Research in the Department of Endodontics at UT Health San Antonio, and her team are working on potential analgesics to help mitigate cancer pain.

The chemical cross-communication between the guts and other organs that occurs when a person metabolizes nutrients begins before we open our mouths, when we see or smell food. The answer to why some people develop obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic disorders, and why some people respond so well to medicines like Ozempic, might lie in those signals. UT Health San Antonio endocrinologist Dr. Marzieh Salehi is studying that communication in patients with spinal cord injury.

For at least a year after being infected with the COVID virus, people may be at increased risk of developing a new heart-related problem. Those problems can range from blood clots to arrythmias to a sudden, catastrophic heart attack. In this episode of Petrie Dish, Bonnie Petrie talks with a Harvard cardiologist about why this can happen, and how to protect your heart.

New research from UT Health San Antonio finds a link between obstructive sleep apnea and persistent pain, suggesting that the intermittant lack of oxygen caused by apnea decreases a person's ability to recover from painful stimuli.

Millions of Americans are suffering from undiagnosed illnesses. Many are told their symptoms are imagined. Could artificial intelligence change the game, figuring out how to diagnose rare and difficult to diagnose diseases, leading to better understanding of their causes and better treatments? One San Antonio researcher thinks so.

A new medication to treat schizophrenia has been developed by scientists who discovered that a neuron that inhibits the activity of other cells may be in short supply in those with the disorder.

The World Health Organization is again warning the world about mpox, declaring an outbreak in central Africa.

UT Health San Antonio Speech-Language Pathology program graduate students are helping local kids at risk for developing a language disorder through a program called LAUNCH. Angela Kennedy, SLP-D, CCC-SLP, is the director of clinical education and an assistant professor for the Speech-Language Pathology program in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders.

A digital tool that uses artificial intelligence to analyze speech patterns could help doctors detect dementia in patients when other signs and symptoms are not perceptible.

Up to two percent of Texans have epilepsy. Dr. Charles Szabo at UT Health San Antonio has developed an epilepsy surgery program and is leading groundbreaking research and clinical trials that offer hope to those with the seizure disorder who don't respond to existing medications.

People who eat a strict keto diet are at risk for an accumulation of aged cells in their organs, but taking intermittent breaks from the diet can prevent these detrimental effects.

Adam Salmon, PhD, studies aging in marmosets. He and his team recently concluded that an immunosuppressant called rapamycin extends the lifespan of marmosets. This has significant implications for the study of aging in humans.

At the scene of an emergency, a flurry of decisions must be made. A new AI tool called the iRemedyAct could expedite processes of care during health emergencies.

David Morilak, PhD, a professor of pharmacology and director of the Center for Biomedical Neuroscience at UT Health San Antonio, studies rats in an effort to understand the characteristics of stressful events that can lead to PTSD in humans.

Shivani Ruparel, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director of Research in the Department of Endodontics at UT Health San Antonio, and her team are working on potential analgesics to help mitigate cancer pain.

Physical exercise impacts every type of tissue in the body and affects males and females differently. Data gathered at UT Health San Antonio. It’s part of a nationwide, multi-site study on exercise and the human body.

UT Health San Antonio Professor and Chair of Rehabilitation Medicine Dr. Monica Verduzco-Guttierrez, has helped craft a universal definition for long COVID, a cluster of sometimes disabling symptoms that occur after someone has recovered from COVID-19.

Pelvic health disorders can disrupt women's quality of life. The conditions might be considered common and inevitable, but they should not be ignored.

New COVID variants have emerged as dominant strains as summer begins. They're called FLiRT variants because of their unique mutations.

The Rural Cohort Study is bringing the lab right to the often isolated communities they want to research.

Plants-2-Plate is a six-month program that helps people adopt a whole food, plant-based diet.

How do we do that with a virus that can change as rapidly as the flu?

For months, we’ve been sharing with you all the ways that scientific discoveries at UT Health San Antonio have and will change lives. Now the university has added a team member it hopes will increase that impact.

'Most people think carcinomatosis is a death sentence, but there are different treatment modalities that I offer to patients. And that's something that is pretty unique to UT Health San Antonio,' said Dr. Mio Kitano, a surgical oncologist.

Caregivers for members of the military and veterans experience depression at a higher rate than any other group in the nation and that can be lethal.

Be Well Texas is revolutionizing how substance use disorder is treated in Texas.

TRC4 is a collaborative at UT Health San Antonio in partnership with the Department of Defense and the entire UT System to address an urgent need for improved trauma care both on the battlefield and at home.

It’s been more than four years since COVID changed our lives, and scientists are still trying to figure out why this novel coronavirus makes some people so sick, and others never get it.

Blood flow restriction ahead of surgery could be key.

For the last five years, first responders all over the world have been watching San Antonio.

One of the handiest tools in our immune system is an enzyme called apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide — better known as APOBECs.

UT Health San Antonio oncologist Josephine Taverna envisions a revolution in lung cancer treatment.

Imagine going to the eye doctor and getting a cheap, non-invasive test that could help you fight dementia. A doctor at UT Health San Antonio is working on it.

Anibal Diogenes, D.D.S., Ph.D., is an endodontist, the branch of dentistry that deals with the innermost part of the tooth called pulp, a connective tissue that has immunological, reparative functions.