Welcome to Ask the Expert, a UTHealth Houston news series in which leading experts examine pressing health challenges. In this edition, we address National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day.
For alumna Taylor Downs, MPH ‘26, her journey to studying at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health began with her love of fitness, a parental connection to healthcare, and a new perspective on what it means to prioritize health.
Risk factors for cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic disease, a health condition made up of heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, and obesity, can be identified in children as young as 8, UTHealth Houston researchers discovered.
Recent graduate Jennifer L. Thompson, PhD, MPH, has completed the epidemiology doctoral program at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health and is taking the next step in a career dedicated to research, teaching, and improving public health.
February 20, 2026
UTHealth Houston again ranks among the nation’s leading institutions for National Institutes of Health research funding, according to the latest annual analysis by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research.
February 6, 2026
A UTHealth Houston researcher reviewed existing scientific evidence on how exposure to “forever chemicals,” including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), may influence the risk of congenital heart defects in fetal cardiac development.
February 6, 2026
A UTHealth Houston researcher reviewed existing scientific evidence on how exposure to “forever chemicals,” including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), may influence the risk of congenital heart defects in fetal cardiac development.
January 26, 2026
After running a small pilot program for the past two years providing healthcare in laundromats, Jack Tsai, PhD, professor and regional dean in San Antonio, has secured a new $1.1 million grant to continue and expand the program for the next three years.
January 14, 2026
UTHealth Houston has been awarded more than $2.9 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to continue and expand a five-year initiative focused on increasing colorectal cancer screening, follow-up, and treatment across Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in Texas.
January 14, 2026
UTHealth Houston has been awarded more than $2.9 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to continue and expand a five-year initiative focused on increasing colorectal cancer screening, follow-up, and treatment across Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in Texas.
January 9, 2026
Since May 2025, second-year student at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, Yesmeena Shmaitelly, has played a pivotal role in advancing the Harris Health Food is Medicine (FIM) study, a multi-phased project providing fresh produce and nutrition education to at-risk pregnant mothers in the Greater Houston region.
January 9, 2026
The Swaddle Study, led by Serwaa S. Omowale, PhD, LMSW, MPH, assistant professor in Management, Policy, and Community Health and Center for Healthy Communities (CHeC) faculty, is a federally supported, groundbreaking community-based research project designed to address long-standing racial inequities in maternal and infant health outcomes among Black families in the U.S..
January 9, 2026
As we look forward to the year ahead, I invite and encourage you to renew your commitment and passion for the field of public health, and to not lose sight of the importance of our work.
January 6, 2026
New research presents promising results from an innovative technique that utilizes temperature control to genetically engineer sterile populations of insects, such as mosquitoes responsible for diseases like malaria, dengue, and other vector-borne illnesses.
