Focus: Hidden - Houston Metro

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In late 2020, several concerning SARS-CoV-2 variants emerged globally. They are believed to be more easily transmissible, and there is concern that some may reduce the effectiveness of antibody treatments and vaccines.

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Houston Methodist infectious disease pathologists have discovered new COVID-19 cases caused by the SARS-CoV-2 UK B.1.1.7 variant are doubling weekly. By mid-March the number increased sharply to 648 cases from 305 just a week earlier. The findings come from the latest batch of 8,857 virus genomes sequenced from patients with positive COVID-19 tests in the first two months of 2021, representing 94% of Houston Methodist cases.

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Houston Methodist has sequenced more than 20,000 of Houston’s coronavirus genomes since the start of the pandemic and leads the SARS-CoV-2 genome sequencing efforts in the U.S. In the most recent batches of genomes, the U.K., South Africa, Brazil, California and New York variants were detected.

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If National Nutrition Month has fired up your imagination to be more creative when cooking in the great outdoors but you don’t know the first thing about it, help is at hand, thanks to The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

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A multi-center study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center revealed that a liquid biopsy test called Guardant360®, is comparable to standard tissue biopsies in detection of guideline recommended biomarkers in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), has a faster turn-around time, and has the potential to support identification of more patients who can be treated with targeted therapy.

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Texas Rep. Senfronia Thompson’s recent announcement calling for a statewide institute for training, telehealth, and research to improve mental well-being in children included presentations by Elizabeth Newlin, MD, and Consuelo Walss-Bass, PhD, of UTHealth in Houston.

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High school pitcher Gavan Lomas threw a pitch and felt pain in his right arm. While still on the mound, his first thought was that his pain would lead to the one thing he feared most in his baseball career – Tommy John surgery. His fears were confirmed when he was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament, a ligament critical for the stability of his elbow. Not willing to give up on his senior season, he decided to forego the traditional Tommy John surgery for a new technique to get him back on the mound faster.

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At work, it's healthier and more productive just to be yourself, according to a new study from Rice University, Texas A&M University, the University of Memphis, Xavier University, Portland State University and the University of California, Berkeley.

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MD Anderson received nearly $20 million from CPRIT for research, recruitment and prevention. The awards represented 20 percent of the $96 million CPRIT awarded this time. Since its inception, CPRIT has awarded $ 447.6 million to MD Anderson.

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Melanoma tumors that have spread to the brain are equipped to thwart immunotherapies and targeted therapies that succeed against tumors growing in other sites. Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report in Cancer Discovery that the heavy reliance of these tumors on a specific metabolic pathway presents a potentially new therapeutic against these lethal tumors.

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A screening tool designed specifically to assess for human trafficking was more likely to identify sexual and labor exploitation of youth, as well as the risk factors, than a commonly used psychosocial assessment, reported researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and Baylor College of Medicine.

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Outcomes in patients treated with mechanical clot removal, results from the only mobile stroke unit in the country using rendezvous transfers, and data on predictors of post-stroke depression and anxiety were among the highlights of activity by investigators from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) at the International Stroke Conference 2019.

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Houston Methodist scientists discovered a previously unknown trigger that turns run-of-the-mill strep infections into the flesh-eating disease childbed fever, which strikes postpartum moms and newborns, often leaving victims without limbs. Using an unprecedented approach, they looked at the interplay between the genome, transcriptome and virulence. This generated a massive data set, lending itself to artificial intelligence analysis. Through AI they unexpectedly discovered a new mechanism controlling virulence. The study appears Feb. 18 in Nature Genetics.

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Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered that a combination of immune checkpoint blockade and targeted therapies that block normal DNA damage repair (DDR) achieved significant tumor regression in mouse models of small cell lung cancer (SCLC), suggesting a promising new approach for treating patients with this aggressive cancer.

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Rice University statistician Genevera Allen says scientists must keep questioning the accuracy and reproducibility of scientific discoveries made by machine-learning techniques until researchers develop new computational systems that can critique themselves.

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Some patients with metastatic prostate cancer respond to a combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors after hormonal therapy and chemotherapy have failed, according to early results from a clinical trial led by investigators at MD Anderson

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Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered that malignant rhabdoid tumors (MRT), a rare pediatric cancer without effective treatments, may be sensitive to drugs that block the cancer cell’s ability to dispose of misfolded proteins. The findings provide a much-needed therapeutic target for these and other cancers caused by mutations in the SMARCB1 gene.