Petrie Dish
Episodes
Science & Medicine: A hopeful time for people with epilepsy
08 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 groundb...
Science & Medicine: Diagnosing CTE before death
01 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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, somet...
Science & Medicine: Targeting lung cancer
24 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
UT Health San Antonio oncologist Josephine Taverna envisions a revolution in lung cancer treatment.
Science & Medicine: Exercise is medicine for people with Parkinson's disease
17 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Exercise can improve function and slow disease progression in people with Parkinson's disease, but why? A UT Health San Antonio researcher is studying...
Science & Medicine: Caring for veteran caregivers
09 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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.
Science & Medicine: Using technology to improve health equity
03 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 t...
Petrie Dish: Climate change — a crime against children
01 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Pediatrician Debra Hendrickson says climate change is the greatest crime ever committed against children. She's written a book detailing the impact of...
Science & Medicine: Cancer's silver tsunami
27 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Cancer care is about to experience a silver tsunami.
Science & Medicine: UT Health researcher creates mice with fully functioning human immune systems
20 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
THX mice can be used to study anything that requires a vigorous human immune response, from cancer medications to vaccines and organ transplantation. ...
Science & Medicine: Developing new medications to manage cancer pain
13 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Shivani Ruparel, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director of Research in the Department of Endodontics at UT Health San Antonio, and her team are worki...
Science & Medicine: Studying the chemical miscommunication that may lead to obesity
06 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The chemical cross-communication between the guts and other organs that occurs when a person metabolizes nutrients begins before we open our mouths, w...
Petrie Dish: When COVID targets the heart, danger can linger
04 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 proble...
Science & Medicine: The link between sleep apnea and persistent pain
22 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
New research from UT Health San Antonio finds a link between obstructive sleep apnea and persistent pain, suggesting that the intermittant lack of oxy...
Petrie Dish: Using artificial intelligence to solve medical mysteries
16 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Millions of Americans are suffering from undiagnosed illnesses. Many are told their symptoms are imagined. Could artificial intelligence change the ga...
Science & Medicine: Relaxing excited neurons may lead to more effective treatments for schizophrenia
08 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Petrie Dish: Another mpox emergency
30 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The World Health Organization is again warning the world about mpox, declaring an outbreak in central Africa.
Science & Medicine: LAUNCHing kids into literacy
25 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
UT Health San Antonio Speech-Language Pathology program graduate students are helping local kids at risk for developing a language disorder through a ...
Science & Medicine: An app for detecting dementia decades early
18 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A digital tool that uses artificial intelligence to analyze speech patterns could help doctors detect dementia in patients when other signs and sympto...
Science & Medicine: A hopeful time for people with epilepsy
11 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 groundb...
Science & Medicine: Beneficial effects of a keto diet can be enhanced by intermittent breaks
04 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 prev...
Science & Medicine: Anti-aging drug shows promise in marmosets
28 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Salmon, PhD, studies aging in marmosets. He and his team recently concluded that an immunosuppressant called rapamycin extends the lifespan of ma...
Petrie Dish: UTSA developing AI tool to expedite patient care in trauma emergencies
26 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 e...
Science & Medicine: Studying stressed out rats to understand PTSD in humans
21 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
David Morilak, PhD, a professor of pharmacology and director of the Center for Biomedical Neuroscience at UT Health San Antonio, studies rats in an ef...
Science & Medicine: Developing new medications to manage cancer pain
14 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Shivani Ruparel, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director of Research in the Department of Endodontics at UT Health San Antonio, and her team are worki...
Science & Medicine: Exercise affects men and women differently
07 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 p...
Petrie Dish: Defining long COVID
05 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
UT Health San Antonio Professor and Chair of Rehabilitation Medicine Dr. Monica Verduzco-Guttierrez, has helped craft a universal definition for long ...
Science & Medicine: Help for women's pelvic health disorders
29 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Pelvic health disorders can disrupt women's quality of life. The conditions might be considered common and inevitable, but they should not be ignored.
Petrie Dish: What you need to know about COVID FLiRT variants
25 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
New COVID variants have emerged as dominant strains as summer begins. They're called FLiRT variants because of their unique mutations.
Science & Medicine: Bridging the rural health divide
23 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Rural Cohort Study is bringing the lab right to the often isolated communities they want to research.
Science & Medicine: Plants-2-Plate
16 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Plants-2-Plate is a six-month program that helps people adopt a whole food, plant-based diet.
Petrie Dish: Why you should be prepared but not scared of the bird flu
10 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How do we do that with a virus that can change as rapidly as the flu?
Science & Medicine: Bringing health innovation to market
09 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 univer...
Science & Medicine: Hope for patients with the deadliest cancers
28 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
'Most people think carcinomatosis is a death sentence, but there are different treatment modalities that I offer to patients. And that's something tha...
Science & Medicine: Caring for veteran caregivers
19 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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.
Science & Medicine: Be Well, Texas
12 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Be Well Texas is revolutionizing how substance use disorder is treated in Texas.
Science & Medicine: Improving trauma care on the battlefield and at home
06 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Petrie Dish: Exploring what the 'NOVIDs' can teach us
26 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 pe...
Science & Medicine: Improving knee replacement outcomes
21 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Blood flow restriction ahead of surgery could be key.
Science & Medicine: Whole blood ambulances
14 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For the last five years, first responders all over the world have been watching San Antonio.
Science & Medicine: APOBECs and the fight against cancer
07 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One of the handiest tools in our immune system is an enzyme called apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide — better known as APO...
Science & Medicine: Targeting lung cancer
31 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
UT Health San Antonio oncologist Josephine Taverna envisions a revolution in lung cancer treatment.
Science & Medicine: Fighting Alzheimer's at the eye doctor
24 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 workin...
Science & Medicine: Tooth pain with a purpose
16 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 t...
What we can learn from Congressman Joaquin Castro's cancer treatment
12 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The journey began with the story of the Spanish boar that saved Castro’s life.
Science & Medicine: Strengthening your teeth
10 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine one day your child bites down on something and the enamel on one of their teeth starts to crumble. That can happen in a condition called molar...
Science & Medicine: Taking on America's number one killer
03 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
More than six-million American adults are experiencing heart failure right now.
Science & Medicine: Cancer's silver tsunami
25 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Cancer care is about to experience a silver tsunami.
Science & Medicine: Eat your pain away
18 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re experiencing chronic pain, adjusting your diet might help.
Science & Medicine: A Crisis of Loneliness
11 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Loneliness and social isolation can make you as sick as obesity or 15 cigarettes a day.
The winter wave of 2024
06 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
COVID’s winter wave has blanketed the nation, along with flu. After a brief decline, hospitalizations for both COVID and flu have increased again in...
Science & Medicine: Go to the dentist
04 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When people think about things they can do to stay healthy, they don’t think about their teeth nearly enough.
Science & Medicine: When you clamp the cord matters
28 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a big moment, when someone — often dad — cuts a newborn’s umbilical cord. But before you cut it, you clamp it to stop blood flow, and UT ...
Science & Medicine: Communicating with Aphasia
21 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When Bruce Willis, an action movie star known for his way with words, started to lose his language skills, it made news. He had aphasia.
Science & Medicine: The Avanzando Caminos Hispanic cancer survivor study
14 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“No study had been funded to really look at the needs of our Latino cancer survivors. We're the first study to be doing this," said Dr. Amelie Ramir...
Science & Medicine: Swallowing ‘workout’ for people with early Parkinson’s
07 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Do you ever think about all that’s involved in just swallowing a bit of breakfast taco or a sip of coffee?
Science & Medicine: Spinal cord injury and walking again
31 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Selina Morgan holds a doctorate in physical therapy, a board certification in neurological physical therapy, and is an assistant professor in the Depa...
Should you take the plunge? Diving into the science behind cold exposure therapy
29 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What does the science say about ice baths and cold plunges? TPR's Bioscience and Medicine reporter Bonnie Petrie 'dives in'
Science & Medicine: Thriving with congenital heart disease
24 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Ginnie Abarbanell is chief of pediatric cardiology at UT Health San Antonio. She takes care of all kinds of kids, ranging from little ones with he...
Science & Medicine: Early screening to prevent congenital heart disease
17 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Congenital heart disease can often be detected at the mid-pregnancy ultrasound, which dramatically improves outcomes. But too many people don’t get ...
Science & Medicine: Alzheimer's and the inflammatory trigger
10 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A UT Health Science Center San Antonio researcher has discovered something really interesting about Alzheimer’s disease.
Science & Medicine: The next Ozempic?
03 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ozempic isn’t the only exciting diabetes medication out there on the market. Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitorshave a multitude of potential ...
CDC wants to fortify corn masa flour with folic acid to prevent birth defects
25 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For the last 25 years, the U.S. has required that grain and cereal products be fortified with folic acid — and the CDC is now urging manufacturers o...
Science & Medicine: The Brain Bank
19 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
At the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the brain bank is accepting deposits.
Science & Medicine: Counter Long COVID with pacing
12 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, chair of rehabilitation medicine at UT Health San Antonio, teaches her patients to practice what she calls pacing and o...
Science & Medicine: Omega 3 fatty acids to fight Alzheimer’s
05 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re in your 40s or 50s, there may be something you can do right now to fight Alzheimer’s disease. It involves Omega 3 fatty acids – the go...
Science & Medicine: Using AI for brain health diagnoses
28 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve heard a lot about artificial intelligence lately, and some of it is unsettling. But AI also has great potential to improve and even save lives...
Science & Medicine: Brain healthy diets
20 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Researchers have suspected that foods which cause inflammation speed up brain aging and cognitive decline, but UT Health San Antonio's Debora Melo van...
Science & Medicine: Long COVID and the road to recovery
06 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, professor and chair of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, has been running two long COVID cl...
'The bugs are winning' — Researchers are fighting drug-resistant tuberculosis
30 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The antibiotics that only 80 years ago turned TB from a voracious killer of an estimated 1 billion people to a treatable disease just don’t work any...
Inside America’s last remaining free standing tuberculosis hospital
14 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Did you know there is still one tuberculosis hospital in the United States? There is just one: The Texas Center for Infectious Disease in San Antonio....
Summer ends in the shadow of new COVID-19 threat
29 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
COVID cases have been increasing for weeks nationwide, but a COVID expert says not to call it a surge just yet.
Thousands of Afghans suffer from PTSD. Advocates are trying to find culturally competent ways to help
24 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
'We've seen women who have not gone outside the door in six months,' said Margaret Constantino, executive director of the Center for Refugee Services ...
Reclaiming Henrietta Lacks
09 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Family members of a woman who changed modern medicine — without her knowledge and certainly without her permission — spoke at a gathering of scien...
COVID-19 emergency declarations expire, and individuals bear the costs of fighting the virus
05 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
While there are still tests, treatments like paxlovid, and vaccines in the national stockpile, those should remain easily accessible. Once the stockpi...
How misinformation became the leading cause of death in the U.S. and what can be done about it
21 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Medical misinformation is killing people, according to the head of the Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Robert Califf blames misinformation and disin...
Killer fungi may not be the last of us but scientists are concerned
07 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Can it turn us into murderous zombies? No, but it has killed between 30 to 60 percent of those it has infected.
Could Ozempic be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease?
24 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Some are calling it the Kim Kardashian weight loss drug. Ozempic related videos have more than 1 billion views on TikTok. The medication is taken to h...
San Antonio researchers revive 1979 Heart and Mind Study
11 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
San Antonio researchers are getting the band back together, in a way. They’re reaching out to people who participated in a groundbreaking 1979 study...
Marmoset microbiomes, human microbiomes, and the fountain of youth
20 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
One of humanity's great quests made microscopic in the aging intestines of tiny monkeys.
The reality of long COVID in 2023
04 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez runs two long COVID clinics in San Antonio, is known for running marathons, and she partners in running a home as a mom ...
How an old, rarely prescribed antidepressant was repurposed to treat breast cancer
20 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The idea that there may be medicines already out there, safe and approved by the FDA and just waiting to be rediscovered is tantalizing for scientists...
Is immunity debt or immunity theft to blame for children's respiratory virus spike?
06 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Kids seem to be catching everything and getting sicker as the pandemic enters its third winter, leaving physicians and researchers to figure out what'...
The truth about SSRI antidepressants
17 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tens of millions of Americans take selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors — SSRIs — to treat depression by addressing what was believed to be a c...
Peter Hotez on the 'tridemic' and how to protect your family
25 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Flu. RSV. COVID-19. This three car collision of respiratory viruses as winter approaches is causing some health experts to worry about what they’re ...
Welcome to the golden age of the genome
04 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Whole genome sequencing is now becoming cheap enough that doctors will be able to order it for everyone if they want. That could lead to truly persona...
Uvalde prompted Texas to start taking mental health in schools more seriously. Is it enough?
26 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The phrase 'mental health' has been used repeatedly in politics to avoid the gun control debate. But there was a significant lack of access to mental ...
Can telehealth solve America's mental health crisis in schools?
17 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The kids are not alright. A CDC analysis released earlier this year found that in 2021— the second year of the pandemic — more than 37% of high sc...
Petrie Dish returns in September
09 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When Petrie Dish returns in September, we'll continue to bring you the latest on COVID-19 and also explore other topics with in-depth interview and re...
'It turns the amplifier on' — The impact of long COVID
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As waves of omicron and its extremely contagious subvariants burn through previously uninfected populations, it has become clear that people with mild...
Wastewater testing could help control COVID's spread. Why isn't it happening across America?
21 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
COVID-19 testing clinics around the country are closing, and federal funding for free clinical testing is drying up. But wastewater surveillance could...
COVID and Pregnancy: Delivering a baby on heart-lung bypass
12 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ashley Savidge Hernandez, a Marine Corps spouse and mother of five, delivered a baby while critically ill with COVID-19. How did she and her healthy s...
Peter Hotez on the Texas-made COVID vaccine that could help billions
28 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Peter Hotez has become one of the faces of the pandemic. The bow-tied Texas scientist has been all over radio and television — and on this podca...
Ask the experts: Long-haul COVID
15 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Bonnie Petrie guest hosts The Source on Texas Public Radio to put listener questions about long-haul COVID to two leading experts
The other Texas drought: Rural hospital closures
20 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Texas has had 24 rural hospital closures since 2005, the most in the country, and the problem is being felt by the most vulnerable.
Omicron: The escape mutant
15 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
New research out of South Africa and the UK have found that the omicron variant dramatically reduces vaccine effectiveness in the Pfizer-BioNTech COVI...
Parents' COVID vaccine questions, answered
15 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Children between 5 and 11 are now eligible for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Is the vaccine safe for people in this age group? Does it work? W...
Introducing: When You Become Your Parent's Parent
28 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A new podcast from Texas Public Radio explores the confusion, heartbreak, and joy of moving back home to care for an aging relative. It's hosted by lo...
What you need to know about vaccine booster shots
21 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Petrie Dish, host Bonnie Petrie speaks with Dr. Tracey Baas of Texas Biomedical Institute about timing, mixing and matching, who sh...
Delta And Disinformation: The COVID Surge We Chose
21 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The emergence of the delta variant has presented a daunting challenge in the fight against the COVID virus, made worse by a pandemic of bad informatio...
Pregnancy During A Pandemic Is Scary — The Delta Variant Is Making It Worse
20 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
COVID-19 and pregnancy are not a good mix. In this episode of Petrie Dish, Bonnie Petrie explores the risks associated with getting COVID during pregn...