We hope everyone had a safe & healthy holiday season. SBMI would like to welcome all new students and sends greetings to our returning students. We look forward to a successful spring semester.

Now that the semester is underway, we want to remind all students to submit their updated, yearly degree or program plans if it has not been completed recently. Please work with your academic advisor to complete the plan and if you have questions, please contact the Office of Academic Affairs at 713.500.3591 or SBMIAcademics@uth.tmc.edu for assistance.

Members of the SBMI Community have recently achieved noteworthy accomplishments. We want to recognize and applaud their endeavors.

• The Southwest Society of Periodontists recently honored PhD Student Tanjida Kabir. Her co-authored article titled "Use of the Deep Learning Approach to Measure Alveolar Bone Level" earned the Outstanding Publication Award.
• A co-authored JAMIA article was published in late December and members of the SBMI Community contributed to the research including Associate Dean for Research and Professor Elmer Bernstam, MD, MSE.

The UTHealth Houston student-centered mobile app download contest is well underway. All SBMI students who download the app before Monday, Feb. 6 can help the school win a $1,500 award that can be used for a social event on campus. We encourage all students to participate and utilize the app.

The app can be used to access class schedules, grades, and other information while on the go, and The app is available for both iOS and Android devices by visiting the App Store or Google Play and entering “UTHealth Student” into the search.

The updated SBMI Drop/Withdrawal form is now live. While we hope students won’t need to utilize the form, it can be found on the SBMI Forms page and here are direct links: SBMI Drop/Withdrawal Form (pdf) (Docusign).

The form was developed in conjunction with the Registrar’s Office to streamline course drops, term withdrawals, and complete withdrawals for the semester.

If students have any questions about the form or about dropping classes, please contact SBMI Academic Advisor Travis Crook at travis.g.crook@uth.tmc.edu.

OpenSpecimen is an upgraded way to manage your biospecimen inventory. Using the LIMS, you can manage and store associated biospecimen data such as the biospecimen ID, date and time of collection, biospecimen type, volume collected, and the location of the biospecimen in the freezer.

Here are a few more features of the LIMS:

• Inventory management of stored biospecimens throughout their entire lifecycle
• Security:
  • Personnel data visibility is determined by the role assigned to each user by the study PI
  • User accounts leverage the UT Federated Single Sign On system
• Software as a Service (SaaS): cloud-based, no dedicated IT team required, automated upgrades, no need to install software on individual workstations
• Support: provided by local UT Health Houston Common LIMS experts and the OpenSpecimen vendor
• Bulk importing and exporting are available

Studies can be in any phase of biospecimen / data collection, and institute administrators will work with you or your personnel to set up the study in the LIMS system. If you do not have any biospecimens collected yet, that's fine too. The team can help you set up your study in the LIMS system in preparation for biospecimen collection.

For more information, visit our website at https://www.utsystem.edu/utshbc.

HIMSS is accepting applications for any students that want to apply to become Program Assistants for the 2023 HIMSS Global Health Conference and Exhibition.

The application for 2023 is currently open and the deadline to apply is Jan. 27, 2023. Please visit the HIMSS website to learn more about the requirements and application process.