McWilliams Bragging Points
Members of our McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics Community have recently achieved noteworthy accomplishments. We want to recognize and applaud these individuals.
- Vice Dean for Education Susan Fenton, PhD was recently named a 2024 Triumph Award winner by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). She received her 2024 Distinguished Member award at the AHIMA24 Conference earlier this week. For more information, visit our website.
- These four MS Students are the 2024-2025 UTHealth Houston | Leads fellows from McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics. They will spend the next year engaged in a fellowship program to develop future leaders in health care.
- Our school celebrated McWilliams Day on Wednesday, October 23. Thanks to all in attendance at that special event. To learn more about the day, visit our website.
- Two McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics faculty members will be inducted into the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI). Congratulations to the Department of Bioinformatics and Systems Medicine Chair, Degui Zhi, PhD and Professor Xiaobo Zhou, PhD. They will be formally inducted next month during the AMIA Annual Symposium.
Alumna, DHI Candidate, and the Director of the Laredo Regional Campus Erika Cavazos-Juarez, MS '19 successfully defended her Translational Project this month. In December, she will become a two-time alum of our school when she earns her Doctorate in Health Informatics (DHI) degree.
Additionally, the Laredo Chamber of Commerce awarded Erika the Foundation Service Award in late September. She earned the award in recognition of her "commitment to improving the Laredo community through educational initiatives such as the Business Development Certification Program and Youth Leadership Laredo."
Yiming Li successfully defended his Dissertation this month and will earn his PhD in Biomedical Informatics this semester. Congratulations to Yiming!
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PhD Student Rongbin Li won 2nd place and a cash prize for his PhD student poster at the Gulf Coast Consortium’s 34th Keck Annual Research Conference this month. His poster is titled “Novel Large Language Model Usage Enables Accurate Gene Set Annotation.” Rongbin was also chosen to be the NLM Training Program’s trainee speaker and presented his NLM project in a platform presentation.
- DHI Student Fares Alahdab, MD has a new Cell Reports Medicine article that was published.
- Assistant Professor Shayan Shams, PhD was a keynote speaker at the 2024 Ovarian Cancer Academy Annual Workshop in September.
- Professor Dean Sittig, PhD co-authored a JAMIA article titled "Toward a responsible future: recommendations for AI-enabled clinical decision support."
Fall Holiday Party on October 31
The entire McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics community is invited to attend the school’s Fall Holiday Party from 12 to 1 PM (CT) on Thursday, October 31. It will take place near the central staircase on the 6th floor of the school’s building space.
Academic Updates – Degree Plan Holds
and Withdrawal Deadline
and Withdrawal Deadline
Spring 2025 course registration will open on November 13 at 8 AM (CT). As McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics students prepare to enroll for the next semester, please note that some student accounts will have a degree plan hold. As such, plan accordingly when submitting your completed degree plan to the Office of Academic Affairs. Remember that degree plans must include your full name, student ID number, all courses (including planned or completed), semesters and years of enrollment, grades earned (if applicable), student signature, and faculty advisor signature.
The last day to withdraw from a McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics course is Friday, November 1. Note that after that date, students can no longer be issued a W grade for fall 2024. All Withdrawal forms must be completed and submitted by 5 PM CT on November 1 as late forms will not be processed. The required form is available online: Drop/Withdrawal Form (pdf) (Docusign).
As a reminder, utilizing DocuSign for your degree plan and/or Withdrawal form is the fastest way to get the document signed. Please email [email protected] if you have any questions.
Registration Exploration on November 6
Join us at 4:00 PM Central Time (CT) on for Registration Exploration! During this virtual event, students can meet via Zoom with faculty and staff to learn more about the Spring 2025 courses offered at McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics.
Reminder from Student Counseling Servicess
As the Fall Semester progresses, Student Counseling Services wants to remind all students of the services their staff offers, including counseling and psychiatry appointments in person and online. This PDF provides more information on the available resources. Please reach out if you need support; Student Counseling Services is here to help.
You can schedule an appointment by calling 713-500-5171 or stopping by the clinic between the hours of 9 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday. The clinic is located inside the UT Professional Building at 6410 Fannin, in Suite 130.
To speak with a crisis counselor, available 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week, you can call the IMUT Crisis Hotline at 713-500-IMUT (4688). Alternatively, you can call or text the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.
UTHealth Houston Wellness Week & Sports Day
UTHealth Houston’s Student InterCouncil (SIC) have two upcoming events that all McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics students are welcome to participate in. Wellness Week even includes a special day curated by our McWilliams Student Governance Organization (SGO).
Wellness Week
- Who: All UTHealth Houston students
- When: November 4–8
- More Info: Wellness Week Details
Sports Day
- Who: All UTHealth Houston students
- When:10:00 AM to 2:00 PM on
- Where:UTHealth Houston Recreation Center Fields, 1832 West Road
- More Info: https://www.uth.edu/student-affairs/student-intercouncil/sports-day
Final Reminder - AMIA Mixer on November 11
This is the final reminder to join us from 5:30 to 8:00 PM Pacific Standard Time (PST) on for the McWilliams AMIA24 Mixer. We will host the annual event at Johnny Foley's Irish House, located at 243 O'Farrell St, San Francisco, CA. If you have not done so, don’t forget to RSVP for the event!
McWilliams In the News
- Professor Jim Langabeer, PhD, EdD, MBA, EMT, spoke with the Houston Chronicle earlier this month. He explored how heat raises the risk of health complications for drug users.
- Professor Hongfang Liu, PhD, discussed both the risks and benefits of AI usage in translational research with Nature.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Upcoming Events
| Nov. 6 | Research Seminar presentation by PhD Students Dulin Wang & Rongbin Li 12 PM CT online and at 7000 Fannin Street, 6th floor (UCT E-618) |
| Nov. 6 | Registration Exploration for Spring 2025 4 PM CT via Zoom (pre-registration is not required) |
| Nov. 9 | Student InterCouncil (SIC) Annual Sports Day 10 AM to 2 PM CT at the Auxiliary Enterprises Recreation Center Fields, 1832 West Road |
| Nov. 11 | McWilliams Mixer at AMIA Symposium 5:30 to 7 PM PT at Johnny Foley’s, 243 O’Farrell Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 |
| Nov. 13 | Research Seminar presentation by PhD Students Shikha Tripathi & Apollo McOwiti 12 PM CT online and at 7000 Fannin Street, 6th floor (UCT E-618) |
| Nov. 20 | Research Seminar presentation by PhD Students Yifang Dang & Zehan Li 12 PM CT online and at 7000 Fannin Street, 6th floor (UCT E-618) |
| Nov. 27 | Research Seminar presentation by PhD Students Hao Xubing & Warren Manuel
12 PM CT online and at 7000 Fannin Street, 6th floor (UCT E-618) |
| Nov. 1 | Last day to drop with a withdrawal grade of “W” - Must process required form |
| Nov. 1 | Last day to apply for Fall 2024 graduation in myUTH |
| Nov. 1 | DHI & PhD - Last day to defend translational project or dissertation |
| Nov. 5 | Election Day |
| Nov. 6 | Registration Exploration via Zoom |
| Nov. 13 | Spring 2025 registration opens in myUTH |
| Nov. 28-29 | Thanksgiving Holiday – University is closed |
| Dec. 6 | Last class day for Fall 2024 Semester |
| Dec. 6 | PhD - Last day to defend proposal |
| Dec. 9 | McWilliams Fall Poster Session |
| Dec. 19-20 | PhD Qualifying Exam |
Visit our website for a full list of research seminar dates and access to recordings for past seminars.
Office of Academic Affairs
7000 Fannin, Ste. 650 Houston, TX
Phone: 713.500.3591
Email: [email protected]
7000 Fannin, Ste. 650 Houston, TX
Phone: 713.500.3591
Email: [email protected]
