New clinic in Houston opens to help patients recovering from COVID-19

post-COVID treatment

UTHealth has created a clinic that will provide a myriad of expert physicians for patients still dealing with COVID-19 symptoms. Photo via Getty Images

Houston's first clinic for treatment of patients still coping with symptoms of COVID-19 has opened at UT Physicians, the clinical practice of McGovern Medical School at University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

The clinic, part of the new UTHealth COVID-19 Center of Excellence, is staffed by specialists in cardiology, general medicine, neurology, infectious disease, pulmonology, psychiatry, and otorhinolaryngology (ear, nose, and throat). Telehealth and in-person visits are available.

"The UTHealth COVID-19 Center of Excellence brings together our university's experts in adult and pediatric specialty care, public health, biomedical research, and big data analytics — all working to provide the best outcomes for our patients, the best public health and prevention practices for our community, and the best therapies for the virus' short- and long-term impacts," Dr. Giuseppe Colasurdo, president of UTHealth, says in an October 15 release.

Among other things, the COVID-19 Center of Excellence will work on developing reliable testing for the coronavirus, authenticating effective therapies, applying analytics and artificial intelligence to care and research, and collecting virus samples for a "biobank" to study how genetics affects the virus' severity.

Since the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic, scientists and physicians at McGovern Medical School have led clinical trials and treatment protocols, including one of the world's first double-lung transplants for a coronavirus patient. UTHealth is participating in some of the largest national clinical trials to help COVID-19 patients heal, such as studies to prevent progression of the disease and studies seeking proven treatments for critically ill patients.

In one of the country's first randomized clinical trials of its kind, an $8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health is financing a UTHealth study of whether infusions of convalescent plasma can prevent the progression of COVID-19. Another research team is evaluating whether an oral HIF (hypoxia-inducible factor) inhibitor can protect the lungs of COVID-19 patients. The inhibitor is designed to trigger the body's protective response to low oxygen levels.

At the same time, researchers at UTHealth's Cizik School of Nursing are studying the socioeconomic and mental health effects of the virus on Hispanics, while members of the MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences are exploring how the time of day a medication is taken might help a COVID-19 patient. In addition, experts at UTHealth's School of Biomedical Informatics are using big data to fight COVID-19.

"Within our six schools, we have the broad expertise that has positioned us as one of the few universities to help our community, Texas and the country through the pandemic and beyond," says Michael Blackburn, executive vice president and chief academic officer of UTHealth. "That starts with amazing clinical care, COVID-19 trials, real-time translational research, and expert knowledge from our public health leaders."

The School of Public Health is leading establishment of a study to be conducted with partners throughout Southeast Texas to assess the virus' long-term consequences, determine factors that contribute to severe outcomes, and enable UTHealth experts to develop and use treatments more effectively. In addition, a community information exchange will be built to connect vulnerable populations with healthcare and social service providers.

"In these unprecedented times, the six schools at UTHealth are rapidly evolving the science and medical care for patients with COVID-19 and our community," says Dr. Bela Patel, vice dean of healthcare quality at McGovern Medical School. "Prevention, new therapeutics, and post-COVID-19 care for our patients with prolonged COVID-19 disease is the mission for the UTHealth Center of Excellence for COVID-19."

Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

Texas among 5 hardest working states and more innovation news to know

Trending News

Editor's note: As we look back at the top Houston innovation news for the first half of September, reports show that Texas is one of the hardest working states, while local startup activity has slowed down. Plus, exciting medical innovation advancements. Here are the most-read InnovationMap stories from September 1-14.

1. Texas is the 4th hardest working state in America, report finds

Texas is home to some of the hardest workers. Photo via Getty Images

It's no secret that Texans are hardworking people. To align with the recent Labor Day holiday, a new WalletHub study asserts that the Lone Star State is one of the five most hardworking states in America for 2025. The report ranked Texas the fourth most hardworking state this year, indicating that its residents are working harder than ever after the state fell into seventh place in 2024. Continue reading.

2. UH receives $1M grant to advance research on rare pediatric disorder

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation has granted $1.1M to the University of Houston to support research on Usher Syndrome. Photo courtesy University of Houston.

The University of Houston has received a two-year, $1.1 million gift from the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation to advance research on a rare genetic disorder that can lead to both deafness and blindness in children, known as Usher Syndrome. The current grant will support the research of UH biomedical engineering professors Muna Naash and Muayyad Al-Ubaidi, who work in the Laboratory for Retinal Molecular and Cellular Biology and Gene Therapy in the Cullen College of Engineering. Continue reading.

3. Houston's surge in new startups cools since pandemic peak, study shows

Startup applications in Houston have dipped since their 2021 peak, even as national entrepreneurship hits record highs, according to a new report from The Kaplan Group. Photo via Getty Images.

Startup activity in the Houston metro area has dipped since its pandemic peak, according to a new study. Dating back to 2005, the volume of applications to form new businesses in the Houston area hit its highest level in 2021 (151,804). Since then, though, the application volume has fallen, according to the study, conducted by business debt collection agency The Kaplan Group. Continue reading.

4. TMC lands $3M grant to launch cancer device accelerator

Recent funding from CPRIT will help launch the new Accelerator for Cancer Medical Devices. Photo via TMC

A new business accelerator at Houston’s Texas Medical Center has received a nearly $3 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. The CPRIT grant, awarded to the Texas Medical Center Foundation, will help launch the Accelerator for Cancer Medical Devices. The accelerator will support emerging innovators in developing prototypes for cancer-related medical devices and advancing them from prototype to clinical trials. Continue reading.

5. 10 Houston billionaires make Forbes' list of richest Americans in 2025

Pictured: Nancy and Richard Kinder, the richest Houstonian, according to the Forbes 400. Photo by Michelle Watson/Catchlight Group

America's wealthiest billionaires are $1.2 trillion richer in 2025, bringing their collective worth to a staggering $6.6 trillion. And Houston's own Richard Kinder has become the richest billionaire in the city, according to the new Forbes 400. The Kinder Morgan chairman is the 11th richest Texas resident and ranks as the 108th richest American. Kinder also dethroned Tilman Fertitta to claim the title as the wealthiest Houstonian. The annual Forbes 400 list is a definitive ranking of the wealthiest Americans, using interviews, financial data, and documentation provided by billionaires and their companies. Continue reading.

Oxy's $1.3B Texas carbon capture facility on track to​ launch this year

gearing up

Houston-based Occidental Petroleum is gearing up to start removing CO2 from the atmosphere at its $1.3 billion direct air capture (DAC) project in the Midland-Odessa area.

Vicki Hollub, president and CEO of Occidental, said during the company’s recent second-quarter earnings call that the Stratos project — being developed by carbon capture and sequestration subsidiary 1PointFive — is on track to begin capturing CO2 later this year.

“We are immensely proud of the achievements to date and the exceptional record of safety performance as we advance towards commercial startup,” Hollub said of Stratos.

Carbon dioxide captured by Stratos will be stored underground or be used for enhanced oil recovery.

Oxy says Stratos is the world’s largest DAC facility. It’s designed to pull 500,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the air and either store it underground or use it for enhanced oil recovery. Enhanced oil recovery extracts oil from unproductive reservoirs.

Most of the carbon credits that’ll be generated by Stratos through 2030 have already been sold to organizations such as Airbus, AT&T, All Nippon Airways, Amazon, the Houston Astros, the Houston Texans, JPMorgan, Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks and TD Bank.

The infrastructure business of investment manager BlackRock has pumped $550 million into Stratos through a joint venture with 1PointFive.

As it gears up to kick off operations at Stratos, Occidental is also in talks with XRG, the energy investment arm of the United Arab Emirates-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., to form a joint venture for the development of a DAC facility in South Texas. Occidental has been awarded up to $650 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to build the South Texas DAC hub.

The South Texas project, to be located on the storied King Ranch, will be close to industrial facilities and energy infrastructure along the Gulf Coast. Initially, the roughly 165-square-mile site is expected to capture 500,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, with the potential to store up to 3 billion metric tons of CO2 per year.

“We believe that carbon capture and DAC, in particular, will be instrumental in shaping the future energy landscape,” Hollub said.

---

This article originally appeared on our sister site, EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

New app by Sports Illustrated grants access to 700 sports courts in Houston

Goal!

A new sports center booking app CatchCorner, powered by Sports Illustrated, enables sports enthusiasts in Houston to seamlessly secure a spot for a quick game without membership fees.

It soft-launched in Houston this spring and, according to co-founder and chief operating officer Maya Azouri, has been a huge success.

"The Houston expansion has been jaw-dropping," she said. "Up until now, CatchCorner’s launch in New York City had been our most successful market, but Houston has launched on par with it."

Within a 30-day period this summer, over 30,000 users join the app, Azouri noted, adding that the app would include 700 unique recreational spaces users can choose from in the city.

"There’s a real sports culture here, with athletes of all levels from casual weekend players to competitive amateurs and even pros. The diversity of the sports community, combined with the number of high-quality facilities across the city, makes it a perfect fit for CatchCorner," she said.

CatchCorner in Houston offers bookings for basketball, volleyball, soccer, pickleball, padel, baseball, badminton, and tennis, with plans to include golf simulators and ice rink sports soon. The Zone Sports, Toros HTX, PAC Gym, and Houston Pickleball Center are among the most popular venues.

Using the app is a snap. Once you pick your sport, venues with available slots are listed including distance from you with the booking schedules in the results so there are no surprises. The slots can go fast, so occasional error messages pop up when trying to book, but it's otherwise a three-click process. CatchCorner also helpfully includes a picture of the facilities while booking.

CatchCorner announced Google integration in June that lets users book through the app directly from searches when they look up specific venues. This is slightly less intuitive to use than the app, but it does ultimately work in both mobile and desktops versions. Either way, it greatly streamlines the booking process for people who just want to schedule a quick pickup game somewhere.

"It’s especially useful for casual players or people who want to organize something on short notice," said Azouri. "Whether it’s a weekend basketball run, a weekday futsal match, or a spontaneous pickleball game with friends, CatchCorner makes it easy to coordinate without the usual logistical headaches.

"Some feedback here has been that we’re like 'Expedia for sports.' It’s because booking a flight online is that easy, booking your next game or workout should be just as simple."

---

This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

View All Listings