Four years ago, the University of Texas Medical Branch in partnership with i45Now Media launched Health Care Unmasked—a monthly video interview series that features health and life science experts from UTMB dissecting topics with series host and owner of i45Now, TJ Aulds.
Now, nearly 50 episodes in, the series is rebranding to be called UTMB Health Insights.
Given the timing of the first episode in August 2020, the topics initially focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, infectious diseases and the research surrounding them.
That's also why the name including a word like “unmasked” made sense; however, it was always the intent of Aulds and members of the UTMB team, including Becky Trout Unbehagen, Executive Director of Community Engagement, to use the series to explore more from the world of health care, research and academic medicine.
"The thought was to uncover the back stories of health care and really help the public better understand academic medical centers like UTMB that have at their core the pillars of health care, research and education,” said Unbehagen, who had the initial idea for the series.
To date, episodes have aired on i45Now platforms and channels—sometimes live, sometimes pre-recorded-- and have covered everything from ground-breaking Alzheimer’s research to moving patient testimonials. Going forward, those interested in viewing these discussions, like this one from November 2024 with UTMB's Dr. Giulio Taglialatela, vice president for Brain Health, the director of the Moody Brain Health Institute, professor in the Department of Neurology and the Del Papa Distinguished Chair in Neurodegenerative Diseases, can find them on the i45Now Facebook Channel.