Wastewater surveillance, an early detection tool that pinpointed clusters and surges of COVID-19 infections during the pandemic, continues its relevance in Oklahoma, but with a different focus: monitoring for foodborne pathogens. In the past several months, the University of Oklahoma Wastewater Surveillance Team has published papers about ongoing research and the potential it holds for decreasing the burden of gastrointestinal disease, especially for vulnerable populations.

Not all cancer therapies are successful, but cancer researchers increasingly are able to identify the right treatments for the right patients at the right time. A researcher at the University of Oklahoma helped lead a study that made such a discovery, potentially resulting in thousands more cancer patients receiving the specific treatment that will help them the most.

Many people who were hospitalized with COVID-19 when the virus arrived in spring 2020 experienced a high rate of gastrointestinal problems and psychological trauma more than a year later, according to a recently published study led in Oklahoma by the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.

When families receive counseling after a substance use disorder has wreaked havoc on parents and children alike, the desire for healing is often hampered by looming legal issues. To address both needs, the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine received a grant to launch an innovative medical-legal partnership.

The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences grew its funding from the National Institutes of Health to $64.4 million in 2022-23, an increase of more than $4 million over the previous year. That improves the campus’s ranking to 122 out of 2,886 institutions and other entities that receive NIH funding. The listing is compiled by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research, which is regarded as the gold standard for ranking biomedical research institutions. Funding from the NIH is considered the key benchmark for research productivity and reputation for health sciences.