UTA In The News — Friday, September 17, 2021

Friday, Sep 17, 2021 • Media Contact : UT Arlington Media Relations

Vaccine purpose

Erin Carlson, the director of graduate public health programs at The University of Texas at Arlington, said, “The purpose of the COVID vaccine was not to stop transmission. It was to stop severe disease — to stop hospitalizations and deaths,” in a Dallas Morning News story about waning immunity among those who are fully vaccinated.

 

Public health misinformation

Becky Garner, director of undergraduate public health programs at UT Arlington, and Erin Carlson, UT Arlington director of the graduate public health programs, shared their expertise and concerns about misinformation, disinformation and how to identify and push back on false information, Mirage News, Medical Xpress and Florida News Times reported.

 

Get vaccinated

“The priority for the healthy, general population needs to be: Get vaccinated. Period,” said Erin Carlson, the director of graduate public health programs at UT Arlington. “We still cannot let up on our resources being directed towards getting people vaccinated,” The Dallas Morning News reported in a question-and-answer about getting shots into people’s arms.

 

UTA diversity ranked

The University of Texas at Arlington boasts one of the nation’s most diverse undergraduate student bodies and is one of the state’s top performers for social mobility, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 Best Colleges rankings, the Arlington city website reported.

 

Insect sensors

The University of Texas at Arlington is helping develop tiny sensors that attach to insects, tracking their movements and life cycles in an effort to combat infestations and increase farm production, Mirage News reported. The project is led by computer science Professor Gautam Das and electrical engineering Professor Wei-Jen Lee, who are working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).