burning questions answered

Get your biggest COVID-19 vaccine questions answered by these Houston medical experts

Noted local expert Dr. David Persse, MD will field COVID-19 questions.

Photo courtesy of Houston Fire Department

Houstonians are desperately searching for the COVID-19 vaccine but also, for answers to the myriad questions the pandemic presents.

To that end, the John P. McGovern Museum of Health and Medical Science has created a community forum in which the public can field burning questions to some of Houston’s most informed medical minds on the subject of the novel coronavirus and vaccines, the museum announced.

The virtual panel, dubbed “Coffee & Conversations: Everything You Want and Need to Know About COVID-19 Vaccines,” will take place Tuesday, January 19 from 1-2 pm. The museum has assembled an impressive roster of local medical experts who will discuss the role an effective vaccine will have on reaching herd immunity and stopping the outbreak.

Meanwhile, guests can submit their questions in advance or post one during the panel discussion.

The panel includes:

Dr. Stephen Linder, Ph.D.: Director of the Institute for Health Policy at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health
Dr. David Persse, MD: Director of Emergency Medical Services and the Public Health Authority for the City of Houston
Dr. Catherine Troisi, Ph.D.: Associate Professor in the Divisions of Management, Policy, and Community Health and Epidemiology at University of Texas (UTHealth) School of Public Health

In effort to make the discussion as accessible as possible, the event is pay what you can. Fees have been waived, but participants are encouraged to make a donation, if able.

To register for the panel discussion or for more information, visit the event site.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”