Using publicly available data, researchers in the Cockrell School of Engineering and Whole Communities–Whole Health have quantified the many ways day-to-day activity has changed since the pandemic began, including real estate activity, traffic, retail spending and job postings.

This week, UT researchers, including experts from Whole Communities–Whole Health, released a new online dashboard measuring all the ways the COVID-19 pandemic has changed life in Austin, including transportation, small business revenue and the housing market.

Whole Communities–Whole Health hosts its first ever research showcase, highlighting the important work we've been doing the last two years.

To protect ourselves and others during the COVID-19 pandemic, most of us have had to shift our everyday lives to our homes. This has led to a steep drop in the amount of physical activity our kids are getting. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced obstacles to all aspects of life. Whole Communities–Whole Health it sprinting toward the launch of its 5-year cohort study. However, our teams have met the challenges of our changing world by engaging in research that will directly effect people amid the pandemic. 

The Protect Texas Together app will allow people to track their COVID-19 symptoms, record test results, get connected to medical resources and — potentially, in the future — even assist in contact tracing.

This story highlights how we’re committed to developing technology that puts information about indoor air quality into the hands of the people who can use it most.

David Schnyer is the inaugural faculty chair of Whole Communities –Whole Health. The team is partnering with families, schools, and community organizations in Central Texas to build a more complete picture of health. A year into the quest, Schnyer reflects on the team’s progress and looks to the road ahead.

For scientists, building relationships means getting out of our heads and into our hearts. It means bringing our full self to the way we go about our quest to understand the world.

Children have a remarkable understanding of the things around them that affect their health and their community’s wellbeing. Although they may not have the language to describe it, young children and adolescents feel and experience injustice and inequity; however, their voices are often silenced or dismissed as juvenile.