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In the community »
DLAR renovation begins this fall
 

The Vice President for Research (VPR) and the Department of Laboratory Animal Resources (DLAR) at the UT Health Science Center are excited to announce that a significant portion of the animal holding and procedure spaces located on Long Campus will undergo renovation starting this Fall (estimated October - December) to better serve our research community.


The Vice President for Research (VPR) and the Department of Laboratory Animal Resources (DLAR) at the UT Health Science Center are excited to announce that a significant portion of the animal holding and procedure spaces located on Long Campus will undergo renovation starting this Fall (estimated October - December) to better serve our research community.

The VPR and DLAR recognize the potential inconvenience that this activity may cause, and we appreciate your support and patience during the renovation. Please feel free to contact Gina Pease, Associate Director in DLAR at (210) 567-6151 or pease@uthscsa.edu for any comments and concerns as we prepare for this undertaking. We thank you for your patience and understanding and look forward to working together in our newly refurbished facilities.

SALSI Awards $400k in competitive grants
 
SALSI awards $400,000 in competitive grants to promote brain health research and innovation.

In the current biennium, SALSI has awarded $400,000 through two competitive grants.


The Brain Health Clusters in Research Excellence for $100,000 was awarded to Bess Frost, Ph.D. of the UT Health Science Center who is collaborating with Stephen Bach, Ph.D. at UTSA. Another award for $100,000 was granted to Hye Young Lee, Ph.D. at the Health Science Center for collaboration with Todd Troyer, Ph.D. at UTSA on brain health research.


Additionally, the Innovation Challenge grant for $200,000 was awarded to Yidong Chen, Ph.D. at the Health Science Center who is currently working with Yufei Huang, Ph.D. at UTSA on innovative mobile technology solutions for health care.


SALSI is a collaborative partnership established between the Health Science Center and UTSA by the Texas Legislature in 2003 with the mission of funding research in the life sciences. Since its inception, SALSI funding has supported projects that promote collaboration on research in key areas that impact health: neurosciences, regenerative medicine and drug discovery, big data analytics in health care, advanced materials, immunology/infectious diseases and public health policy.

For more information on SALSI funding opportunities visit http://www.utsalsi.org/funding/.

Research training grant incentives
Earlier this year, the VPR announced research training grant programs to enhance and support grant preparation and the application process. As a reminder, these programs are a resource for faculty.
Earlier this year, the VPR announced research training grant programs to enhance and support grant preparation and the application process. As a reminder, these programs are a resource for faculty. The two components of this program are:

1.      A one-time financial incentive ($5,000) for the Program Director upon submission of a competing (new or renewal) institutional research training grant application.

2.      In the absence of allowable programmatic salary support from the sponsor, 10% salary support for the Program Director will be provided throughout the duration of the award.  For those institutional training grants that provide limited salary support (<10%) for the Program Director, the difference will be provided as described above to reach 10% salary support.  Salary support will not be provided during no cost extension periods.

Faculty who are submitting, or planning to submit competitive applications, on or after this date should contact the VPR’s Office (Rebecca Smith, VPR@uthscsa.edu) as early in the process as possible, and keep the office informed of the status of the grant application throughout its cycle. 


We look forward to your continued participation and increasing the number of institutional training grants.
Research Strategic Advisory Council, latest updates
Stay informed on our strategic initiatives by visiting our Research Strategic Advisory Council webpage.
Research Partnerships & Collaboration»
Postdocs attend competitive course, Keck Graduate Institute
 
Congratulations to Rafael Veranza and Ahsan Choudari for their entrance into the competitive summer biotech course at Keck Graduate Institute.
This summer students from across the US attended a week-long ASCB-KGI Biotech Course which was held in July at the Keck Graduate Institute. The course is offered by The American Society for Cell Biology and Keck Graduate Institute.The summer intensive program is highly competitive and designed for advanced graduate students and postdoctoral trainees who want to learn about preparing for a career in industry.


This year's course topics included Commercializing Science, Market Assessment, Bioscience Business Strategy, IP/Innovation Management, and Social Networks Entrepreneurship.


In total, 50 graduate students and postdocs were selected for the biotech summer course, which was open to both US and international applicants, and the Health Science Center's very own Rafael Veranza and Ahsan Choudari were selected to participate.


Congratulations to these two exceptional postdocs!   






Events »
NIH, CEHI, STIR events and Physiologists Symposium
 
NIH Small Business Workshop for Faculty

Annual Conference for Community Engagement and Healthcare Improvement

Science, Technology & Innovation Reception, STIR

Society of General Physiologists Symposium

NIH Small Business Workshop for Faculty/Postdocs

Time & Date: 8 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. on September 7, 2016 & 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. on September 8, 2016
Location: UTSA Main Campus, JPL Assembly Room (4.04.22)

The UT Health Science Center and UTSA are co-hosting an NIH Multi-IC (NIAID/NCI/NIGMS/NIBIB) Small Business Workshop providing an overview of NIH Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program.

The two-day workshop will cover topics on NIH scientific review, high priority areas of interest, writing a competitive SBIR/STTR application, how to pitch your business to investors, and unique career opportunities in biomedical entrepreneurship and commercialization.

Register Online at http://1.usa.gov/1YuGGJG


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Annual Conference for Community Engagement and Healthcare Improvement
Date: September 2 - 4, 2016
Location: Wyndham San Antonio Riverwalk
Agenda & Registration

Ms. Patrick-Lake, Interim Director of Participant Engagement for the NIH Precision Medicine Initiative Cohort Program is the keynote speaker at CEHI. Her presentation will be interactive and will address precision medicine, stakeholder engagement, and improving health outcomes.


_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Science, Technology & Innovation Reception, STIR presents: 
"DNA Repair Profiling Reveals Nonrandom Outcomes at Cas9-Mediated Breaks" a technical science presentation for faculty, trainees and students.
Time: 1 p.m. - 2 p.m.
Date: September 28, 2016
Location: MARC Buildig, Conference R
m. B, 8300 Floyd Curl Dr.

"Career editing: A CRISPR journey from academia to industry"

Time: 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Date: September 28, 2016
Location: Greehey Children's Cancer Resarch Institute, 8403 Floyd Curl Dr.

The Office of Technology Commercialization will host a reception open to the local research and life sciences community interested in collaborating on the commercialization of Health Science Center technologies.  

Guest speaker, Rachel Haurwitz, Ph.D., Co-founder, President and CEO of Caribou Biosciences, will share her story of innovation and entrepreneurship, covering multiple CRISPR-derived technologies which have applications in genome engineering.

She has a research background in CRISPR-Cas biology, and in 2014, she was named by Forbes Magazine to the "30 Under 30" list in Science and Healthcare. She is also a co-founder of Intellia Therapeutics where she is a member of the board of directors. Haurwitz is an inventor on several patents and patent applications covering multiple CRISPR-derived technologies, and she has co-authored scientific papers in high impact journals characterizing CRISPR-Cas systems. She earned an A.B. in Biological Sciences from Harvard College, and received a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley.
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Society of General Physiologists 70th Annual Meeting & Symposium presents:  "Genetic & animal Models for Ion Channel Function in Physiology and Disease" 
Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA, September 7 - 8, 2016. For details visit www.sgpweb.org 

Research Stats »
Tracking research output


New & Renewal Research and Institutional Training Awards
(May-June 2016)


InvestigatorSponsorDept DescrBegin DateEnd DateTitle Total Anticipated Award*
Andry,Nehman MTexas Academy Of Family Physicians FoundFamily and Community Medicine5/1/20164/30/2017Predictors Of Family Physician Wellness And Burnout                7,009
Braden,Carrie JoSigma Theta Tau International, Inc.FCHS-Family & Community HS6/1/20165/31/2017Illness Representations In Elders Living In The United States With Multiple Chronic Conditions:  A Mixed Methods Study                4,999
Chen,YidongCancer Prevention & Research Inst Of TxGreehey CCRI6/1/20165/31/2021Uthscsa Cancer Genome Sequencing And Computation Core        3,680,756
Ghosh-Choudhury,NandiniSan Antonio Area FoundationPathology5/1/20164/30/2017Mechanistic Understanding For Preventing Bone Disorder In Diabetic Patients              30,000
Hart,Peter JohnWelch FoundationBiochemistry6/1/20165/31/2019In Silico Screening For Inhibitors Of Cards Toxin From M. Pneumoniae           330,000
Houghton,Peter JCancer Prevention & Research Inst Of TxGreehey CCRI6/1/20165/31/2021Texas Pediatric Patient Derived Xenograft Facility        5,079,843
Jiang,Jean XWelch FoundationBiochemistry6/1/20165/31/2019Modulating Hemichannel Activities Using Targeting Antibodies           240,000
Narayanan,DivyaSan Antonio Area FoundationOphthalmology5/1/201610/31/2017Early Detection And Spatial Co-Incidence Of Localized Retinal Neuronal And Vascular Dysfunction In Diabetic Retinopathy              29,950
Ogbeide,Stacy ATexas Academy Of Family Physicians FoundFamily and Community Medicine5/1/20164/30/2017Behavioral Health Integration At El Centro De Corazon:  A Pilot Study                4,752
Sareddy,Gangadhara ReddyThrivewell Cancer FoundationOb-Gyn5/1/20164/30/2017Novel Epigenetic Therapy To Treat Ovarian Cancer By Enhancing Estrogen Receptor Beta Mediated Tumor Suppression              25,000
Shiio,YuzuruCancer Prevention & Research Inst Of TxGreehey CCRI6/1/20165/31/2018Targeting Ews-Fli-1 For Degradation           200,000
Shim,EunThrivewell Cancer FoundationRadiation Oncology5/1/20164/30/2017Prevention Of Radiation Side Effects In Metastatic Brain Cancer Patients              25,000
Zhang,NuNih-Allergy & Infectious DiseasesMicrobiology5/23/20164/30/2021Mechanistic Study Of Tgf-Beta Dependent Control Of Gut Resident Memory T Cells        1,878,690
*Figures indicated reflect the total anticipated awards for all years of the current competitive segment; actual award amounts in subsequent years are subject to change at the time of award.
Media Coverage»
Media Report, July 2016
 
See the most recent media coverage on our research.

Research media coverage, July 2016
(National coverage is in bold type.)

Television

Date

Station(s)

Faculty

Department

Topic

7/14

Fox 29

Drs. Alan Peterson/ Lindsay Bira

Psychiatry/STRONG STAR

UT Health Science Center STRONG STAR

7/2

CTV National News

Dr. Timothy Duong

Research Imaging Institute

Old drug may offer new answers in the fight against Alzheimer's

7/1

Univision

Dr. Barbara Taylor

Infectious Diseases

IN SPANISH - Parte 2: Escudo contra el VIH

7/1

Univision

Dr. Barbara Taylor

Infectious Diseases

IN SPANISH - Parte 1: Escudo contra el VIH

7/1

News 4

Dr. Lindsay Bira

Psychiatry/STRONG STAR

Be mindful of veterans with PTSD during 4th of July weekend

7/1

Fox 29

Dr. Jason Bowling

Infectious Diseases

'Super germs' a growing problem in America

 

Print/Online

Date

Publication(s)

Faculty

Department

Topic

7/30

Global Research

Dr. Claudia Miller

Family & Community Medicine

Science, precaution, innovation: Glyphosate herbicides, harmful pharmaceuticals, infant vaccines, GM technology…

7/29

Genome Web

 

CTRC

In Brief This Week: PerkinElmer; GeneNews; Genomic Vision; and More

7/22

UTSA Today

 

UTHSC

SALSI hosts neuroimmunology symposium for San Antonio health care researchers

7/21

Infection Control Today

Drs. Peter Fox/ Beth Goins

Research Imaging Institute/ Radiology

Comprehensive HIV vaccine project funded at $23 million by NIH

7/19

Medscape

Dr. Carlayne Jackson

Neurology

Top-line results show stem cell transplants safe in ALS

7/18

Pharmiweb

Dr. Carlayne Jackson

Neurology

Brainstorm announces positive top-line results from the U.S. phase 2 study of NurOwn® in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

7/18

Street Insider.com

Dr. Carlayne Jackson

Neurology

Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics (BCLI) announces NurOwn phase 2 met primary endpoint in ALS

7/18

Diagnostic Imaging.com

Dr. Timothy Duong

Research Imaging Institute

MRI shows low-dose methylene blue effect on attention, memory

7/18

Yahoo Finance

Dr. Carlayne Jackson

Neurology

BrainStorm announces positive top-line results from the U.S. phase 2 study of NurOwn® in patients with ALS

7/15

Austrian Tribune

Dr. Bess Frost

Cellular & Structural Biology, Barshop Institute

APOE variant might have adverse impact during childhood

7/14

Digital Journal

Dr. Marian Chen-Hah

Alumna

Dr. Marian Chen-Hah has been recognized among the top in her industry by the Expert Network©

7/13

S.A. Business Journal/ Yahoo News

Dr. Alexander Pertsemlidis

Pediatrics

SA biotech company and Health Science Center to use the power of collaboration to combat cancer

7/13

Science Daily

Dr. Bess Frost

Cellular & Structural Biology, Barshop Institute

Brain cell death in Alzheimer's linked to structural flaw

7/12

Express-News

Drs. William Henrich/ Nicolas Musi

President/Diabetes, Barshop Institute

Aging in Texas conference offers information on issues affecting seniors

7/12

Alzheimer’s News Today

Dr. Timothy Duong

Research Imaging Institute

Short-term memory aided by single dose of methylene blue in early study

7/9

New Indian Express

Dr. Timothy Duong

Research Imaging Institute

On the nail – old drug, new use

To read more news about our research, visit the Newsroom.

News »
Igniting innovation and commercialization
by Linda Lopez-George
 

The Health Science Center examines the business opportunity to house an incubation program aimed at promoting commercialization and supporting strategic research initiatives for greater impact on patient health.


Converting new knowledge and ideas that emerge from research into products and services that impact patient health and well-being remains a strategic focus for our university and UT System. Over the past couple of years, we have developed strategies and identified resources to create stepping stones for a pathway to innovation and commercialization on our campus. The programs launched to date and listed below are fueling a shared vision to create a dedicated space where faculty, clinicians, trainees, and staff can get guidance, mentoring and assistance on medical product development and business startup.  

 

To support our strategic initiative, a national consultant has been hired by the university to assess the need for a business incubation program (science incubator) to support commercialization of intellectual property developed at the Health Science Center and provide a resource for the creation of new ventures. 

 

The consultant has conducted a large number of interviews with faculty, students, administrators, and external community and business leaders, and has been charged to identify the best business model for an incubator that complements the efforts of the Office of Technology Commercialization, and raises the visibility of the university as a center of innovation in biomedicine. This October, the business plan will be presented to the university’s leadership and research community.

Current Initiatives on Entrepreneurship:

  • In spring 2015, a new course focusing on Biomedical Product Development (INTD 7074) was introduced and over 40 faculty and students have enrolled
  • Two workshops on NIH-SBIR/STTR grants, a non-dilutive funding source, have been scheduled in late summer 2016
  • Classes on “How to Pitch Your Business” will be offered from 7-8 a.m. on Sept. 7 at the Briscoe Library
  • Kick-off September 26, for NSF Innovation Corps Workshop, providing a real-world, hands-on, immersive learning curriculum, in partnership with UT System institutions
  • Philanthropic support from the Stella C. Herff Charitable Trust to fund the President’s Translational & Entrepreneurial (PTEF) grant awards
  • The Entrepreneur-in-Residence Program provides consultation to faculty and students on how to commercialize their patent portfolio through licenses and startups
  • Commercialization Catalysts (Com-CATS), a student organization that has developed an internship and mentorship relationship with the OTC
  • Science, Technology, Investors, Reception (STIR), affording faculty inventors to network with one another and meet investors with interest in funding life sciences ventures. STIR events are hosted twice a year.


Voelcker funds young investigators to study cancer
by Will Sansom
 
The Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Fund awarded the 2016 Young Investigator Awards totaling $1.35 million to three rising stars at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio for their studies on cancer.



Trustees of the Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Fund voted to give Young Investigator Awards totaling $1.35 million to three rising stars at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

 

The junior faculty members are in the School of Medicine and study cancer. Each will receive $450,000 over the next three years to develop innovative lines of research to make preliminary discoveries that may result in bringing substantial National Institutes of Health-funded research to San Antonio.

 

“Voelcker Fund awards help junior scientists to establish a track record of success,” William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP, president of the Health Science Center, said. “The focus of our awards in 2016 is cancer, a disease that is, in its complexity, a thousand diseases.”

 

The latest Voelcker Fund Young Investigator Awards are supporting:

 

  • Elizabeth Leadbetter, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology;
  • Xiao-Dong Li, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology;
  • Kexin Xu, Ph.D.,assistant professor, Department of Molecular Medicine, and member of the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at the UT Health Science Center.

 

Dr. Elizabeth Leadbetter

Vaccines work because they teach the body to remember – and attack – a particular disease. Dr. Leadbetter is studying how to enhance the immune system’s “memory” to identify and attack a disease such as cancer by using nanoparticles that contain a special lipid.

According to Dr. Leadbetter’s initial research, it appears that the lipid-containing nanoparticles activate B cells and natural killer T (NKT) cells to work together to enhance the body’s “memory” of the invading disease. She seeks to harness this to enhance the memory and detection of precancerous changes in the body to prevent the spreading of the disease.

 

 

Dr. Xiao-Dong Li

The DNA of tumors is very different from the DNA of healthy cells. Dr. Li has discovered a molecular pathway the immune system uses to recognize and attack abnormal DNA. A vaccine to amplify or boost this pathway could be very effective in fighting cancerous tumors, in addition to fending off viral threats.

 

Dr. Kexin Xu

Dr. Xu seeks to understand the link between cancer and metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. She focuses on epigenetics, the study of biological processes that switch genes on and off without altering the genetic code itself. Epigenetic changes may be prompted by the environment, diet, stress, aging and other factors.

 

Dr. Xu is investigating how one particular metabolic pathway orchestrates the epigenetic machinery, which results in abnormal epigenetic patterns in cells, causing cancer and diabetes. Reversing these changes could cure one or both diseases.

 

Dr. Xu completed her postdoctoral training at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. In 2015 she received a $250,000 Rising STARs Award from The University of Texas System Board of Regents and a $2 million new faculty recruitment award from the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas. STARs stands for Science and Technology Acquisition and Retention.

 

Voelcker Fund support

Since 2007, the Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Fund has contributed more than $17 million to the Health Science Center.

In addition to the Young Investigator Awards, the Voelcker Fund supports other initiatives at the Health Science Center such as the Voelcker Biomedical Research Academy, which provides an immersive biomedical research education and college preparatory program for San Antonio-area high school students.

The Health Science Center also houses two endowed chairs — The Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Distinguished University Chair in Targeted Cancer Therapy, held by Tim Huang, Ph.D., professor and chair, Department of Molecular Medicine, and The Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Endowed Chair in Cancer Health Disparities and Outreach, held by Amelie G. Ramirez, Dr.P.H., professor and interim chair, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and director, Institute for Health Promotion Research.

Barshop Institute identifies new pathway in Alzheimer's disease
by Science Daily
 

The Barshop Institute for Longevity & Aging Studies has identified a new biological pathway involved in Alzheimer's disease.


Approximately 5.4 million people in the United States have Alzheimer's disease, which causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. One of the characteristics of the disease is that a protein called tau forms clumps, or aggregates, in the brain.

"We have identified multiple new cellular processes that go awry in Alzheimer's disease because of pathological tau," said Bess Frost, Ph.D., assistant professor, Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. "Each of these processes that connect tau with brain cell death are potential drug targets. This new knowledge will allow more informed development of therapies for the disease."

Frost will present these new findings at The Allied Genetics Conference, a meeting hosted by the Genetics Society of America.
Read the full story in Science Daily.

Internal Funding Opportunities»
Seed funds for biomedical product development

The President's Translation and Entrepreneurial Research Fund (PTEF), which is supported by the Stella C. Herff Charitable Trust, is currently accepting submissions to fund early-stage ideas that have high potential to be translated in biomedical products. The deadline to apply is October 14.


The President’s Translational and Entrepreneurial Research Fund (PTEF), which supported by the Stella C. Herff Charitable Trust, provides funding for research inventions that have high potential to be translated into biomedical products.

Proposals are currently being sought from investigators interested in developing their ideas into biomedical products (therapeutics, biologics, devices, software, etc.). Application materials may be obtained by emailing The Office of Technology Commercialization at OTCInfo@uthscsa.edu.

The submission deadline is October 14, 2016. PTEF applications may be submitted to TaShavia Beverly-Prince at beverlyprinc@uthscsa.edu on or before 5 p.m. on October 14, 2016.