Harlingen (May 4, 2004) – Internal medicine residents at the Regional Academic Health Center (RAHC) Medical Education Division have begun presenting clinical research at national and regional meetings in the internal medicine field – a positive development that is aided by a $1.5 million gift from The Robert J. and Helen C. Kleberg, Jr. Foundation.

The RAHC Medical Education Division is the Harlingen campus of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

The Kleberg Foundation last year donated the funding to establish the Kleberg Medical Scholars Program to attract the best and brightest medical residents to the RAHC. Seven RAHC residents are conducting clinical research projects supported by $10,000 stipends from the Kleberg Medical Scholars Program. Another portion of the Kleberg grant is coordinated by Valley Baptist Medical Center, the RAHC’s teaching hospital in Harlingen. VBMC receives $10,000 per Kleberg Scholar per year to support the Kleberg Scholars’ research programs.

Two Kleberg Scholars are among the five RAHC residents invited to make presentations at the American College of Physicians regional associates meeting in San Antonio, said James F. Hanley, M.D., clinical professor of medicine at the Health Science Center and director of the internal medicine residency program at the RAHC. Another Kleberg Scholar, James W. Castillo, M.D., was invited to present an abstract at the Society of Hospital Medicine’s Seventh Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 20-21. Dr. Castillo presented a clinically rare case of liver perforation in a patient with pancreatitis.

The Kleberg Scholars program, along with rock-solid academic relationships that exist between the RAHC, Valley Baptist Medical Center and Su Clinica Familiar, result in a greatly strengthened RAHC internal medicine residency program. Many of the projects utilize patients from Su Clinica. “When you have an environment that focuses on research, it becomes a more common practice to take clinical observations, write them up and present them at important meetings,” Dr. Hanley said. “We have a substantial change in the number of meeting presentations made by our residents in one year. We are still in the infancy of our program, but by and large we have moved away from the starting gate, and that is due to the working relationship of the entities to do these projects, as well as the fact that the Kleberg funds have allowed the residents to take on these projects.”

The Kleberg Medical Scholars will present their findings at an evening session June 2 at the RAHC Medical Education Division building, 2102 Treasure Hills Blvd. The meeting is open to RAHC faculty and interested health care professionals.

The internal medicine program was inaugurated in July 2002 with eight residents. The program now has 12 residents, including the seven Kleberg Scholars. Additional Kleberg Scholars will be selected in coming weeks.

San Antonio (April 27, 2004) – Thirty-one outstanding students from the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio recently were elected to Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA), a national society organized for the promotion of scholarship and research in America’s medical schools. All 31 are from the School of Medicine’s 2004 class.

Twenty-five Health Science Center medical students were selected for AOA membership as seniors, joining six students who were inducted last year as juniors. The six students elected during their junior year were Christopher Beadles, Odessa; Jennifer Horan, San Antonio; Matthew Musick, Houston; Simone Marie Bridges, Houston; Barbara Schroeder; and Matthew Wallace, Cleburne. (Hometowns are in Texas unless otherwise indicated.)

Students elected as seniors are Chandra Beals; David Benglis Jr., Lake Charles, La.; Christa Blecher, San Antonio; Lauren Crawford, Houston; Jacqueline Emmons, Richmond; Keith Flak, Houston; Bethany Gallagher, Houston; Jojy George, Houston; Emily Grigsby, Hawkins; Phillip Hill, Tyler; Bonnie Kim, Dallas; Olivia Lee, Natchez, Miss.; Kristie Liska, Sugar Land; Christopher Lowe, Van; Michelle McNutt, Richmond; Whitney Mitchell, New Braunfels; Richa Mittal; Shalini Mukhi, Laredo; Hampton Richards, Dallas; Joseph Schniederjan, Amarillo; Amber Schrank; Scott Thomas, Spring; Benjamin Vacula, Austin; Erin Winston; and Kim Wong.

The AOA inductees from the Class of 2004 were recognized at a recent School of Medicine graduation dinner and award ceremony.

San Antonio (April 22, 2004) – If you like “Jeopardy!” on TV and the workings of the brain, an upcoming event will be right up your intellectual alley. It’s also free and open to the public, so it will fit in with your entertainment budget.

The fifth “Brain Bowl” at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio will pit three teams of college students at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 27. The location is room 209L of the Medical School building, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive in the South Texas Medical Center. The Brain Bowl is a quiz show testing the mettle of undergraduate neuroscience whizzes. This year’s competitors are coming from Trinity University in San Antonio, Southwestern University in Georgetown and Baylor University in Waco. Baylor is the defending champion.

Brain Bowl questions range from relatively easy to very difficult, covering fields of neuroscience research including (1) neurophysiology, (2) neuroanatomy, (3) neurochemistry, (4) drugs and the brain, and (5) the brain and behavior, said David Morilak, Ph.D., the organizer, coordinator and emcee of the event. Dr. Morilak, associate professor of pharmacology at the Health Science Center, created the first Brain Bowl on campus several years ago.

“Students have to buzz in just like on TV, so speed and knowledge count,” he said.

A free reception with finger foods and soft drinks will immediately follow. The reception is an opportunity for undergraduate students interested in neuroscience to network with prominent neuroscientists at the Health Science Center. The students’ faculty mentors also are invited to attend.

Sponsored for the first time by the Center for Biomedical Neuroscience (CBN) at the Health Science Center and the university’s department of pharmacology, the Brain Bowl is the centerpiece of Brain Awareness Week outreach activities conducted by local members of the Society for Neuroscience.

Judges this year are Drs. Larry Parsons of the Health Science Center’s Research Imaging Center; Julie Hensler and Bill Clarke, department of pharmacology; Mary Vaughan, department of cellular and structural biology; and Mark Shapiro, department of physiology, all members of the CBN.

Dr. Morilak compiled all the questions with extensive input from CBN members. A number of other faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and research staff have volunteered to serve as timekeepers, scorekeepers and runners.

“It takes a lot of muscle to put on a Brain Bowl,” Dr. Morilak said.

A stunning loving-cup trophy, the actual “Brain Bowl,” will be presented to the winning team to display at its institution for one year, and prizes will be given to all participants. “Everyone wins at the Brain Bowl,” Dr. Morilak said.

The event is made possible by support from Bioindustrial Products, Fisher Scientific, VWR and the National Society for Neuroscience, in addition to the CBN.