UTHSC selects Denver partner for $2.8 million asthma study

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San Antonio (Dec. 8, 2003) – The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSC) has contracted with National Jewish Medical and Research Center of Denver, Colo., to provide telephone and mail patient support for a large-scale study evaluating the benefits of disease management among individuals with moderate to severe asthma.

“Asthma is an increasing problem across the United States, and data suggest it is growing at a faster rate in South Texas than nationally,” said Autumn Dawn Galbreath, M.D., director of the Disease Management Center at the UTHSC. “We believe this research is timely and important and will improve quality of life for asthma patients in South Texas and beyond.”

U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla of Texas successfully obtained $2.8 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for the first year of the study, which is enrolling 1,053 patients in three study groups.

The study control group will receive conventional care. A second group will receive National Jewish disease-management education and support by telephone and mail. The third group will receive these services, along with four home visits by respiratory therapists. At the conclusion of the study, Dr. Galbreath and the other investigators will assess the effect on quality of life, lung function, patient satisfaction and health care usage.

The disease-management services include a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week telephone center to take calls from patients who have questions or problems regarding their asthma.

Patient enrollment began in late October. The study population will include uninsured patients, patients on Medicaid and Medicare, Veterans Administration patients, and military beneficiaries. “Individuals with asthma in these groups are underserved and have a more difficult time controlling their disease,” Dr. Galbreath said. “Therefore, they may benefit more from asthma disease management than subjects included in previous research studies.”

To ask about enrolling, call (210) 567-9700. Families in counties surrounding San Antonio may call 1-888-699-4877.

Cigarroa announces $300 million capital campaign for UTHSC

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San Antonio (December 9, 2003) – The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSC) is embarking on its first capital campaign – a $300 million private-public initiative to build a landscape-changing Research Tower in the South Texas Medical Center and recruit leading scientists for it. Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., president of the Health Science Center, made the announcement Dec. 8 during his annual State of the University address.

“For possibly the first time in South Texas history, a dazzling array of community and South Texas leaders has joined forces to support a project of this magnitude,” Dr. Cigarroa said. “This campaign will raise $150 million for a Research Tower in the Medical Center and, equally important, $150 million for an endowment to attract and retain the most outstanding scientists. This initiative will result in a quantum leap in intellectual power in San Antonio and move the UT Health Science Center to its rightful status as a top-tier research institution.”

The Research Tower proposal calls for a building of up to 300,000 square feet and as many as 20 stories tall. “It will be a building that will transform the South Texas Medical Center,” Dr. Cigarroa said. The Medical Center is the hub of health care and research in San Antonio and is a major site for the $11 billion-a-year biosciences industry, the largest sector in the city’s economy. The UTHSC is the premier health research institution in South Texas.

“The success of the campaign will allow us to recruit members of the National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine who will work on world-changing research including vascular and metabolic biology, neurobiology, developmental and regenerative biology, cancer biology, and biodefense and infection,” Dr. Cigarroa said.

The five-year campaign is scheduled to begin in January and conclude in 2008.

A video about the Research Tower and capital campaign stated: “The time is here … the leaders are among us … we will build the most dominant research building South Texas has ever seen.” Dr. Cigarroa said the campaign would be statewide in scope.

Dr. Cigarroa praised the UTHSC faculty for a substantial increase in grant awards from the National Institutes of Health. NIH awards rose from $51 million in Fiscal Year 2000 to $82 million in Fiscal Year 2003 and all Health Science Center awards, including other federal grants and non-federal grants, increased from $137 million to $166 million during the three-year period.

The president applauded university partners such as the University Health System, the South Texas Veterans Health Care System, the Cancer Therapy and Research Center, Wilford Hall Medical Center and Brooke Army Medical Center. “The Health Science Center, long actively involved with military partners, is entering new levels of collaborations in the post-September 11 era,” he said. “We are proud to have an active Center for Public Health Preparedness and Biomedical Research. We are also proud that Gov. Rick Perry selected our campus as the home of the first unit of the Texas State Guard Medical Reserve Corps.”

Dr. Cigarroa thanked U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison for leading initiatives that resulted in multimillion-dollar funding for UTHSC projects. He also thanked state leaders including Gov. Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick for their recent announcement of enhanced support for the RAHC.

Dr. Cigarroa said the UTHSC has more than $120 million in ongoing construction projects that will boost the institution’s ability to serve South Texas. These include the Laredo Extension Campus, the Regional Academic Health Center (RAHC) Medical Research Division under construction at Edinburg, the Children’s Cancer Research Institute in the South Texas Medical Center, the Sam and Ann Barshop Center for Longevity and Aging Studies under construction in the Texas Research Park near San Antonio, and the Student Services/Academic Administration Building rising on the UTHSC Central Campus in the Medical Center. He said administrators are developing a five-year strategic plan for the Laredo campus and envision the Edinburg campus as a site for research to eradicate diseases affecting the border region.

TIME magazine highlights UTHSC research on ADHD

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Timemag_BODYSan Antonio (Dec. 3, 2003) – The cover story in the Nov. 3 issue of TIME magazine, “Medicating Young Minds,” discusses the benefits and risks of medicating children with mood and behavior problems. The article highlights the current research in this area being conducted by scientists around the nation – including Steven Pliszka, M.D., chief of child psychiatry at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

The article explains that Dr. Pliszka conducted brain scans of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who were untreated, as well as children who had been medicated for at least a year, and then compared the brain scans of these two groups. According to TIME, “The treated group showed no signs of any deficits in brain function as measured in blood flow.”

In his research, Dr. Pliszka uses technology called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to take active pictures of the brain. His groundbreaking ADHD studies are aimed at determining the cause of this mysterious disorder, which has baffled both parents and doctors for years. In 2002, Dr. Pliszka received an $870,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to advance his research.

Portable blood analyzer picks up cases of anemia in Mexican children

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One of the children at Casa Hogar Douglas in Nuevo Laredo.

San Antonio (Dec. 3, 2003) – A portable blood analyzer developed at The University of Texas  Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSC) and commercialized by AVOX Systems of San  Antonio helped diagnose a young child with anemia recently during a visit to a children’s home  in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. The device, called an oximeter, also found anemia in two children in  the same home last year.

A church-sponsored team including three pediatricians and several registered nurses and  licensed vocational nurses brought the oximeter and other equipment to the Casa Hogar  Douglas children’s home in Nuevo Laredo on Oct. 18. Blood, urine and vision screenings were  performed. “We’ve been visiting this home for about eight years,” said Yolanda Medina, a nurse practitioner employed by the UTHSC department of pediatrics/division of neonatology. “For the last two years, Dr. Pete Shepherd has been kind enough to lend us the oximeter, which has been very helpful. Last year we had two to three people with anemia, this year just one young girl. When we first started visiting, more than half the children were anemic.” Dr. Shepherd is professor of physiology at the UTHSC and president of AVOX Systems.

The group also conducts classes in first-aid, dental care and the physical changes that occur during childhood. The results are impressive. “Every year the children are healthier and need less treatment,” Medina said. “We leave behind medications with dosage information to the directors of the home and for the Mexican doctor who visits the home on a monthly basis.”

The team members set up seven stations to check weight, measurement, urine and blood. The 4-pound oximeter measures total hemoglobin and other blood values. “The blood station is the one the children fear the most but it also is the one that interests them the most,” Medina said. “We give the children pencils and stickers to offset the fear.”

Youngsters ages 4 to 17 live at the children’s home. Some are orphans, while others have parents who can’t take care of them. The group, which included nurses from University Hospital and Methodist Hospital, will make another trip next October. The South Texas Center for Pediatric Care also donated medications and equipment.

UTHSC to co-sponsor conference on Cancer-Induced Bone Diseases

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San Antonio (Dec. 2, 2003) – At least 300 of the world’s best-known researchers in the field of  bone metastasis and myeloma are expected to attend the IVth International Conference on  Cancer-Induced Bone Diseases Dec. 7-9 in San Antonio, Texas.

A video welcome from U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas will kick off the conference,  which is sponsored by The Paget Foundation for Paget’s Disease of Bone and Related Disorders,  The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and the National Cancer Institute.  Sen. Hutchison in 2001 spearheaded the passage of the Hematological Cancer Research Investment and Education Act, which authorized $25 million to expand public education, outreach and early detection programs for three deadly blood cancers, leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma.

“The purpose of the meeting is to present clinicians and basic scientists from all over the world with many of the extremely exciting research discoveries that have occurred since the last symposium was held in 2002,” said Conference Chairman Gregory R. Mundy, M.D., professor of medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. These discoveries include:

• The central role of host cells in the bone microenvironment, their effects on tumor cell phenotype, and their potential as therapeutic targets;
• New pharmacologic and surgical approaches directed specifically to bone metastasis;
• Direct effects of bisphosphonates on tumor cells;
• Pathophysiology of osteoblastic metastasis;
• Bisphosphonates as adjuvant therapy in breast cancer;
• The role of proteasome inhibition in myeloma bone disease; and
• New bone markers and their potential for monitoring cancer-induced bone disease.

The conference also will explore future directions, including new approaches to the treatment of bone cancer pain, the further development and improvement of bone imaging techniques, and developments in orthopedic approaches to bone metastases and their complications. Important issues such as the cost-effectiveness of new therapeutic approaches will be discussed.

Note to media: The following abstracts are deemed particularly newsworthy and are available on request. They are embargoed until the dates and times of their presentation

“Gene Sets Driving Tissue-Specific Breast Cancer Metastasis,” lead author: Joan Massagué, Ph.D., Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center;

“Osteopontin and Bone Metastasis,” lead author: Ann F. Chambers, Ph.D., University of Western Ontario;

“Proteasomes and Host Defense Against Cancer: From New Insights to Novel Therapies,” lead author: Alfred L. Goldberg, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School;

“Role of Matrix Metalloproteinases in Bone Remodeling and Malignant Progression,” lead author: Zena Werb, Ph.D., University of California at San Francisco;

“Clodronate Adjuvant Therapy for Operable Breast Cancer,” lead author: Trevor J. Powles, M.D., Royal Marsden Hospital, London, England; and

“Detection of Skeletal Metastases in Breast Cancer Using a Novel Biochemical Marker of Bone Resorption (ALPHA CrossLaps),” lead author: Claus Christiansen, M.D., Center for Clinical and Basic Research, Ballerup, Denmark.

A complete listing of conference dates, speakers and topics is available online atwww.paget.org/intl_conference.pdf.

State leaders ensure additional $9 million for RAHC

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Gov. Perry announces that line-item vetoes in the state budget freed up $9 million that will be used to fund RAHC operating costs.

San Antonio (Dec. 2, 2003) – Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst visited the Medical  Education Division of the Regional Academic Health Center on Nov. 18 to make a most-  welcome announcement just before the holidays – namely that line-item vetoes in the state  budget had freed up an additional $9 million to fund RAHC operating costs.

The leaders met a warm reception in Harlingen from Dr. Francisco G. Cigarroa, Health Science  Center president, and Lower Rio Grande Valley lawmakers including Senators Eddie Lucio Jr.  and Juan Hinojosa. President Cigarroa said the funding, which doubles the $9 million already  appropriated for the RAHC this biennium, will help continue the programs of the Medical  Education Division, located at Harlingen, and will enable the Health Science Center to  continue to make preparations for the RAHC Medical Research Division to open in 2004 at  Edinburg. The Health Science Center is responsible for operating the RAHC’s Harlingen and Edinburg divisions.

“Funding for the Regional Academic Health Center will play a vital role in treating, healing and improving the lives of people along the Texas-Mexico border,” Gov. Perry said. “The RAHC mission of training the future doctors and medical professionals of the Rio Grande Valley is critical to a healthier border and a healthier Texas.”

Lt. Gov. Dewhurst represented the Legislative Budget Board, which was to receive the formal request for the funding. He and Gov. Perry reached an agreement with House Speaker Tom Craddick for the additional RAHC appropriation.

“We are so grateful to Gov. Perry and Lt. Gov. Dewhurst for being with us today, for their support for the RAHC, and for bringing such welcome news,” Dr. Cigarroa said. “We are grateful to all our Valley delegation for their continued support, which ensures that the Regional Academic Health Center continues to be built on a solid foundation.”

Sen. Lucio, author of the 1997 legislation that established the center, was introduced as “the Father of the RAHC” by Harlingen Mayor Connie de la Garza. House sponsorship of the RAHC bill was accomplished by Sen. Hinojosa, then a representative. In an opinion editorial released Nov. 21, Sen. Lucio extended his “appreciation and gratitude to our state’s leadership on behalf of South Texas for their foresight in recognizing the need for this strategic investment in the area.”