Cell biologist is named top 2004 scholar at HSC

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Honoree Dr. Brian Herman (left) receives congratulations from Dr. Francisco G. Cigarroa, president.

San Antonio (Feb. 9, 2004) – A San Antonio researcher who studies the orderly – and sometimes not so orderly – process by which the body kills its own cells was awarded The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio’s top honor Jan. 29.

Brian Herman, Ph.D., professor and chairman of cellular and structural biology at the Health Science Center, received the 2004 Presidential Distinguished Scholar Award from Health Science Center President Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D. Dr. Herman’s contributions to scientists’ understanding of apoptosis, or cell “suicide,” has had major implications in the fields of aging, heart disease, cancer and neurodegenerative disorders.

Scientists estimate that 100,000 of our cells die every second and are replaced by new cells. “It turns out a number of different diseases are due to defects in the process by which cells die,” Dr. Herman said. “Our research has implications for how aberrations in the cell death process are involved in the development of cancer and possibly the resistance of cancer cells to chemotherapy and other treatments. We also study how changes in the regulation of the cell death process may contribute to the rate at which we age and/or how well we age.”

Dr. Herman’s research teams and collaborators at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the Mayo Clinic have made a number of major discoveries in his roughly 30-year career. They uncovered a process by which cells are injured when they lose oxygen due to loss of blood supply. They also discovered ways to rescue those cells from the injury or slow the injury process. “This has turned out to have major implications for the storage of organs for transplantation and also for treating people who have had heart attacks,” Dr. Herman said.

More recently, Dr. Herman’s work on aging has resulted in preliminary data that suggest deregulation of certain parts of the cell death pathway may play a major role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases and aging. His team is currently employing experimental models that resist the loss of brain cells in regions of the brain that are affected in Parkinson’s disease.

Dr. Herman received his Ph.D. in 1980 from the University of Connecticut Medical School. He joined the Health Science Center faculty in 1998 from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He has authored 51 book chapters and 148 peer-reviewed publications, many of which have appeared in the top-tier journals such as Nature.

Dr. Herman is chair of the Health Science Center’s Executive Research Committee and is principal investigator of grants totaling more than $8 million. He is the recipient of a prestigious National Institutes of Health MERIT Award, which provides long-term stable support to investigators whose research competence and productivity are distinctly superior and who are likely to continue to perform in an outstanding manner. It is an honor bestowed on only the top 1 percent of scientists in the nation.

Fifteen other Health Science Center faculty and staff were honored with excellence awards. To view photos, bios and video clips of all the winners, visit www.uthscsa.edu/opa/presaward2004/.

1st South Texas child to receive resynchronization pacemaker doing well

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Price

San Antonio (Feb. 3, 2005) – Generally it’s a good thing to have a big heart, but in 9-year-old Bradley Price’s case, he literally had too big a heart.

Bradley was born with congenital heart disease and underwent a number of surgeries by age 2, including placement of a pacemaker. Although his activity level seemed normal for a growing toddler, scans showed progressive enlargement of his heart muscle to a dangerous condition called dilated cardiomyopathy. He was in need of something dramatic, something new, and physicians from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Wilford Hall Medical Center and CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital provided it.

In July 2004, they performed South Texas’ first known implant of a cardiac “resynchronization” device to save Bradley. He was one of the first 100 children in the country to receive the new pacemaker system, which consists of electrodes placed on both the left and right ventricles that fire synchronously to improve heart function.

The results have been exciting. Follow-up exams show the device is working well, and the size of his heart has returned to normal (a 20 percent reduction). He has normal heart rhythms, and his ejection fraction (a measurement of the amount of blood pumped by the heart during each beat) is in the acceptable range. “His parents say he has more energy,” said Bradley’s physician, Maj. David M. Bush, M.D., Ph.D., staff pediatric cardiologist and associate pediatric residency program director at Wilford Hall Medical Center.

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Brad Price and his 7-year-old sister, Kendell, play a game at home.

John Calhoon, M.D., the President’s Council Chair of Thoracic Surgery at the Health Science Center, and Daniel Martinez, M.D., performed the surgery with Dr. Bush’s guidance at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital. Dr. Calhoon is professor of surgery and head of the division of thoracic surgery in the Health Science Center’s School of Medicine and Dr. Martinez is assistant professor of surgery.

“Resynchronization pacemaker therapy is relatively new and quite a hot topic in heart circles,” Dr. Calhoon said.

“These devices work to change the flow of electricity in the heart so that the heart muscle can contract more normally,” Dr. Bush commented.

The pacemaker implant can be done with a smaller incision than open-heart surgery and is expected to last for five years without being changed. “It has the potential to really change how we approach the patient who needs a pacemaker and has developed signs of heart failure,” Dr. Martinez said.

Cardiomyopathy is rare among children. U.S.1 and Australian2 studies published last year in The New England Journal of Medicine showed an estimated incidence of about 1 in 100,000 children, and the U.S. study showed slightly higher incidence in boys than girls.

Symptoms vary among individuals and may include shortness of breath, chest pressure, dizziness, palpitations, fainting, stroke and congestive heart failure. Some individuals have no symptoms and are diagnosed during a routine physical or screening. In very rare cases, the first sign of the disease is sudden death precipitated by acute arrhythmia. Anyone with symptoms and/or a family history of cardiomyopathy should be checked regularly by a physician.

For more information on Price, click on the link below:
www.uthscsa.edu/HSCNews/archive/PacemakerSidebar.pdf

For more information on the resynchronization pacemaker, click on the link below:
www.uthscsa.edu/HSCNews/archive/PacemakerFAQ.pdf

Professor appointed to state board of examiners

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Scott Johnson, M.D., associate professor in the division of cardiothoracic surgery, has been appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to the Texas State Board of Examiners of Perfusionists. The board licenses and regulates approximately 300 perfusionists in Texas.

Dr. Johnson received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from The University of New Mexico and his doctorate in medicine from The University of New Mexico School of Medicine. Dr. Johnson is an executive board member of the Texas Transplantation Society, an elected member of the Health Science Center faculty senate, and the associate program director of the thoracic surgery residency program. Dr. Johnson has been a guest lecturer at many events, including presentations on lung transplantation and difficult esophageal reconstructions and disorders. He is also a member of the Texas Surgical Society, the Society of Thoracic Surgery, and the Southern Thoracic Society. He was recently selected by his peers to appear in the 2003-04 Best Doctors in America database.

Two new NIH grants give boost to science education in South Texas

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San Antonio public school teachers play the OsCosts® game during a Positively Aging® teacher workshop.

San Antonio (Feb. 3, 2004) – Nelda Charles, a teacher at Nimitz Academy in the North East Independent School District, was about to let her students play a game in class. “The reason we’re playing this game is so you don’t end up with the terrible disease osteoporosis,” Charles said to her young charges. The game, called “Os Costs®: Banking on Healthy Bones,” takes children on a life journey from birth to 100, with different colors on the board showing how bones change as we age.

The player with the most coins at the end of the game wins. Knowing facts taught in class about osteoporosis and its prevention causes players to gain “Osteocoins,” tokens that represent calcium levels. Wrong answers cause them to lose Osteocoins.

The Os Costs® game is part of the Positively Aging® curriculum developed at the Sam and Ann Barshop Center for Longevity and Aging Studies at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. “The purpose of Positively Aging® is to bring to the classroom some of the results of aging research, conducted at the Health Science Center, that are relevant to students at this age,” said Linda Pruski, educational development specialist at the Barshop Center. “The students learn about symptoms and risk factors, and they go home and inform their families. It becomes a real network for health promotion and disease prevention.”

The program is so unique that three components of the National Institutes of Health, the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), now fund its expansion into more schools and subject areas. In September 2003, the research group, headed by principal investigator Michael Lichtenstein, M.D., professor of medicine in the division of geriatrics and gerontology, received a five-year, $1.6 million grant from the NCRR and NIA to expand the Positively Aging® program to potentially 60 schools in Bexar and adjacent counties by 2007. Proposed new teaching modules will address mobility, obesity, forces and motion, and clinical research. The full curriculum, teaching materials and all activities are available at positivelyaging.uthscsa.edu.

A second five-year, $1.3 million NHLBI grant will be used to develop the Minority Opportunities in Research Education (M.O.R.E.) curriculum program. New science and math teaching modules will be written and evaluated, including units focusing on cardiovascular and pulmonary health and others focusing on clinical research and inquiry skills. Partnerships will be strengthened between researchers and health professionals from the Health Science Center, the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, and teachers from 15 San Antonio and South Texas school districts serving minority students.

“These two new projects build on the last 10 years of successful educational research conducted by Health Science Center faculty and staff in collaboration with public school teachers,” Dr. Lichtenstein commented. “The last six years have been supported by Science Education Partnership Awards from the NCRR. We feel very fortunate to have developed a track record and then to have successfully competed for these new five-year grants to sustain and grow our programs.”

The grants ensure that the Health Science Center will continue its commitment to improving public school science, math and health education. “There are tremendous opportunities to enrich teachers’ knowledge and skills through professional development and evaluation – figuring out what does and does not work in the classroom,” Dr. Lichtenstein said. “This will translate into improved inquiry-based learning for their students, giving them the tools to live healthy, productive lives.”

Health Science Center launches early admission dental program with TAMIU

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Francisco Cigarroa, M.D., Health Science Center president, joins Dr. Ray Keck, Texas A&M International University president, for the signing of a historic Early Admission Dentistry Program between the two universities Monday. Looking on are members of both universities faculty and administration. (From Left) Kenneth Kalkwarf, D.D.S., Dental School dean; Denee Thomas, Ph.D, associate dean for student affairs in the Dental School; Dr. Daniel Mott, Associate Dean, TAMIU College of Arts and Sciences; Richard A. Garcia, assistant vice president for South Texas Programs and Dr. Dan Jones, TAMIU Provost.

Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) students considering a career in dentistry will soon benefit from the launching of a 3+4 dual degree and Dental Early Admission Program (DEAP) between The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and TAMIU.

The joint agreement was signed Feb. 2 in Laredo by representatives of the Health Science Center and TAMIU.

Dr. Dan Jones, TAMIU provost and vice president for academic affairs, said the innovative agreement will provide TAMIU students with an opportunity to receive both a bachelor’s degree in biology from TAMIU and a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the Health Science Center within seven years.

“This is a remarkable opportunity for our students and one we feel will generate great interest for students in our region,” Dr. Jones said.

Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., Health Science Center president, said the program is an example of outstanding collaboration that will benefit students. “We are excited about this partnership with TAMIU and are looking forward to expanding the opportunities available to South Texas students,” Dr. Cigarroa said.

Briefly, accepted students complete a curriculum of 103 hours at TAMIU and summer research opportunities in San Antonio between the second and third undergraduate years. The student must take the Dental Admission Test (DAT) before the third undergraduate year and enroll at the Health Science Center contingent upon a variety of criteria related to GPA, DAT score, and positive recommendations.

Following successful completion of the freshman academic year at the Dental School, the students will be granted a B.S. degree in biology from TAMIU. Following completion of the four-year curriculum of the Dental School, the students will be granted a D.D.S. degree by the Dental School.
This is the first Dual Degree-DEAP dental program to be offered at TAMIU.

The Dental School’s mission and goals (education, research, patient care and service) have traditionally focused on South Texas. The school’s provision of dental education programs in the region includes community-based clinical training at affiliated sites that are located in Dental Health Profession Shortage Areas (Dental HPSAs).

lnformation on the Dental School is available at www.dental.uthscsa.edu/.

Omnibus spending bill includes $4 million for Health Science Center

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San Antonio (Jan. 26, 2004) – Asthma, Hispanic nutrition and myeloma projects of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio are included for funding in the Omnibus Appropriations Bill Act approved by the House in December and by the Senate on Jan. 22.

Health Science Center President Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., expressed his great appreciation for the funding. “Asthma is on the rise in South Texas and nationwide, and the $2.5 million that is coming to our asthma disease management study will be used to improve the lives of those who don’t take breathing for granted,” Dr. Cigarroa said. “We thank Congressman Henry Bonilla for his leadership in securing that funding.”

He applauded the work of Sen. John Cornyn in guaranteeing that $994,000 would come to the Lower Rio Grande Valley Regional Academic Health Center (RAHC) for the country’s first Hispanic Nutrition Research Center. “We are gratified for the leadership of Senator Cornyn as we focus on studying and enhancing the health of Hispanics, who make up the largest sector of the population of South Texas,” Dr. Cigarroa said. The nutrition research center will operate from the RAHC Medical Education Division at Harlingen. The Health Science Center operates that division of the RAHC and the Medical Research Division soon to open in Edinburg. Sen. Cornyn’s leadership earlier helped secure an initial $100,000 for the nutrition center.

Dr. Cigarroa also said the $500,000 obtained for myeloma research through the leadership of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison will enhance the strong base of cancer research at the Health Science Center. “Senator Hutchison has recognized the gains made in biomedical research and we are grateful that she has recognized the value of the work being done at the Health Science Center,” he said. Myeloma is a cancer of the bone marrow.