Coveted NCI award comes to Sung, UT Health San Antonio

Shared by

Patrick Sung, DPhil

UT Health San Antonio biochemist Patrick Sung, D.Phil., one of the world’s leading experts on BRCA1 and BRCA2 cancer biology, has just received a highly competitive National Cancer Institute (NCI) Outstanding Investigator Award.

Dr. Sung is the first faculty member in UT Health San Antonio history to capture this prestigious NCI award, which is bestowed only upon researchers with august track records, elite-level scientific impact, and ascending career trajectories and research goals. The award, which began Sept. 9, will provide $6.1 million through 2026.

Dr. Sung joined UT Health San Antonio in 2019 from Yale, where he was a professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry, therapeutic radiology and epidemiology. A $6 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) supported his recruitment.

BRCA1 and BRCA2 are tumor suppressor genes. When these genes are mutated, the loss of function leads to cancer. Primarily known for increasing risk of breast cancer in women, BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations also are associated with ovarian cancer, prostate and breast cancer in men, and a childhood cancer called neuroblastoma. A related gene is associated with aggressive pancreatic cancer.

“This NCI award is given to the top cancer researchers in the U.S.A., and we are proud that it has come to Dr. Sung and South Texas,” said Robert A. Hromas, M.D., professor and dean of the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio. “Dr. Sung is an expert in the molecular mechanisms by which BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations give rise to cancers, which could lead to new ways to treat them and possibly prevent their occurrence in the first place.”

Unique body of work

The Sung laboratory conquered a major technical challenge over several years—a feat that eluded all other labs worldwide. Using unique insect cell culture systems, the scientists were able to prompt the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes to make their proteins. “These are very elaborate human BRCA proteins expressed in insect cells,” Dr. Sung said. “Now that this technical hurdle is overcome, we are poised to figure out how these tumor suppressor proteins function.”

“Very few groups in the world are able to conduct the type of investigations that Dr. Sung’s group is doing,” said William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP, president of UT Health San Antonio.

Like mechanics taking an engine apart and putting it back together, Dr. Sung and his colleagues are analyzing the sequence of events that occur when a BRCA mutation leads to cancer initiation and progression. The key factor is a loss of DNA repair capacity.

DNA repair

DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid, is a double-stranded molecule in all cells that contains the instructions for every process that sustains life—cell division, respiration and energy production, to name only a few. DNA repair is needed because genetic and environmental factors (such as harmful chemicals and sun exposure) damage DNA on a continual basis. Cells must constantly repair their DNA.

During cell division, the BRCA genes prompt cells to use the most accurate repair pathway to preserve our genetic blueprint.

In the absence of this protective effect of BRCA, cells revert to a less-efficient pathway, which allows the introduction of errors, genetic mutations and, ultimately, cancers.

“We know things happen, but exactly how they happen is what we want to discover,” Dr. Sung said.

It’s a complex undertaking, to say the least.

“Hundreds of BRCA mutations have been reported,” Dr. Sung said. “It’s not possible for us to go and look at every single one of them, but because of the work that we have done in the past, we can cherry-pick a few. Based on what we know about what BRCA does, we can say, ‘I think the mutation could affect this,’ and then we can carry out the necessary work to validate the hypothesis.”

Display of trust by the NCI

The NCI grant is for basic investigation to understand BRCA biology.

“The NCI Outstanding Investigator Award encourages risk taking,” Dr. Sung said. “Recipients don’t actually have to tell the reviewing panel what they want to do exactly. It provides freedom for an established investigator to come up with really provocative ideas—paths of inquiry where the chances of being wrong are actually quite high, but also where, if we are right, the impact will be tremendous.”

Dr. Sung said he is “humbled and honored to have received an award with this level of trust from the National Cancer Institute.”

In July, the Gray Foundation of New York announced grants to seven multidisciplinary teams including UT Health San Antonio. The focus is drug resistance in BRCA-deficient tumors. Dr. Sung is the principal investigator on a $3.75 million award that includes collaborators at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the University of Pennsylvania.

Distinguished career

Dr. Sung occupies the Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair in Chemistry and is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology at UT Health San Antonio. He also serves as associate dean for research in the Long School of Medicine, and leads a new research program in genetic integrity at the Mays Cancer Center, home to UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Dr. Sung was born and raised in Hong Kong. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Liverpool in 1981 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree at the University of Oxford in 1985, both in biochemistry. He then completed eight years of postdoctoral fellowship training at the University of Rochester in upstate New York.

His initial faculty appointment was at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. In 1997 he moved to UT Health San Antonio as associate professor, and ultimately was promoted to professor and the Zachry Distinguished Professor of Molecular Medicine. From 2001 to 2003, he was co-director of a National Cancer Institute-funded training program in DNA repair at the university.

He left UT Health San Antonio in 2003 to join the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University. From 2009 to 2015, Dr. Sung served two three-year terms as chair of the department, which includes several National Academy of Sciences members and a Nobel laureate.

Dr. Sung’s decision to leave the Northeast and return to South Texas was three-pronged, he said. He and his wife wanted to come back to San Antonio, the leadership of UT Health San Antonio is top-tier, and the level of investigation at the university is outstanding. “We have good science, amazing people and we love San Antonio,” he said. “I was very sincere when I told Dr. Hromas, this was our first choice at the get-go.”

# # #

Stay connected with UT Health San Antonio on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, now called UT Health San Antonio®, is one of the country’s leading health sciences universities. With missions of teaching, research, healing and community engagement, its schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced 36,500 alumni who are leading change, advancing their fields and renewing hope for patients and their families throughout South Texas and the world. To learn about the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.

Dr. Stevens honored for work in evidence-based practice

Shared by

Kathleen Stevens, Ed.D., RN

Kathleen Stevens, Ed.D., RN, professor of nursing, has been selected to receive one of the inaugural Distinguished Evidence-based Practice Trailblazer Awards from the Helene Fuld Health Trust National Institute for Evidence-based Practice in Nursing and Healthcare.

The award was established to recognize the pioneers and leaders in the evidence-based practice movement in the United States.

Dr. Stevens is the founding director of the Academic Center for Evidence-Based Practice (ACE; now called the Center for Advancing Clinical Excellence), a School of Nursing Center of Excellence where she leads efforts to advance evidence-based quality improvement through research, education and practice.

The Trailblazer Awards will be presented Nov. 21 at the Fuld institute’s national summit in Columbus, Ohio.

Making childhood better: one child at a time

Shared by

KnudsenMS
Jessica Knudsen, president and CEO, Clarity Child Guidance Center

Did you know that one-in-four children in Bexar County suffers with mental health issues?

“An alarming number of children suffer from psychotic disorders due to bullying and other stressful situations,” said Jessica Knudsen, president and CEO of Clarity Child Guidance Center. “We’ve seen increased numbers of kids referred to us from the local school districts and even the San Antonio Police Department,”

Clarity Child Guidance Center is the region’s only nonprofit provider of mental health care exclusively for children and adolescents age 3-17. Knudsen is an experienced clinician who first noticed the sharp rise in mental health issues among poverty-stricken kids while teaching in various public schools. She received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of North Carolina and a Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin.

“I really enjoyed teaching, but I found my calling when I started working as an inpatient therapist,” said Knudsen. She has been serving as the president and CEO of  Clarity Child Guidance Center since February 2019.

Clarity’s  33,750 square-foot outpatient clinic opened its doors in 2016. It allows Clarity to consolidate its resources and provide more efficient care for its young patients. Children who receive treatment in Clarity’s hospital or day treatment center stay on the main campus for their continuum of care without going off-site to another facility.

Clarity has partnered with UT Health San Antonio for more than 20 years.

“Clarity is a complete treatment facility and UT Health San Antonio also has a huge role in our efforts in providing the most effective treatment for our patients,” said Knudsen. “We have six residents from UT Health San Antonio who actively participate in clinical rotations here. These residents work with our staff psychiatrists and nurse practitioners. It’s a perfect example of how our partnership with UT Health San Antonio has made a huge difference in helping children in our community.”

Last year alone, Clarity Child Guidance Center treated more than 7,000 kids, including 2,500 children on an inpatient basis. “We never question the parent’s ability to pay for the treatment of their child at Clarity Child Guidance Center. Our goal is that children and adolescent patients are saved before a crisis takes place where they can hurt themselves or their loved ones. It’s our goal to ensure safety for all our patients, and help them through proper treatment and continued outpatient therapy,” Knudsen said.

The 8-acre Clarity facility has 66 inpatient beds, playground, gymnasium and cafeteria, as well as a pool so that the patients can experience a childhood that’s free of the burdens and rigors that come with mental health issues.

“We encourage everyone to take a tour of the facility,” Knudsen said. “The center has various volunteer programs for those interested. One of those programs is called ‘Food for the Soul,’ an event where local volunteer groups make delicious and nutritious meals for patients.Eating great food and interacting with volunteers brings out a smile with everyone involved. It helps kids enjoy being kids again.”

Clarity also actively educates the local community on the rising number of behavioral disorders in children and promotes mental health awareness among adolescents.

“Parents and teachers may not realize or distinguish a difference between mental health and behavioral issues,” Knudsen said. “It can be very frustrating and a treatment facility is the last place that comes to parent’s minds. That’s why education on child mental health is an important part of our organization’s efforts. We want to make sure that we are here to help when parents run out of ideas since there is a limited number of child-focused mental health treatment facilities in South Texas.”

Knudsen knows how fragile a child’s mind can be. “Mental health issues in children know no socio-economic boundaries. We see a broad spectrum of patients within our community. And it usually takes parents by surprise, since many parents are ill-prepared for such dire situations,” she said.

Clarity Child Guidance Center and UT Health San Antonio have been serving as a beacon of hope for children with mental health issues for several decades. Visit www.claritycgc.org if you would like to volunteer or donate towards the effort of making lives better for children of Bexar County.

Rockwood honored as an AOA Pillar of the Orthopaedic Profession

Shared by

Charles A. Rockwood Jr., M.D., FAOA

Charles A. Rockwood, Jr., M.D., FAOA, of UT Health San Antonio has been honored by the American Orthopaedic Association as an AOA Pillar of the Orthopaedic Profession for his tremendous contributions to orthopaedic surgery. The effort to recognize Dr. Rockwood was led by Bernard F. Morrey, M.D., FAOA, with the generous support of many colleagues, friends and the Alamo Orthopaedic Society, which includes several of Dr. Rockwood’s former residents.

“I commend the AOA for establishing the AOA Pillar of the Orthopaedic Profession Program, and I can think of no one more deserving to be in the first group of giants so honored than Charley Rockwood,” Dr. Morrey said. “Not only did he establish a premier orthopaedic program and thereby touch the lives of numerous trainees, but his classic textbook, Rockwood and Green’s Fractures in Adults, has benefited orthopaedic surgeons worldwide.”

Dr. Rockwood graduated from the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine in 1956 and completed his orthopaedic residency at the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Oklahoma and affiliated hospitals in 1961. He came to The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (now called UT Health San Antonio) in 1966 as founder of what would become the Department of Orthopaedics. In 1967, he participated in the AOA American-British-Canadian (ABC) Traveling Fellowship program and often speaks of the strong impact this experience had on his career.

Over the years, Dr. Rockwood focused his private practice to the study and treatment of shoulder problems. He worked diligently to develop a shoulder arthroplasty system and a post-operative home-based exercise rehabilitation program for the shoulder. In addition, he has led his team of investigators in developing the fracture prosthesis specifically designed to treat fractures of the shoulder, as well as the conservative anatomical prosthesis and the cuff tear arthropathy head.

Dr. Rockwood has authored numerous journal articles and audiovisual presentations and has served as editor of several textbooks, including seven editions of the three-volume text, Fractures (with David P. Green, M.D.) and four editions of the two-volume text, The Shoulder (with Frederick A. Matsen III, M.D.). He served as president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) in 1984-85 and president of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons in 1985-87. He also served as a colonel in the United States Air Force Reserve, and as a civilian national consultant to the surgeon general of the U.S. Air Force.

In 2016, Dr. Rockwood, professor and chairman emeritus, Department of Orthopaedics, and director of the Shoulder Service, celebrated 50 years of service to UT Health San Antonio. In his private practice, he continued to perform complex shoulder surgery and, as a consultant, shared his expertise with other orthopaedic surgeons throughout the country.

Dr. Rockwood made a generous commitment in 2018 in the amount of $150,000 to the AOA, with $125,000 in support of the AOA’s ABC Traveling Fellowship in recognition of his passion for the program.

“Charley was masterful in establishing effective working relationships with other orthopaedic leaders, and by example he taught many the importance of that skill,” Dr. Morrey said. “On a personal level, Charley is beloved by all and has been one of the most recognized ambassadors of U.S. orthopaedic surgery. He is and has truly been a pillar of our specialty.”

The AOA acknowledges Dr. Rockwood’s legacy and congratulates him on being recognized as an AOA Pillar of the Orthopaedic Profession. He was honored during the AOA Annual Leadership Meetings in San Diego on June 28, 2019. The short video that was shown at the meeting is available here.

# # #

Stay connected with UT Health San Antonio on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, now called UT Health San Antonio®, is one of the country’s leading health sciences universities. With missions of teaching, research, healing and community engagement, its schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced 36,500 alumni who are leading change, advancing their fields and renewing hope for patients and their families throughout South Texas and the world. To learn about the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.

 

Flu shots available through Wellness 360

Shared by

Wellness 360, comprehensive health care for employees and students, is offering flu shots at several locations in September.

Shots will be available at the MARC, Conference Room B, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 17, 23 and 30. They will be available at the Mays Cancer Center, Mabee Conference Room, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., on Sept. 20. And they will be available in the Center for Oral Health Care and Research, Conference Room 2001, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., on Sept. 27.

Shots are also available in the Wellness 360 facility on the first floor of the School of Nursing, suite 1.422. Please make an appointment by calling 210-567-2788. Same-day appointments are often available.

Please bring your insurance card and ID badge with you. We accept BCBS UT Select, any PPO health insurance plan and Tricare standard. Contact Wellness 360 with any questions or concerns. Phone 210-567-2788, fax 210-567-2779.