School of Medicine establishes Center for Healthy Aging, appoints director

SAN ANTONIO (July 27, 2010) — The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio today announced the establishment of a new Center for Healthy Aging. Nicolas Musi, M.D., a diabetes researcher in the School of Medicine, will be the founding director.

The Center for Healthy Aging will coordinate translational and clinical research focused on aging, medical education in geriatrics and clinical services for older adults, said Francisco González-Scarano, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs. The center consolidates activities engaged in by the School of Medicine and clinical partners for many years.

Dr. Musi and the center faculty will interact closely with scientists of the Health Science Center’s Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies, one of the nation’s premier research institutes of the biological mechanisms of aging.

The Center for Healthy Aging also will work with departments and centers within the School of Medicine, the South Texas Veterans Health Care System, the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), and other partners to develop a center of excellence in aging, Dean González said.

Dr. Musi received his M.D. in 1995 from the Universidad Anahuac in Mexico City. He finished his internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of Miami-Jackson Memorial Medical Center in 1998. Dr. Musi then completed a clinical fellowship in endocrinology and metabolism at the Joslin Diabetes Center-Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in 2001. He then joined the Harvard faculty.

Recruited to the Health Science Center in 2003, he served as associate director for clinical research at the Texas Diabetes Institute, located in the University Center for Community Health on San Antonio’s West Side. He is board certified in internal medicine and endocrinology and metabolism.

His research expertise is in aging, insulin resistance and exercise physiology. He is principal investigator on grants from the National Institutes of Health, the American Federation for Aging Research and the American Diabetes Association. Dr. Musi recently was named director of the GRECC and is a member of the Barshop Institute.

UT Medicine San Antonio is the clinical practice of the School of Medicine at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. With more than 700 doctors – all faculty from the School of Medicine – UT Medicine is the largest medical practice in Central and South Texas, with expertise in more than 60 different branches of medicine. Primary care doctors and specialists see patients in private practice at UT Medicine’s clinical home, the Medical Arts & Research Center (MARC), located in the South Texas Medical Center at 8300 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio 78229. Most major health plans are accepted, and there are clinics and physicians at several local and regional hospitals, including CHRISTUS Santa Rosa, University Hospital and Baptist Medical Center. Call (210) 450-9000 to schedule an appointment, or visit the Web site at www.UTMedicine.org for a complete listing of clinics and phone numbers.



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