Claudia Suemoto, MD, PhD, from The University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio), has been awarded a $500,000 UT System Faculty STARs (Science and Technology Acquisition and Retention) award to tackle urgent research gaps in dementia. South Texas offers a distinct blend of genetic and environmental factors rarely explored in neurodegenerative research.
Suemoto, a professor in the Department of Quantitative and Qualitative Health Sciences at the Kate Marmion School of Public Health at UT San Antonio, is cross-appointed to the institution’s Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases and serves as the director of the brain bank at the University of São Paulo in Brazil.
The STARs award funds will be invested in acquiring state-of-the-art equipment and upgrading infrastructure, enabling deeper insights into the dementia-related genetic and environmental factors unique to the South Texas population. These advancements will support more precise diagnoses and more effective treatments for dementia.
“As a geriatrician and epidemiologist, my work focuses on understanding dementia in older adults. I study how various causes of dementia, known as etiologies, are shaped by both our genes and the environments we live in,” Suemoto said. “By combining in-depth brain studies (neuropathology) with advanced laboratory techniques (molecular biology), I hope to uncover how these conditions develop at a deeper level. At the same time, I’m committed to translating what we learn in the lab to real-world patient care and encouraging my students and colleagues to be part of this vital and impactful research.”
In 2004, The University of Texas System Board of Regents launched the STARs awards program to attract and retain exceptional faculty to conduct their research at its 13 academic and health institutions across Texas.