Biomedical research program gets additional funding

Irene Chapa, Ph.D., director of Recruitment and Science Outreach at the Health Science Center, works with students in the Voelker program.

San Antonio area high school students will have the opportunity to participate in a unique, intensive, three-year biomedical research program at the Health Science Center, thanks to a $675,000 grant from The Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Fund.

Voelcker fund trustees helped establish the Voelcker Biomedical Research Academy at the Health Science Center in 2009 with an initial gift of $750,000. The goal of the Voelcker Academy is to encourage high school students to enter careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The new funds will also enable the Voelcker Academy leadership team to conduct longer-term research on the program’s effectiveness with the hope of developing a national model for other universities to replicate.