When the Biggs Institute was established in 2017, it was intended to be a comprehensive center that offers patient care, treatment and family support as well as advanced research in dementia and other brain disorders. Without brains, research is limited.
Eleven years have passed since Mike Nixon was diagnosed with an exceptional neurodegenerative disease. When he was diagnosed, he felt a calling to become a research subject. Then, he realized if he was going to make a genuine difference, he needed to find a postmortem home for his brain and spinal cord.
Casa Mia provides the supervision, structure, support and hope mothers with substance use disorder need to turn their lives around. The recovery home is one of only a few in Texas that gives mothers with substance use disorder the opportunity to recover with their children.
Juanita Lozano-Pineda wanted to help people avoid pain and career-ending injury, so she began lecturing dental students on ergonomics. That became a three-part program that includes faculty and students from the departments of occupational therapy and physical therapy.
When Juan Garcia suddenly lost his ability to walk, he turned to Selina Morgan, an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy. Morgan has been researching spinal cord rehabilitation for almost 20 years.
The darkest days of COVID-19, of course, were normal for no one. And yet, COVID-19 also magnified the courage, the heroics, the inclination to run toward the fire, to go beyond, that marks the healing professions and the mission of UT Health San Antonio.
Bravery comes in the shape of a preschooler in a pink tutu. The 3-year-old fought her way through countless surgeries after a vicious dog attack left her with near-fatal injuries.
What used to be called adult-onset diabetes is now hitting children at alarming rates. While San Antonio bears the burden of being the epicenter for diabetes, it is also a hotbed for research.
Because of lessons learned on the battlefields, South Texas patients are receiving lifesaving whole blood transfusions—before ever reaching the hospital.
As researchers and physicians battle against an unpredictable, incurable foe, one patient refuses to let multiple sclerosis defeat her.