BREAKTHROUGH RESEARCH: A leader in research funding, outcomes
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is rated No. 6 among the 25 top-rising institutions in North America, according to Nature Index, a database of author affiliations and institutional relationships that tracks contributions to research articles published in high-quality natural science and health science journals.
The university is also a top-ranking academic research health center with regard to research funding. It received $131.5 million in National Institutes of Health funding in fiscal year 2023, according to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research, ranking No. 72 out of the 2,886 public and private institutions that received NIH funding — reflecting an increase in NIH funding of 31% over the previous fiscal year.
Also notable: $16.4 million awarded in 2024 from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas for attracting top cancer researchers and advancing child and adolescent cancer research, including breakthrough discoveries by investigators from both the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio, one of only four National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Centers in Texas, and the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute, one of only two institutes in the U.S. dedicated solely to pediatric cancer research.
“At UT Health San Antonio, we are proud of our sustained growth and impactful contributions to the biosciences,” said Jennifer Sharpe Potter, PhD, MPH, the institution’s vice president for research. “Our commitment to innovative research has positioned us as a leader in addressing critical health challenges.”
As the leading academic and bioscience research center in South Texas, with an annual portfolio of $413 million, and as a primary driver of San Antonio’s $44.1 billion health care and biosciences sector, UT Health San Antonio’s research accomplishments include advances in the treatment of cancer, age-related diseases, Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, infectious diseases, mental health, substance use disorders, metabolic diseases including diabetes, population and public health and military health.
The research highlights that follow provide a glimpse of the broad and impactful work of investigators from across the institution to discover and test new therapies, prevent and treat disease and preserve and improve health across the lifespan. Among these: a first-ever oral chlamydia vaccine and a first mouse model with functional human immune system, a chemotherapy pump targeting liver tumors, a toothpaste ingredient to build tooth enamel, patient implants of a rechargeable deep brain stimulation device and a clinical trial for a vaccine to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s.
$11 million NIH-funded study could lead to a first-ever oral chlamydia vaccine. Chlamydia is the most reported sexually transmitted disease and affects about 4 million people in the United States each year, 
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While vaccines are available for other sexually transmitted infections, none exists for chlamydia. Untreated chlamydial infections can lead to severe complications including pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility and ectopic pregnancy. While investigating mouse-adapted chlamydia, a team of researchers found that genital chlamydia that spread to the gastrointestinal tract established long-standing colonization. They then tested an oral inoculation of chlamydia to the GI system and found that it became not only non-pathogenic but also offered protective immunity against subsequent infection in other tissues including the genital tract and airways. This surprising finding led investigators to conclude that an oral delivery of chlamydia could serve as a vaccination against the infection, an important step toward development of a vaccine.
Clinical trial studies people with Down syndrome for potential Alzheimer’s vaccine. Significant levels of amyloid beta plaques and tau tangles in the brain are classic hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. Because people with Down syndrome have an extra copy of the 21st chromosome, which is responsible for a protein that can cause plaques in the brain, their brain pathology mirrors that of a person with Alzheimer’s. And their risk for developing the disease is three to five times higher than the general population. The Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases at UT Health San Antonio is one of 14 clinical trial sites worldwide studying this underrepresented, high-risk group and reviewing a possible vaccine that would slow the progression of these plaques and of the disease to bring researchers one step closer to preventing Alzheimer’s for everyone.
Scientists create first mouse model with functional human immune system. Mice are widely used in biological and biomedical
research because they are small, easy to handle, share many immune elements and biological properties with humans and are easily genetically modified. Many of the more than 1,600 immune response mouse genes, however, are incongruent with their human equivalents, resulting in divergencies or deficiencies of mice as predictors of human immune responses. In a breakthrough for biomedical research that promises new insight into immunotherapy development and disease modeling, health science center scientists have created a humanized mouse model with a human immune system and a human-like gut microbiome capable of mounting specific antibody responses. This advancement brings new possibilities for developing human vaccines and human immune system studies of various diseases.
Physical exercise affects male and female rats differently. Figuring out the “why” and “how” of the effects of physical exercise on the body is the goal of a 10-year, multimillion dollar project through the National Institutes of Health called the Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium. Researchers conducted thousands of analyses on 19 tissue types identifying changes in genes, proteins and metabolites and were surprised to find that all bodily tissues have some response to exercise training. Additionally, the exercise-response differences between male and female rats were greater than anticipated. For example, researchers found differences in most tissues sampled including brain, adrenal gland, lung and fat tissue. These findings could eventually play a role in how exercise interventions are recommended for men and women and could lead to specialized exercise routines being prescribed for various ailments or health conditions.
Chemotherapy ‘pump’ directly targets liver tumors. Mays Cancer Center, home to UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer 
Center, is currently one of only two facilities in Texas offering hepatic artery infusion, also known as HAI pump therapy, for colorectal cancer patients whose tumors are inoperable and have spread to the liver. Approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the HAI pump is a palm-sized device implanted below the skin in the abdomen while the patient is under anesthesia. The device continuously administers chemotherapy directly through the hepatic artery, a vessel that provides blood to the liver. HAI therapy is localized and precisely targets tumors, delivering up to 400 times higher drug concentration than standard chemotherapy while limiting side effects elsewhere. Once implanted in the body, the pump is powered by the patient’s body heat, which activates the pump to deliver the medicine.
Rechargeable deep brain stimulation device minimizes repeat procedures. Physicians at UT Health San Antonio are among the nation’s first to implant a newly approved sensing rechargeable deep brain stimulation device with a 15-year battery life that allows more continual treatment of patients with movement disorders. Deep brain stimulation, known as DBS, is the placement of electrodes in the brain connected to a battery-operated generator in the chest, similar to a cardiac pacemaker. A small impulse of electricity moves from the generator to the electrodes to stimulate a specific area of the brain, relieving some symptoms and side effects for those with Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, epilepsy and essential tremor conditions. The key feature of the new neurostimulator device is its longevity, a significant improvement over previous non-rechargeable devices that required replacement every three to four years. The extended lifespan translates into the need for fewer battery replacement procedures for patients and less risk of complications in connection with those procedures.
Toothpaste with ‘artificial enamel’ ingredient is more effective than fluoride. Healthy tooth enamel normally is the hardest substance in the body. Molar incisor hypomineralization, a widespread developmental defect of enamel, affects molars most often, but can also affect incisors. Causes are unclear, although a diet containing lots of acid and sugar aggravates the problem. A study of an “artificial enamel” ingredient in toothpaste has been shown to help build back enamel in teeth, more effectively relieving sensitivity than fluoride while also fighting cavities. According to the study, the ingredient — a synthetic version of the natural mineral hydroxyapatite, which makes up 97% of healthy enamel in teeth — helps restore enamel in teeth affected by hypomineralization. It is also safe if swallowed, making it suitable for children and adults.
A long-term ketogenic diet accumulates aged cells in normal tissues. A strict “keto friendly” diet, popular for weight loss and diabetes, might not be all that friendly. The high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet leads to the generation of ketones, a type of chemical that the liver produces when it breaks down fats. While this improves certain health conditions, pro-inflammatory effects also have been reported. A study led by health science center researchers found that a continuous, long-term ketogenic diet may induce senescence — aged cells in normal tissues — with effects on heart and kidney function, in particular. According to the research, an intermittent ketogenic diet, with a planned keto break, did not exhibit any pro-inflammatory effects due to aged cells. The findings have significant clinical implications for the approximately 13 million Americans who follow a ketogenic diet.
For more stories and in-depth coverage of the life-saving and life-changing research of UT Health San Antonio, visit news.uthscsa.edu.
Breaking barriers
UT Health San Antonio alumna is first woman dean of UConn’s dental school
By Kate Hunger
Learning the latest technology has always thrilled Sharon M. Gordon, D.D.S. ’91, dean of the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine.
“When I was in dental school, we were the first class to have fiber optics on our hand pieces, which means the very bright headlight for your drill, essentially,” she recalled. “We thought that was so great because it really helped illuminate the oral cavity and helped you do a good job.”
Now, as the first woman appointed dean at UConn’s dental school, Dr. Gordon remains excited about all the possibilities technology offers. Only this time, she is considering how best to integrate those advances into the curriculum while making sure students still learn traditional approaches.
“Now we see digital impressions, machines that mill and 3D print your restorations, the use of lasers, and of course the electronic health record, which is revolutionizing medical care and will revolutionize dental care as well,” Dr. Gordon said. “There is so much—robotics, virtual reality—all of these things are really going to change the practice of dentistry.”
The future of dentistry includes precision health, she said, with biomedical and dental research already studying targeted treatment for patients.
“Right now, it’s a very surgical, clinical practice,” she said about dentistry. “A lot of it has to do with removing decay, replacing lost structure. But if you could actually, in some other way, have the body fight these things and regenerate itself instead, that would change the practice of dentistry. It’s exciting where science is taking clinical practice.”
Changes in the nation’s health care delivery system require that dentistry keep pace and serve the patient, she noted.
“We don’t want to be left behind as the cottage industry tooth technicians,” she said. “We want to move forward with medicine and be partners in the overall health of the patient.”
Integrating oral health into overall health is one of Dr. Gordon’s top priorities as dean. One project underway at UConn that furthers that aim is an effort to integrate patients’ electronic health records at the hospital, dental school and medical school.
Progress in numbers
Dr. Gordon has seen a remarkable change in the representation of women in the field of dentistry since she graduated from UT Health San Antonio. Times have indeed changed: The percentage of female graduates from U.S. dental schools has increased from 4.6 percent in 1976 to 49.6 percent in 2017-2018, according to the American Dental Association.
While Dr. Gordon applauds the gains in admissions and graduates, she sees room for improvement. Although she said more women have taken leadership positions within organized dentistry, in dental education and in dental research, Dr. Gordon believes women still have ground to make up when it comes to serving as department chairs and deans of dental schools.
“I think it’s really good for our students because I definitely see a very healthy mix in the classroom in terms of women and men, and I think as we have more women exemplars as faculty and in leadership roles, the women are seeing this,” Dr. Gordon said. “When it’s no longer unusual, that will mean we have gotten our job done and are achieving equity. I think we have a little way to go, but I think we are making strides there.”
Finding a future in dentistry
Dr. Gordon found her future profession through a vocational program at her high school that enabled her to work at a dental practice in her hometown of Lewisville, Texas. She answered phones, scheduled appointments and kept track of payments and deposits. Along the way, she learned about how the practice worked, and she liked what she saw.
“I really enjoyed interacting with patients and felt I could contribute to society by providing oral health care. I thought I was going to be in practice,” she said.
Dr. Gordon’s career path took her from private practice to research, including at the National Institutes of Health, where she served in various research roles. But she eventually found her ideal home in academics, which enabled her to combine research and patient care. Before her arrival at UConn, Dr. Gordon served as professor and chair of the Department of Foundational Sciences and associate dean for innovation and discovery in the School of Dental Medicine at East Carolina University.
“When I was a student doing dental research, my goal was to graduate and never step foot in a dental school again,” recalled Dr. Gordon. “Now I see academics as a big opportunity to be in a group practice, but your business is not only patient care, it is also educating the next generation to provide patient care. It’s a win-win. Academics is a perfect environment for me.”
This spring, Dr. Gordon is looking forward to starting a clinical trial on patients with head and neck cancer, a continuation of her long-standing research into the prevention of mucositis, a painful condition in the oral cavity caused by chemotherapy.
She’s also ready to be back in front of students.
“I love to be in the classroom and I really miss it,”she said.
Naturally occurring protein could fight alcoholic liver disease
Chronic alcohol drinking affects 16 million people in the U.S., and one of the results is fatty liver damage leading to cirrhosis, or scarring. Liver cirrhosis is the 12th-leading cause of death nationwide.
Researchers at the university’s Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies and the Department of Molecular Medicine have identified a nutrient-sensing pathway that, if it can be blocked by pharmacological means, could either prevent this liver damage or be a treatment for it.
The scientists believed chronic alcohol consumption would increase activity of a nutrient sensor called mTORC1 and that this would play a role in alcoholic fatty liver, said Mengwei Zang, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of molecular medicine. Dr. Zang, the Ewing Halsell Distinguished Chair, is the senior author of alcohol liver disease research published in the journal Hepatology.
To find out, the researchers measured liver mTORC1 levels in two groups of mice. Both groups drank a normal liquid diet for five days, with one group continuing
on the normal diet for the duration of the study. The other group received a 5 percent ethanol liquid diet for 10 days and was allowed a one-time binging of the ethanol diet on day 16.
“We found exciting results—chronic alcohol consumption increased liver mTORC1 activity in mice and in patients,” Dr. Zang said.
Dr. Zang also reported that a protein called DEPTOR inhibits mTORC1 activity. Because DEPTOR is a naturally occurring protein in our bodies, she views it as a promising target of intervention to curb the fatty liver disease process.
Rapamycin is a compound that reduces mTORC1 activity. The team, including first author Hanqing Chen, Ph.D., and second author Feng Shen, M.D., Ph.D., conducted further studies in which they compared two groups of mice that were fed an ethanol liquid diet. One group additionally received rapamycin while the other did not. The rapamycin treatment group showed inhibited mTORC1 activity and decreased liver damage, Dr. Zang said.
“Based on these interesting findings, I hope in the future that we can target DEPTOR, perhaps with a pill, and treat alcoholic fatty liver disease,” she said.
In the bull’s-eye of dementia
San Antonio is in the bull’s-eye of an “Alzheimer’s tsunami.” Already, more than 55,000 people are affected by the disease in South Texas.
“For each person affected, there are about three others who are involved as caregivers,” said nursing professor Carole White, Ph.D., RN.
Over the past three years, Dr. White and her team have focused on providing education and support for family caregivers through the Caring for the Caregiver program in the School of Nursing.
The program, which is affiliated with the university’s Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases, brings together individuals, government agencies and community organizations to provide training, support and resources for caregivers and their
loved ones.
The health care team and city of San Antonio officials are working to make San Antonio a Dementia-Friendly City, a designation that means the city fosters the ability of people living with dementia to remain in the community and thrive. The designation is given by Dementia Friendly America, a national network working to help cities across the U.S. support people living with dementia and their caregivers.
“Becoming a Dementia-Friendly City is not only the right thing to do, but it will also make us a more compassionate city,” said San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg. “Our challenge is to become the next Dementia-Friendly City in Texas.”
As dementia progresses, people living with dementia often feel isolated and misunderstood, Dr. White said. So do their caregivers.
The Caring for the Caregiver program organizes and supports Memory Cafés, places where people living with dementia and their family caregivers can learn and socialize together. The program also coordinates a community choir, Grace Notes, for people living with dementia and their families. Dr. White and her team are meeting with organizations around the city to develop action plans to incorporate similar dementia-friendly practices citywide.
“We all have a part to play in creating dementia-friendly communities,” she said.
Fish oil could save preemie lives
A San Antonio physician’s passion to save premature babies was instrumental in the Food and Drug Administration’s recent approval of Omegaven, a lifesaving fish oil treatment for babies with gastrointestinal complications.
A study, led by Cynthia Blanco, M.D., was published in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. It followed the outcomes of babies treated with fish oil in the neonatal intensive care unit at University Hospital. The study data provided some of the evidence the FDA considered for its approval of Omegaven in the United States last summer.
“Overall, since 2011, we have had more than 50 patients enrolled in our long-term study and their survival without liver transplant increased dramatically—to better than 90 percent,” she said.
Dr. Blanco and her team will now be continuing their efforts in writing the national guidelines for Omegaven
in the U.S.
Dr. Blanco is a professor of pediatrics and interim chief of the Division of Neonatology and holds the Greehey Family Foundation Chair in Neonatology Research. She also is medical director of the Neonatal Nutrition & Bone Institute at University Health System.
Omegaven is a fish oil-based solution used to provide nutrition to critically ill patients. It has been used in Canada, Australia and Europe, but was not previously approved for widespread use in the U.S.
The FDA’s approval of Omegaven is for pediatric patients with parenteral nutrition-associated cholestasis (PNAC), a liver condition caused by a reduction in the flow of bile from the liver into the small intestine.
Tiny molecule has big effect in childhood brain cancer
Sometimes small things make the biggest differences.
A new study has found that a molecule thousands of times smaller than a gene is able to kill medulloblastoma, the most common childhood brain cancer.
This tiny molecule, named MiR-584-5p, is quite efficient in its action. It sensitizes the cancer to chemotherapy and radiation, making it plausible to treat the tumors with one-tenth the dose that is currently required, said study senior author Manjeet Rao, Ph.D., associate professor of cell systems and anatomy and a member of the university’s Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute.
“Currently we barrage the brain with radiation and chemo, and patients have poor quality of life,” Dr. Rao said. “Using this molecule, we could dial down those therapies considerably, by 90 percent. That’s exciting.”
The molecule is found at very low levels or is absent altogether in medulloblastoma. Increasing it to the amount found in healthy cells robs the cancer of mechanisms it uses to survive, studies show.
“This can serve as a potent therapeutic for treating cancer,” Dr. Rao said.
The journal Nature Communications published the findings in October.
A moment in history
The School of Nursing’s first-ever White Coat ceremonies in January and March were the beginning of a new tradition. Appropriately, they also marked another historical moment—the school’s 50th anniversary.
Intended for first-year students in the medical, nursing and physician assistant programs, the White Coat Ceremony “serves to welcome students to health care practice and elevate the value of humanism as the core of health care,” said Eileen T. Breslin, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, dean of the School of Nursing.
More than 400 incoming and current traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing students, and 93 students entering the accelerated bachelor’s program, received their white coats and committed to the professional, ethical and compassionate practice of nursing throughout their career.
The White Coat Ceremony started in 1993 at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. It has since spread around the world.
Breaking the mold
The School of Health Professions is the first state-supported educational program in Texas to offer an entry-level Doctor of Occupational Therapy degree. The degree replaces an existing Master of Occupational Therapy degree. With only one additional semester, it provides students with stronger clinical and practice skills and additional education in leadership and management.
Nationally, 95 percent of occupational therapists are white women. But UT Health San Antonio’s first class is already showing it’s breaking the mold.
Here’s a look at the inaugural class.
Dean appointed to School of Dentistry
Peter M. Loomer, B.Sc., D.D.S., Ph.D., MRCD(C), FACD, has been named dean of the School of Dentistry. He began Feb. 1.
Dr. Loomer served as chair of the Ashman Department of Periodontology and Implant Dentistry and director of the Center for Global Oral Health Sciences at New York University College of Dentistry.
Dr. Loomer is a graduate of the University of Toronto. There he earned a B.Sc. in nutritional sciences/food chemistry in 1984, a D.D.S. in 1988, a Diploma in Periodontics in 1993 and a Ph.D. in 1997 in oral microbiology and bone biochemistry. After completing his D.D.S. degree, he worked as a general practitioner in Toronto for five years.
Dr. Loomer has served in both public and private research-intensive universities, including the University of California, San Francisco and New York University.
UT Health San Antonio President William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP, said Dr. Loomer has extensive experience in leadership and administrative roles, including clinic administration and academic programs.
“His research program has been interprofessional and collaborative in nature, and he has built upon a team approach to further scientific discovery and improve community oral health,” Dr. Henrich said.
Specializing in primary care
The School of Nursing has received a $2.5 million grant to offer a bachelor’s degree specializing in primary care. The four-year grant is from the Health Resources and Services Administration. Classes will begin in summer 2019.
The program, within the traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing track, includes a new curriculum emphasizing primary care in a clinical setting. It also includes team-based primary care clinical training in locations that serve primarily at-risk, underserved populations.
The grant will pay for development of an annual interprofessional workshop focused on primary care for practicing registered nurses, clinical supervisors of nursing students and nursing faculty members.
“There is a critical need to increase the delivery of high-quality, primary health care by baccalaureate-prepared registered nurses practicing in community clinics. However, of the 3.3 million professionally active RNs in the U.S., about 61 percent practice in hospitals and only 18 percent practice in clinics,” said Norma Martinez Rogers, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, principal investigator of the grant and a professor of nursing. “These figures show the alarming need to increase the number of RNs who practice in community-based primary care clinics to provide for the basic health care needs of patients.”