Vulcan Funshoot spells victory
More than 300 turned out this past fall for the 19th annual Vulcan Funshoot which, this year, raised more than $112,000 in net proceeds for the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at the UT Health Science Center. The sporting clay fundraiser has been a labor of love since 1994 for the employees and leaders of the materials company and has raised more than $1.8 million over the years to support the CTRC’s mission to conquer cancer through research, prevention and treatment.
Your legacy, our future
Gifts through estate planning benefit generations to come
"The road to becoming a physician would be infinitely more difficult for students like myself if it were not for generous people who go out of their way to help others. Generosity is infectious. It has been passed on to me and in the future will surely be passed on to somebody else. Thank you for your continued trust and support."
- Jorge A. Ramirez, M.D., Class of 2010 and current resident
Please consider a gift to the UT Health Science Center in your estate planning. Your gift will create a healthier future for generations to come.
Estate gifts provide for:
- World-class faculty
- Life-changing research
- Education of the next generation of health care professionals
Support may be provided in many ways. Perhaps you would like to create a scholarship fund for deserving students. Or, with a named endowment, honor a loved one by supporting diabetes, cancer or Alzheimer’s research.
We are here to help you with the sample language for your desired goals. Contact Kent Hamilton at hamiltonw@uthscsa.edu or 210-567-5001 for assistance.
Making seniors strong through geriatric research and clinical care
Ed Rapier, 79, loves to shoot hoops, golf and exercise regularly. In February this year, while hiking down a mountain trail in Manzanillo, Mexico, Rapier tore a muscle in his left knee. He was treated by Matthew Murray, M.D., an orthopaedic surgeon with UT Health Physicians, the clinical practice of the Health Science Center’s School of Medicine. Thanks to Dr. Murray’s specialized skills - and UT Health San Antonio Physical Therapy Services at the Medical Arts & Research Center (MARC) - Rapier is back to the activities he loves. He represents the seniors who benefit from the research and compassionate care of UT Health Science Center scientists and physicians who make lives better. To see a physician or physical therapist of UT Health San Antonio, call 210-450-9000; UTHealthPhysicians.org.
Tailored treatment Dental clinic caters to elderly
Priscilla Lane, 86, always prided herself on caring for others. She’d raised 10 children and worked in education for 25 years. After surviving breast cancer in 1999, a fall that fractured her left hip in 2009, and the loss of her husband of 66 years in 2010, Lane came home from the nursing home frail, fatigued but resilient. Confined to a wheelchair, Lane’s memory was fading as was her hearing. Not wanting to be a burden to her family, Lane failed to mention that something else was bothering her. She couldn’t chew. She couldn’t eat.
"My mom is tough, yet she is the kindest and most generous woman you’ll ever meet," said Lane’s daughter Casandra Zupancic, 55. "She didn’t want to trouble anyone with her problem. But my brother Chris and I knew something was wrong with her teeth and we needed to help her."
While seeking a dentist in private practice who could treat her fragile and ailing mother, Zupancic was referred to the Senior Care Dental Clinic at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. The clinic is one of only a handful in the country dedicated to providing oral health care solely for patients aged 55 and older.
Tam Van, D.D.S., is director of the Senior Care Dental Clinic.
"The mission of our clinic is to enhance the quality of life for older adults by improving access to dental care, both physically and financially," she said. "We focus on elderly patients who have physical, medical, mental, social or pharmacological considerations that may present management issues for a private practice provider. Some of our patients have dementia or other diseases such as Parkinson’s, uncontrolled high blood pressure or diabetes. Some are disabled or take up to 25 different medications a day. Our staff recognizes the impact that age-related or other diseases can have on the elderly and their families. So we tailor dental treatment in the context of their lives and well-being."
Zupancic said the clinic was the right place for her mother.
"As soon as I brought my mom in, the staff immediately took great care of her. Dr. Van knew exactly what she needed."
Within two months, Lane was chewing and eating normally again with her new dentures.
Zupancic was so impressed with the care her mother received, that she, herself, decided to become a patient in the clinic. She had been diagnosed a few years earlier with a rare autoimmune disorder called Churg-Strauss syndrome or allergic granulomatosis. The disease, which has no cure, is marked by blood vessel inflammation, which can restrict blood flow to vital organs and tissues, oftentimes causing permanent damage. Over time, the disease damaged the bone in her jaw and Zupancic would need nine teeth, including some molars, removed. She also would need to undergo a surgical procedure called alveoloplasty in which the bone in the jaw is smoothed.
After a series of visits over the course of a year, Zupancic’s dental work was completed, and by the spring of 2012 she was fitted for new upper and lower partials.
"I wouldn’t have gone anywhere else," Zupancic said. "My mother and I are so grateful for the Health Science Center’s Dental Clinic. Dr. Van took the time to consider everything my mom and I needed. She was so patient. I trust her with my life."
The Senior Care Dental Clinic was established in 2000 by Eleanore Paunovich, D.D.S., M.S., associate professor in the Dental School, with funds from the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation.
When finances present a barrier to treatment, the clinic offers patients the opportunity to apply for a discount based on their income and national Federal Poverty Level guidelines. Funding and space provided by the Dental School, operational revenues as well as grants and philanthropic support, when available, keep the clinic and its services in operation.
The clinic operates seven dental exam rooms and is staffed by Dental School facultywho complete a geriatric dentistry fellowship. Third-year dental students rotate through the clinic providing faculty supervised care to patients.
Student Meagan Garcia completed her rotation in the clinic this past spring and later volunteered to continue working alongside Dr. Van.
"I was a little nervous at first because of the patients’ complex medical histories," Garcia said. "But Dr. Van was so thorough that I was always ready and prepared. After reviewing patient charts and making notes, Dr. Van met with us to discuss each patient and mapped out step-by-step the care we would provide. Spending time in Dr. Van’s clinic with patients who ask, ‘so how’s school been for you?’ was the highlight of my week. We call our patients ‘family.’"
Faculty members take pride in training the next generation of oral health care providers.
"Students appreciate learning from each other and from their patients in an environment that encourages understanding of the total patient needs," Dr. Van said. "Everyone deserves the best oral health care. It is our goal and privilege to provide it."
Excellent care for elderly
The Senior Care Dental Clinic is housed in the Dental School
at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio at
7703 Floyd Curl Drive.
Hours of operation are from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Monday through Friday.
The clinic will move to the new Center for Oral Health Care & Research at 8300 Floyd Curl Drive in 2014. Expansion will include more parking and accessibility for the disabled.
For information about supporting the Senior Care Dental Clinic, contact
Sara Piety, director of Institutional Advancement for the Dental School, at
210-567-6536 or at piety@uthscsa.edu.
To make an appointment and to learn more about qualifying for financial assistance, call 210-567-0327.
A message from the president
Strong seniors, healthy futures for people of all ages
While I assist at the helm as president ad interim of our UT Health Science Center, my thoughts and prayers are with Bill Henrich and his family during this time of his medical leave. We all wish him the best of health and look forward to his return to the presidency this coming spring.
Although I am transitioning from the deanship in the Dental School, where I have served for 25 years, it is just not possible to completely fill Dr. Henrich’s shoes. I am proud and humbled to serve in this role during his absence. It is a privilege to work in this capacity, side by side, with the faculty, staff and students who make this university among the nation’s finest.
This Mission illustrates why our Health Science Center is world renowned in research, education, clinical care and community service. For those of us who are 55 and older, this issue is especially interesting. On the cover is Ed Rapier, 79, who is the picture of health, thanks to our UT Health Physicians orthopaedic physicians and physical therapists. Mr. Rapier went from suffering a debilitating muscle tear, to playing golf and basketball in a matter of months. He represents the many seniors who are benefiting from the outstanding research and clinical care of our UT Health Science Center physicians and scientists.
Also in this issue, you’ll learn of the research achievements at our internationally known Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies, which has been called "the gold standard of aging research in the United States."
Barshop investigators are working to understand the mechanisms of aging by studying unlikely species such as clams and hydras; they are learning to preserve memory by analyzing a compound discovered on an island 2,000 miles from any population center; and they are preparing the next generation of scientists to enter the field of aging research through the nation’s first Ph.D. program focused on the biology of aging.
In other labs at the Health Science Center researchers are understanding how to prevent and better treat osteoporosis and cancer in the elderly. Specially designed hospital facilities accommodate elderly and, in the Dental School, our faculty, residents and students operate a superb dental clinic, one of only a handful in the country, that caters to seniors with special medical needs. I am especially proud to announce that the Senior Care Dental Clinic, along with our other dental clinics, will be greatly refreshed and expanded when they are relocated in 2014 to the new Center for Oral Health Care & Research to be built next to the Medical Arts & Research Center of UT Health San Antonio, at 8300 Floyd Curl Drive.
We deeply appreciate your support, as well as the generosity and leadership of our community partners and donors, many of whom are also spotlighted in this issue. Working together with you, we are able to make lives better for people of all ages.
Sincerely,
Kenneth L. Kalkwarf, D.D.S., M.S.
President ad interim
UT Health Science Center at San Antonio
ACE-ing elderly care
Hospitals save lives – no doubt about it. But for the elderly, they are full of hazards.
Fluorescent lights and round-the-clock activity make it difficult to sleep, which can cause delirium in elders. Shiny hospital floors contribute to falls, while staying in bed can lead to pressure ulcers. The elderly are susceptible to infections and often take many medications, opening the door to interactions.
UT Health Physicians has teamed up with CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System to create a specialized hospital unit for elderly patients at high risk for complications during inpatient stays. The Acute Care of the Elderly (ACE) Unit is the first of its kind in San Antonio.
"It’s designed to reduce all the complications that elders may suffer in hospitals," said UT Medicine geriatrician Robert Parker, M.D. "There are lots of processes we can use to improve delivery of care."
The difference starts with physical design. Non-reflective, non-slip floors help elderly patients stay surefooted. Every bed has an alarm, and patients at high risk for falls are identified with bracelets and a star outside their rooms. Thanks to steps like these, falls are a rarity in the ACE Unit, and injuries from falls are nonexistent.
Mattresses are designed to prevent pressure ulcers – important for elderly patients, whose skin is fragile and slower to heal. The ACE Unit uses soft lighting and decibel meters, which flash when the noise level gets high. A common room gives patients a place to share meals, encouraging them to move around and socialize.
The 2-year-old unit moved this summer from CHRISTUS’s downtown campus to CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – Medical Center. The new unit is being adapted to include the same amenities in an inviting, patient-centered atmosphere.
Beyond design flourishes, the medical staff has adopted many practices to improve patient care.
They have limited use of Foley catheters, which are often overused with elderly patients and can cause urinary-tract infections. They do not use physical restraints, which can heighten delirium. They also are alert to drug interactions and avoid certain commonly used medications that, in elderly patients, are known to have effects like confusion, sedation and convulsions.
"You can do harm to an elderly patient without realizing it," said Imelda Sanchez, R.N., B.S.N., director of the ACE Unit.
The ACE team attempts to give patients six or seven hours of uninterrupted sleep, which substantially reduces delirium. All patients receive daily visits from a restorative aide, who keeps them physically and mentally engaged.
New patients are screened for personal risk factors, which are closely monitored during their stay. Nurses may take preventive steps without waiting for a physician’s order. Also, the ACE team devotes a lot of time to families, educating them on their elders’ conditions and explaining how to care for them.
An interdisciplinary team that can include doctors, nurses, dietitians, social workers, pharmacists, chaplains and more meets daily to discuss every currently admitted patient, ensuring that all members of the ACE team are on the same page about treatment.
The ACE Unit’s success is reflected in the numbers: It has never had an injury fall or pressure ulcer, and its 30-day readmission rate for the same diagnosis is just over 3 percent, compared with the national rate of 14 percent.
Easing advanced illness
Patients and families facing serious illness are gaining support from a thriving palliative care program established at University Health System a year ago.
Complementing resources already available to University Health System patients, the Lifelong Intensive Family Emotional (LIFE) care program began with two key hires last summer. Jason Morrow, M.D., Ph.D., was brought in to oversee the inpatient palliative consultation service, and Jennifer Healy, D.O., manages the palliative outpatient clinic. They work with Charles Nolan, M.D., a University Health System transplant nephrologist and overall program director. All three doctors are on the faculty of the School of Medicine at the UT Health Science Center.
"It’s an absolutely flourishing program," said Dr. Morrow, adding that the program makes dozens of consultations each month. "We really got going last summer, and it’s been nonstop since."
Palliative care can help anyone facing a serious or advanced illness. Its practitioners assist in pain and symptom control, ease communication with the medical team and bridge patients to resources like hospice care, rehabilitation services and counseling. They also offer support as patients and families make complex, emotional health care decisions.
Already, the University Health System program has demonstrated its ability to improve patient satisfaction. Dr. Morrow calls its success a testament to the hospital system. "The executive leadership has been behind this from the beginning," he said, noting that the program recently was able to hire its own social worker and chaplain.
Glenn Foundation gift establishes fellowship, recruits top students to Barshop Institute
The older population – those we call grandmother, grandfather, mom, dad, and other family members – is growing swiftly. People 65 years and older numbered 39.6 million in 2009. By 2030 this group will number 72.1 million.*
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chronic diseases, which affect older adults disproportionately, can contribute to disability, diminish quality of life and lead to an increase in health care and long-term health care costs.
Researchers at the Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies are fervently working to develop new therapies to treat and prevent diseases that plague the elderly. In 2009, faculty members at the Barshop Institute established the first Ph.D. program in the country focused on the biology of aging. Their goal – to educate and train the next generation of investigators dedicated to pursuing a career in aging research.
This year, a gift of $200,000 from the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research has buoyed the Barshop Institute program by establishing the Glenn Foundation Doctoral Student Fellowship in the Biology of Aging. This is the first graduate student fellowship program in the country the Glenn Foundation has ever supported. The gift created two prestigious fellowships offered to students interested in pursuing the Ph.D. in the Biology of Aging.
The Barshop Institute joins other internationally renowned institutions that have received grants from the Glenn Foundation, including Harvard University, MIT, Stanford, the American Federation for Aging Research, the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences.
Steven Austad, Ph.D., is interim director of the Barshop Institute and a professor of cellular and structural biology.
"We are so grateful to the Glenn Foundation for their gift that allows us to attract the most talented students to our program," Dr. Austad said. "This fellowship provides students with the unmatched opportunity to hasten their development into accomplished, independent researchers."
Arlan Richardson, Ph.D., professor and founding director of the Barshop Institute agreed.
"The Glenn fellowships enable us to recruit the brightest students into the field of aging, which is critical if we are to find ways to treat and delay age-related diseases and the aging process," he said.
The two fellows selected were Erin Munkacsy from the University of Illinois and Brian Stoveken from the University of Wisconsin. The fellowship provides each student with a $35,000-a-year stipend and an additional $33,000 each for training, travel to national and international seminars in aging, and for independent research projects in the final stages of the students’ doctoral studies.
At the University of Illinois, Munkacsy majored in biology and participated in research studies focused on memory loss, Alzheimer’s disease and the field of electrophysiology.
"The Glenn fellowship is an opportunity of a lifetime," Munkacsy said. "Aging research is the culmination of a multitude of my own personal and intellectual interests and innate abilities. This fellowship not only allows me to pursue that aim, but to do so among the best group of aging scientists in the country."
Stoveken earned his undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. There he focused his research on metabolic profiling, genetics and mentored high school students and interns in the laboratories.
"I am inspired by the body of work coming from the UT Health Science Center, a clear leader in the field of aging research. And I’m thankful for the Glenn fellowship that signals the growing value placed on this discipline," Stoveken said. "While at the Barshop Institute, I hope to contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying ALS and Alzheimer’s disease. As a student and future researcher, this is a remarkable chance to make meaningful improvements in the quality of individuals’ lives. My long-term ambitions are to teach the next generation of scientists, and to develop therapeutic interventions for any of the myriad age-associated diseases that plague the ever-aging human race."
The Glenn Foundation for Medical Research is named for its founder and Chairman, Paul F. Glenn. The purpose of the foundation, established in 1965, is to extend the healthy productive years of life through research on the mechanisms of biological aging.
*Statistics are from the Administration on Aging of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Dental School receives $4.5 million
The Dental School at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio received a seven-year, $4.5 million subcontract from the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network (NDPBRN) coordinating center. The NDPBRN is supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Dental School will lead the Southwest Region of the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network (NDPBRN). As part of the national network, the subcontract will be used to develop a network of dental practitioners across five states, including Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona and Kansas, interested in collaborating on research.
Thomas W. Oates, D.M.D., Ph.D., is director of the NDPBRN Southwest Region. He is assistant dean for clinical research in the Health Science Center Dental School and is professor and vice chair in the Department of Periodontics.
"This network seeks to strengthen the relationship between research and the oral health needs of the community and to build research studies targeting those needs," Dr. Oates said. "We’ll also look to partner with state dental and dental hygiene associations, dental schools and dental educators."
Dr. Oates said the grant will build on the already established South Texas Oral Health Network (STOHN), a local practice-based dental research network headquartered at the Health Science Center Dental School, which includes more than 60 dental practitioners from throughout South Texas.
Rahma Mungia, B.D.S., MS.c., co-director of the STOHN and assistant professor in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at the Health Science Center, is deputy director for the NDPBRN Southwest Region, and Claudia Cavazos, D.D.S., an alumna of the Dental School and dental director of Gateway Community Health Center, one of the Dental School’s first clinical partners in Laredo, is an NDPBRN Southwest Region executive committee member.
Dentists and dental hygienists interested in enrolling in the network should visit
NationalDentalPBRN.org.
Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics: a voice for compassion in medicine for 10 years
From its founding 10 years ago, the Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics has prepared tomorrow’s healers to act with compassion and justice. The center celebrates its anniversary with a series of events Oct. 10-12. These include presentations by best-selling authors, a performance by a psychiatrist-concert pianist and a community-wide discussion on health disparities in Bexar County.
"An enduring goal of our center is to preserve our students’ innate idealism and ensure their rigorous training does not suppress it," said Ruth Berggren, M.D., center director and professor in the Long School of Medicine. "The great majority of time in medical school is allocated to teach scientific knowledge and skills with little formal time for medical humanities, including ethics that emphasize medicine as an art as much as a science."
The center imparts vital lessons to students of medicine, nursing and other health professions through course work and real-world experience in four key areas: professionalism and ethics; community service learning; global health; and literature and art.
"We must cultivate qualities that produce graduates with a deep sense of caring and strong communication skills," Dr. Berggren said. "Through our ethics courses and electives, our focus on experiential learning and community service, and the inspiring speakers and writers who come to our campus, we hope to nurture the empathic and committed health care professionals that you would want for yourself or your family in a time of illness."
Through the center, students engage in global health education in the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa after preparing with experienced mentors and elective courses.
Closer to home, students participate in a thriving community service learning program, working in medically underserved communities in San Antonio and South Texas. The innovative ways they serve the community have earned the Health Science Center federal recognition on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for three consecutive years.
By giving students the chance to experience ethics in action, the center answers the challenges facing health care today.
To donate to the Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics, contact Sonia Vasquez at 210-567-0028 or at vasquezsg@uthscsa.edu, or visit texashumanities.org/donate.