Van honored as Professor of the Year
Tam Van, D.D.S., director of the Senior Care Dental Clinic, is the recipient of the 2011-2012 Professor of the Year award in the Dental School at the UT Health Science Center. The award recognizes excellence in teaching and mentoring and is presented to the faculty member who receives the most student votes. Each class votes for one faculty member. The third-year students (class of 2013) selected Dr. Van. "Dr. Van is truly an inspiration to me and deserving of this award," said Patel Roshan, a fourth-year dental student. "She genuinely cares for us and shows us how to provide the best patient care possible. She loves teaching and we love learning from her."
Eight honored with Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards
The University of Texas System Board of Regents honored eight Health Science Center faculty members this summer with Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards. The UT System offered the awards to faculty in the UT health-related institutions this year for the first time; overall, 40 professors representing all six institutions were recognized. Each winner received $25,000 in the highly competitive awards program. UT Health Science Center recipients are:
- Sandra Adams, M.D., Medicine, Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care
- Linda Johnson, Ph.D., Cellular and Structural Biology
- Richard Ludueña, Ph.D., Biochemistry
- Susan Naylor, Ph.D., Cellular and Structural Biology
- William Rose, D.D.S., Comprehensive Dentistry
- Linda Smith, Ph.D., Clinical Laboratory Sciences
- Patricia Wathen, M.D., General Medicine
- Gail Williams, Ph.D., RN, Family and Community Health Systems
Goertz, class of '81, named national board chair
Roland A. Goertz, M.D., M.B.A., FAAFP, medical school class of 1981 and a family physician in Waco, was appointed board chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). The AAFP represents 100,300 physicians and medical students nationwide. As board chair of the AAFP, Goertz will advocate on behalf of family physicians and patients nationwide to inspire positive change in the U.S. health care system.
After graduating from medical school in 1981, he completed a residency in family medicine at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. He subsequently completed a clinical teaching fellowship in family medicine in 1986 and received a master’s degree in business administration from Baylor University in 2003. In his 27-year medical career, he has served as a physician in rural private practice, a family medicine residency program director at two Texas residencies, and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Texas Medical School - Houston. For the past 15 years, Goertz has served as chief executive officer of the three foundations that oversee all operations of the Waco Family Health Center, which operates one of the oldest family medicine residency programs west of the Mississippi River.
Medellin inducted into the UT Academy of Health Science Education
Glen Medellin, M.D., FAAP, of the Long School of Medicine, was inducted this summer into the UT Academy of Health Science Education. Dr. Medellin is an associate chair of pediatrics and holds the Greehey Distinguished Chair in Palliative Care for Children. He is also a Distinguished Teaching Professor and director of medical student education in the Long School of Medicine. In addition to recognizing and supporting excellence in teaching, the academy’s goals include encouraging the development and implementation of innovative education projects, promoting curriculum design and reform, providing financial assistance for innovative educational projects and fostering faculty research.
21st Annual San Antonio Express-News Book & Author Luncheon is Oct. 8
Don’t miss the 21st annual San Antonio Express-News Book & Author Luncheon set for Monday, Oct. 8, at the Marriott Rivercenter, 101 Bowie Street, in San Antonio. Book Sales open at 10 a.m. with the luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Six prominent authors will entertain the audience with tales from their best-selling books. Guests have the opportunity to purchase and have the books autographed by each featured author.
Since its establishment in 1991, the event has raised more than $2.7 million for the Phase I Clinical Research Program at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio.
For more information and to make reservations, visit MakeLivesBetter.uthscsa.edu/BookAuthor or call 210-567-2508.
Groundbreaking held for third building in Laredo
A groundbreaking ceremony was held April 2 for the third building on the Regional Campus in Laredo. The building will be used as a Veterans Affairs (VA) Outpatient Clinic. The new clinic will be 18,464 square feet and will replace the current 10,000-square-foot facility in Laredo.
Expected to open in early 2013, the facility will provide extended primary care services, including mental health, nutrition, women’s health, podiatry, dental, tele-health and social work services. Diagnostic capabilities will be enhanced with the addition of an in-house laboratory and general radiology room.
"It is truly an honor for the Health Science Center to be a part of this project, which will serve the men and women who have selflessly served our country – our military veterans," said William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP, UT Health Science Center president.
"We are very grateful to the city of Laredo for donating the land for this expanded clinic. We are also profoundly grateful to U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar, whose vision and effective leadership in Washington has made this day a reality by securing federal resources to build this facility. Finally, deep thanks also go to State Sen. Judith Zaffirini, who is known for her legendary dedication, passion and strong support of higher education. In 1999 she authored Senate Bill 1288, with the co-sponsorship of then-Rep. Cuellar, which created the Regional Campus in Laredo."
Interprofessional education opportunities blossom
"Interprofessional education is the key to improving communication among health care providers that will lead to health care that is safer, and more timely, effective and patient-centered," said Jan Patterson, M.D., M.S., chair of the Interprofessional Education Council. "Because we have so many health care disciplines on campus, our Health Science Center has great potential to lead in areas of interprofessional education. There are increasing venues for this in both the standard and elective curricula, and through special activities."
CTRC team improves radiation therapy
A group of researchers led by Andrew Brenner, M.D., Ph.D., neuro-oncologist at The Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio, have developed a way to deliver nanoparticle radiation directly to brain tumors with 20 to 30 times the current dose of radiation therapy to patients while sparing a considerably large area of brain tissue.
The radiation comes in the form of an isotope called rhenium-186, which has a short half-life. Once placed inside the tumor, the rhenium emits radiation that only extends out a few millimeters. Simply putting the rhenium into a brain tumor would not work well without a way to keep it there — the tiny particles would be picked up by the bloodstream and carried away.That problem was solved by a team led by nuclear medicine physician William T. Phillips, M.D., and biochemist Beth A. Goins, Ph.D., in the Department of Radiology; and Ande Bao, Ph.D., a medical physicist and pharmaceutical chemist in the Department of Otolaryngology. They encapsulated the rhenium in miniscule fat molecules, or liposomes, about 100 nanometers across. The study was published in the journal Neuro-Oncology, and researchers expect to begin clinical trials at the CTRC this fall.
For information, e-mail onctrial@idd.org.
Second-grade students receive preventive dental care
More than 650 Edgewood Independent School District second-graders received dental screenings and sealants at the Health Science Center in conjunction with National Children’s Dental Health Month in February. The students received preventive care from more than 350 dental students and 60 dental hygiene students, under the supervision of over 50 faculty members from the UT Health Science Center Dental School. "We chose second-graders for a reason," said Gary Guest, D.D.S., coordinator of the dental sealant program and assistant dean for predoctoral clinics. "Most have gotten their first permanent molars by now. By sealing those teeth with dental varnish, we are helping to prevent a lot of dental caries. I like to think we’ve had a major impact on dental health in San Antonio over the 11 years we’ve been doing this program. We’ve probably put sealants on the teeth of more than 6,000 children."
Clinical safety projects improve patient care at UT Medicine
One patient safety project at UT Health Physicians means that diabetes indicators are more consistently monitored. Another means that fewer patients suffer potentially debilitating falls during outpatient visits.
The projects are among dozens born of a continuing medical education (CME) course and undertaken over the last four years by UT Medicine, the clinical practice of the Long School of Medicine. The Health Science Center established the Center for Patient Safety and Health Policy in 2008 under an initiative of the University of Texas System. The patient safety center offers an interdisciplinary course, Clinical Safety and Effectiveness, which is approved for clinician CME.
"The course is generating concrete results because it requires clinicians to design, implement and report results of a clinical effectiveness project, such as the diabetes monitoring initiative or the falls prevention initiative," said center director Jan Patterson, M.D., M.S., associate dean for quality and lifelong learning in the School
of Medicine.