HSC Champions
“I am so impressed with the sophisticated and innovative research being conducted at the Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies. Aging affects everyone, and outstanding Barshop Institute researchers could not only increase the length of our lives, but the quality of our lives as well. I know my support will make a difference.”
– Elsie Minifie, Ph.D.
- An estimated planned gift of more than $250,000 from Elsie Minifie, Ph.D., will create the Dr. Elsie Minifie Excellence Endowment in Aging Studies. The endowment will benefit the Health Science Center’s Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies.
- A $40,000 gift from the American Legion Post 579 has created the Betty and Nova Clark Endowment for Children’s Cancer Research and Treatment at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio. As longtime supporters of the CTRC, the American Legion Post 579 has donated nearly $80,000 throughout the years to fund various cancer research and patient care programs at the CTRC.
- Eleven grants totaling $254,323 from the San Antonio Area Foundationfunded research projects involving chronic diseases and conditions such as diabetes, cancer, obesity, depression and autism, as well as the establishment of an ophthalmic clinical research center, and funds for transportation and prescription assistance for low-income cancer patients.
- At events hosted by Ricardo Cigarroa, M.D., of Laredo, and Alonzo Cantu of McAllen, nearly 100 donors from Laredo and the Rio Grande Valleydonated more than $135,000 to support students attending the Facilitated Admissions for South Texas Scholars (FASTS) summer enrichment program. This program offers early admission to the Long School of Medicine for outstanding students selected from Texas A&M International University in Laredo and from the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg. FASTS addresses the need to increase the number of medical students who plan to return to South Texas to practice, thus reducing the shortage of physicians in the region.
- Since 1991, the Jesse H. and Susan R. Oppenheimer Foundation has donated more than $400,000 to fund the Jesse H. and Susan R. Oppenheimer Fellowship in New Anticancer Drug Development. The fellowship supports an outstanding researcher each year at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center’s Institute for Drug Development who is dedicated to advancing new chemical treatments that benefit cancer patients worldwide. The 2009 Oppenheimer Fellow is Ronan T. Swords, M.D., MRCPI, FRCPath. Dr. Swords’ research focuses on developing novel therapies for hematologic malignancies such as acute leukemias and chronic myeloid leukemia.
