Summer 2018

Dementia

Six minutes in a Virtual Dementia Tour is a descent into chaos, misery and another world. The experience offers caregivers enhanced empathy for those struggling with memory loss.

Cured

The road to survival and the journey of discovery intersect to forge one of the greatest successes in scientific research—a cure for hepatitis C.

Dignity, love, compassion

Student-faculty clinics at Haven for Hope provide emergency dental care and vaccines and treat chronic pain and skin ailments. They also offer students lessons in empathy.

Treasures of the P.I. Nixon Library

The collective wisdom of thousands of years of medical exploration lies waiting to be discovered anew in some of the rarest and most beautiful texts ever created.

Trauma surgeons Lillian Liao, M.D., M.P.H. ’04, and Ronald Stewart, M.D. ’85, in an operating room

Operating in the new normal

Trauma surgeons Ronald Stewart, M.D. ’85, and Lillian Liao, M.D., M.P.H. ’04, respond to emergency calls routinely. But this call, of a mass shooting in nearby Sutherland Springs, made U.S. history.

Revolutionary new tool could change pancreatic cancer therapies

A new tool is urgently needed to find a better treatment for pancreatic cancer. One researcher believes he has found one that provides a truer picture of the disease and how it affects humans.

A landmark study of DNA from people around the world identified new genetic risk factors for stroke. It is the largest genetic study of stroke to date, and could lead to stroke drug development and dementia treatment.

Changing the standard of cancer care

Bladder cancer patients who received the chemotherapy drug gemcitabine had significantly lower recurrence of their cancer, a clinical trial has revealed.

Medical cannabis approved

When an FDA advisory committee approved the first cannabidiol medicine for prescription use in epilepsy, it based its decision on recommendations of a UT Health San Antonio researcher.

Chlamydia in your gut could protect you

Exposing the gut to chlamydia protects against subsequent infection in the genital tract and other tissues, researchers have discovered.

Power to the patient

Personalized medicine is expected to be the new normal in medicine in the future. A new master’s degree in personalized molecular medicine will train students in these novel approaches.

Herbal hope for oral cancer

A compound found in plants may serve as a preventive agent and treatment for oral cancer.

The trauma of youth

Nearly 4 in 5 Latino youth suffer at least one traumatic childhood experience such as poverty or abuse, a new study shows.

Stemming the spread of cancer

Scientists at UT Health San Antonio and UTHealth in Houston were awarded millions in grants to expand studies of a therapeutic antibody to stem the spread of breast cancer to the bone.

Matchmaking

This year, 203 students from the Long School of Medicine were matched to 85 residency programs across the nation. They were also part of something special, as 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the school.

Research gets a $24 million boost

UT Health San Antonio has garnered highly competitive National Institutes of Health grants to speed the translation of research discovery into improved patient care.

Innovation in research and education recognized

The Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Fund has awarded $1.45 million to support three innovative research projects and one pilot research project.

Attacking the opioid epidemic

Lisa Cleveland, Ph.D., RN, has been awarded two grants totaling more than $4 million to educate first responders on how to identify and reverse opioid overdose.

Top recruit

The Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas awarded $6 million to UT Health San Antonio to support the recruitment of an internationally known biochemist.

A triple blow to cancer

In January, Peggy and Lowry Mays announced an increase in their legacy gift to $30 million to support UT Health San Antonio’s cancer center, which recently affiliated with MD Anderson Cancer Center.

In gratitude

Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long, longtime supporters of UT Health San Antonio, received the highest honor from the UT System Board of Regents.

Giving starts here

Familiarizing students with the importance of philanthropy is the goal of the Student Legacy Council.

Splish, splash

At Morgan’s Inspiration Island water park, high-tech, air-powered waterproof wheelchairs provide a place for people of all abilities to play.

Newsmakers

The latest news in faculty and staff honors and recognitions.

Tomorrow, long before sunrise, we will begin again

For the U.S., 1968 was a year of moments that changed the world. In San Antonio, the year witnessed the dedication of one of the community’s most far-reaching prizes, The University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio.