Achievements & innovations in research

Steven Wolf, MD, Surgery Vice Chairman for Research, interviewed about tissue regeneration: Using a biomedically engineered matrix, surgeons and physicians are now using exciting new procedures to help damaged or missing tissue re-grow for our returning warriors. KSAT Interview | KENS Interview (7-16-08)

Congratulations to Thelma C. Hurd, MD, Associate Professor and Director, Breast Surgery Program, who has recently been awarded two research grants. The first, from the National Cancer Institute (August 2008-2010, $369,994) is for her project titled 'Improved Cancer Screening: Life Skills Training in South Texas Hispanic Communities'. This project will be studying the effect of life skills training on breast and cervical cancer screening health behaviors among Mexican women in Laredo, Eagle Pass and Corpus Christi. The second grant has been awarded by the National Institutes of Health (May 2008-May 2013, $26,332,750). Dr. Hurd serves as co-investigator with the Community Engagement Core for the project titled 'Institute for Integration of Medicine & Science: A Partnership to Improve Health (U54),' implementing a Community Outreach, Participation, and Engagement (COPE) program to promote community-academic research partnerships in South Texas. More about Dr. Hurd (10-3-08)

Congratulations to Howard T. Wang, MD, Interim Chief, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, who has been awarded a $49,911 grant by the National Endowment for Plastic Surgery and the Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation for Dr. Wang's research project, "Neovascularization of bony construct using adipose tissue-derived stem cells". The National Endowment was established to fund meritorious projects in the field of plastic surgery, focusing on issues of immediate need and great promise. More about Dr. Wang (10-1-08)

Congratulations to Fruzsina Johnson, MD, Assistant Professor, Trauma, who has been awarded a $140K Beginning Grant-in-Aid from the South Central Affiliate Research Committee of the American Heart Association for her project entitled 'A novel rat model of transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) to study pathogenic contributions of RBC arginase.' More about Dr. Johnson (6-19-08)

Congratulations to Fruzsina Johnson, MD, Assistant Professor, Trauma, who was awarded a $33k grant from Semp Russ Foundation of the San Antonio Area Foundation (SAAF) for her research, 'Development of an experimental animal model to investigate the role of arginase in blood transfusion induced acute lung injury'. SAAF will recognize UTHSCSA for this grant at their 2008 Grant Awards Celebration June 11, 2008. (6-4-08)

Regenerative medicine pursued by the Pentagon and top US medical facilities: Steven Wolf, MD, Professor of Surgery and Vice-Chair for Researrch for the Department of Surgery, interviewed by CNN; Dr. Wolf discusses regenerative medicine and the "pixie dust" used to form a microscopic scaffold to help cells grow into the desired tissue. Read CNN.com story | San Antonio Regenerative Medicine Association (SARMA) | More about Dr. Wolf (5-28-08)

Congratulations to Michael Corneille, MD, Assistant Professor, Trauma, who has been awarded a $50k American Association for the Surgery of Trauma / KCI Research and Education scholarship, which will be awarded to him at the September 2008 AAST annual meeting in Hawaii. More about Dr. Corneille (4-29-08)

Department of Surgery experiences growth in research funding: From 2007 to 2008, Surgery research awards increased by 220 percent (from $1,463,869 to $4,678,003); during the same timeframe, the department's total research expenditures, including indirect costs, increased 16 percent. (04-9-08)

Congratulations to Paula K. Shireman, MD, Vascular Surgery, on receiving R01 funding from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council on the recommendation of the National Institutes of Health Scientific Review Group for her research project, "Chemokines and Immune Cells in Hind Limb Ischemia." (3-07-08)

SURGERY RECEIVES NIH T32 RESEARCH TRAINING GRANT: The Department of Surgery is pleased to have been awarded an NIH T32 training grant to support our surgical resident research training program. The five-year grant will provide stipend and research funds for residents during their two-year research assignments (PI - Stephen M. Cohn, MD). Of the 248 U.S. surgical residency training programs, the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio's general surgery research residency program is one of only 33 to have received NIH T32 funding. (1-22-08)

Renata Bastos, MD, Cardiothoracic Surgery: 15K discretionary grant from the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research to perform a pilot study entitled 'Development of an off-pump coronary artery bypass in non-human primates to evaluate the effect of Botox on the flow of arterial grafts.' (2-13-08)

Department of Surgery experiences growth in research funding: From 2006 to 2007, Surgery research awards increased by 8 percent; during the same timeframe, the department's total research costs, including indirect costs, have increased 26 percent. (1-15-08)

Maureen Sheehan, MD, Vascular Surgery, on her 15K research award from the Society for Vascular Surgery for her project, "Utility of infrared spectroscopy to detect and monitor peripheral arterial disease in vascular surgery." (10-5-07)

Luis Angel, MD, Cardiothoracic Surgery and Pulmonary Medicine, on his award for lung transplant research from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Menlo Park, California, for the Barbara Melikan Lung Transplantation Research Fund. (9-11-07)

Dr. Paula Shireman, who has received NIH bridge funding for her "Chemokines and Immune Cells in Hind Limb Ischemia" research. (9-11-07)

Paula K. Shireman, MD, and her research team on receiving $550k VA Merit Review grant funding for research costs and staffing through 2011 for "Macrophage Regulated Muscle Regeneration: Fat Deposition and Function." (8-2-07)

Carlo Martinez, MD, research resident on NIH acceptance of his NHLBI fellowship application for 'Angiogenesis, macrophages, and tissue recovery from injury'. Dr. Martinez will be working with Paula Shireman, MD, Vascular Surgery. (7-3-07)

Thelma Hurd, MD, Associate Professor in the Surgical Oncology Section, general & laparoendoscopic surgery, has been awarded $250,000 from the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation for her project titled 'Integrating Health Literacy and Community Based Education to Improve Breast Health Among Hispanics.' This project will develop and pilot Esperanza y Vida, a novel, culturally relevant breast cancer education program in a south Texas community with the goals of improving health literacy and increasing breast cancer screening rates. A potential outcome of this program is the enhanced understanding of the relationship between health literacy, community based education, and determinants of cancer screening in both the male and female Hispanic populations. The ultimate goal is to increase screening utilization, promote guideline concordant screening health behaviors and reduce breast cancer mortality among Hispanic women in south Texas.

Howard Tzu Wang, MD, Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, has received a one-year grant for $35,555 from the ERC for his submission, "Tissue culture of pre-adipocyte precursor for reconstruction of calvarial defects." Dr. Wang's funding begins July 1, 2006.

Paula Shireman, M.D., and Oscar Ochoa, M.D., have been awarded supplemental funding under Dr. Shireman's NIH-NHLBI RO1 entitled "Chemokines and immune cells in hind limb ischemia." This funding will provide for Dr. Ochoa's two year resident research fellowship.
Total funding: $146,000 over two years.

NIH research funding: