|
Contact: 210-567-3080 |
Methodist hospital grant goes for aging research (2/9/96)
A $520,000 grant from the Methodist Hospital Foundation will endow the Methodist Hospital Foundation Chair in Aging Studies and Research at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. On Jan. 23, it was announced that The Health Science Center was among 16 health-related institutions selected to share $4.2 million raised by the foundation. The foundation was dissolved when Methodist Hospital merged with Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. and lost its not-for-profit status, said J. Marvin Smith III, MD, foundation president. Money originally targeted for Methodist Hospital projects had to be disbursed to not-for-profit organizations. "This award is further recognition of the superb research in the area of aging performed by the Health Science Center faculty," said Sanford Miller, PhD, Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. "The problems associated with the aging process ultimately affect all of us. We are grateful to the Methodist Hospital Foundation for their confidence in our ability to successfully meet this challenge." The Health Science Center is internationally recognized as one of the leading universities in aging research. Groundbreaking research on dietary restriction and longevity conducted here is considered the "gold standard" in the field. The Health Science Center also established the nation's first transgenic mouse facility dedicated to the study of aging. University researchers are in the 21 year of a "program project" grant funded by the National Institute on Aging. More than 100 faculty members currently are studying aging and related subjects in several interrelated centers. The Health Science Center's multidisciplinary Aging Research and Education Center (AREC) was established in 1990 with a grant from the NIA and support from the Texas legislature. The Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC) of the Audie Murphy Division, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, is one of 16 centers of excellence in the Department of Veterans Affairs. NIA recently established a Nathan Shock Aging Center at the hospital - one of two in the country - to study the biological processes that control aging and the diseases of aging. Contact: Suzanne DuBeau, (210) 567-2570
|