Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., Health Science Center president, presents the State of the University address on Dec. 16.
Printer Friendly Format

With the Children’s Cancer Research Institute dedicated in February 2004 and the Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies opening in the spring, progress was the focus the president’s annual State of the University address Dec. 16.

“The Sam and Ann Barshop Institute on Longevity and Aging Studies is growing in stature,” said Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., Health Science Center president, during the address. “Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison told me she was with the director of the National Institute on Aging recently and he said the best aging research institute in the nation is at the Health Science Center.”

The Regional Academic Health Center’s (RAHC) Medical Research Division in Edinburg is scheduled to be completed in the spring and the Medical Education Division in Harlingen, which will house a tertiary clinic and satellite General Clinical Research Center, has received Board of Regents approval for a second building. The Academic and Administration Building was also completed in 2004.

Dr. Cigarroa also praised the signing of an agreement between the leaders of San Antonio’s three Level I trauma centers in April 2004. The Trauma Institute of San Antonio, Texas (TRISAT), an innovative project that will make efficient use of the region’s Level I trauma resources, is a partnership among the Health Science Center, University Health System, Wilford Hall, Brooke Army Medical Center, and the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research.

The RAHC’s Medical Education Division in Harlingen has graduated its first class of medical students who were trained at the RAHC.

“We are proud of the Regional Academic Health Center,” Dr. Cigarroa said. “All 24 fourth-year students passed the USMLE Step 2 exam and all successfully matched in outstanding residency programs.”

The first class of RAHC residents also graduated, with three of the four residents choosing to stay in Harlingen.

The Health Science Center has received more than $6 million in additional federal funding in 2004 and Dr. Cigarroa thanked Cong. Henry Bonilla, Sen. John Cornyn and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison for their ongoing support of the Health Science Center.

“Congressman Bonilla has had a particular interest in disease management of congestive heart failure and asthma, Senator Cornyn in nutrition research and Senator Hutchison in myeloma,” Dr. Cigarroa said. “We are grateful for their continued support of our research programs.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has designated the Health Science Center as one of three new National Centers of Excellence in Women’s Health in the country. This makes the Health Science Center the only center of its kind in Texas. Donald Dudley, M.D., will serve as the center’s director and Colleen Keller, Ph.D., R.N., will serve as the center’s co-director.

Dr. Cigarroa also cited that the San Antonio Life Sciences Institute (SALSI) has also provided more than $2 million for its first projects.

“The San Antonio Life Sciences Institute is a point of great pride for the Board of Regents and the chancellor,” he said. “It is a model of collaboration between health and general academic components in the UT System.”

Dr. Cigarroa also announced the new initiative of a Medical Arts Research Center, which would be a state-of-the-art facility to meet expanding clinical research.

“The clinical facilities we have are too small. Our goal is to present a proposal to the Board of Regents in May for a Medical Arts Research Center,” he said. “We have a very active planning group that includes members from the University Health System.”

To view the Power Point presentation from the State of the University Address, click on the following link: www.uthscsa.edu/op/state2004.ppt