Successful medical research is the purpose of a collaborative effort between the medical schools at the Health Science Center and the University Autonoma de Nuevo Leon Medical School (UANL) in Monterrey, Mexico. The partnership has matured significantly over its four-year history and helped save lives of individuals in both countries.
The collaboration brings together research investigators from both universities with similar research interests to provide more knowledge and resources for each university.
Representatives from the Health Science Center visited the UANL last month to develop new research projects in the areas of environmental health and tuberculosis, and explore other collaborations that researchers from each institution could effectively achieve together. Since the start of the collaboration, four research projects have become active, including research in prostate cancer, schizophrenia, lupus and microbial biofilms.
“We have three main missions in the Medical School dean’s office,” said Anthony Infante, M.D., Ph.D., associate dean for research. “Research is one of our primary missions, especially research that pertains to problems prevalent in South Texas. Because Northern Mexico and South Texas have similar populations, demographics and economies, collaborating with the UANL has been beneficial to both institutions. Science is collaborative and global. In order to do the best research, we need to reach out to others for resources.”
One of the most successful projects, SABOR, is a long-term study that seeks to identify genetic, dietary and other factors that confer higher risk of prostate cancer in minority and Caucasian men. Last summer Ian Thompson, M.D., principal investigator of the SABOR project and chairman of urology at the Health Science Center, deployed a research team to partner with the UANL to screen more than 700 men in Monterrey. From this group 40 biopsies were performed, yielding 13 mostly high-grade cancers.
Although some outside funding has been available, Dr. Infante said that most of the funding has come from individuals who have active, ongoing research.
“To move things to the next level, we’ll have to develop some seed grants for people who have good ideas but don’t necessarily have the resources needed to support a project,” Dr. Infante said. “So we’re working with local and state agencies on both sides of the border to develop a pool of funds for these projects.”
Robin Brey, M.D., professor in the neurology division at the Health Science Center, conducts research on lupus and is studying when cognitive problems develop in lupus patients. Eighty percent of lupus patients develop cognitive function problems at some point, but many wonder if medications are the cause. That is why her study follows newly diagnosed patients through their second year after being diagnosed with the disease. She has found the collaboration with the UANL to be beneficial.
“Our center needed to enroll 20 newly diagnosed lupus patients into the study and we wanted to include Hispanics to have a balanced group,” Dr. Brey said. “The group in Monterrey that was performing lupus research had many lupus patients who were willing to participate.”
The research teams from both universities agreed to screen the patients every three months to carefully follow brain patterns and changes.
“All of us are grateful to be working with the UANL,” Dr. Infante said. “They are well-educated, experienced individuals who bring a wealth of knowledge and information to our research teams. We hope to eventually be able to form more collaborations as more research develops.”
