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sansom@uthscsa.edu Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., president of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, was inducted Sept. 27 to honorary membership in the Academia Nacional de Medicina de México (the National Academy of Medicine of Mexico). The ceremony took place in the Mexican Federal District at the headquarters of the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (the Mexican Social Security Institute), the federal organization working on public health, pensions and social security in Mexico.
President Cigarroa was one of five honorary members to be installed. The others were Dr. Tadataka (Tachi) Yamada, president of the global health program for The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Dr. Hilel Lewis, endowed professor and chairman of ophthalmology at The Cleveland Clinic; and two members of The Royal Academy of Medicine of Spain, Drs. José María Medina and María Casales Angosto.
Dr. Misael Uribe, president of the National Academy of Medicine of Mexico, introduced Dr. Cigarroa for induction. Following the ceremony, the honorary members had dinner with the Academy’s leadership body at the Four Seasons Hotel in the Federal District.
“It is a pleasure to be here to represent The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio,” President Cigarroa said. “Because the region we serve includes the U.S.-Mexico border, we care deeply about issues that affect both our nations and we value the many collaborations and partnerships we have with our Mexican counterparts.”
This is the second major honor Dr. Cigarroa has received from national Mexican institutions in 2006. On Feb. 20, he visited the Mexico City campus of The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM, the National Autonomous University of Mexico) to receive the university’s highest award, the Dr. Ignacio Chávez Medal of Merit. Dr. Juan Ramón de la Fuente, UNAM rector, presented the award, which celebrates a former UNAM rector and leading international cardiologist, Dr. Chavez.
In his six years as Health Science Center president, Dr. Cigarroa has continued to practice pediatric and transplantation surgery. In his Sept. 27 acceptance speech, he told the audience that, “I also continue to practice pediatric transplant surgery because I love the physician-patient relationship, and it allows me the opportunity to stay in close touch with our outstanding faculty and students. I am greatly privileged to spend my days at a thriving academic medical center that makes a daily contribution to the lives of so many.”
He also said, “In both our countries, the most impressive medical advances have come from university settings. The benefit to mankind is so enormous: better medications, better surgery and less-invasive surgery. The results also are unquestionably beneficial: better outcomes, treatment that is less expensive and more effective, and normal lives for patients whose conditions once were considered fatal.”
# # #The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $500 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $14 billion biosciences and health care industry, the leading sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $34 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 20,500 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and allied health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, pain management, genetics, nursing, allied health, dentistry and many other fields. For more information, click on
www.uthscsa.edu.
