Contact: Will Sansom
Phone: (210) 567-2579
E-mail: sansom@uthscsa.edu

ALDERETE
Printer Friendly Format

John F. Alderete, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and immunology at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, was inducted Sept. 11 as a corresponding member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences at a ceremony in Mexico City. The prestigious organization, which has more than 1,800 members, is the Mexican equivalent of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States.

Besides his many personal research accomplishments, Dr. Alderete was honored for “contributing in an important way to the development of Mexican science,” according to the Mexican Academy of Sciences. Dr. Alderete joins more than 60 investigators from universities and institutions outside Mexico who are corresponding members of the Academy. They include nine Nobel Prize winners.

Dr. Alderete, who rose from a humble upbringing in New Mexico to a distinguished career in the laboratory, has mentored young Hispanics seeking doctorates in the sciences and has worked with many young people to inspire them to move forward in their education.

Dr. Alderete was invited to present a lecture on “Membrane Remodeling and Induced Genes by Adherent Trichomonas vaginalis.” Trichomonas vaginalis is an infectious agent that causes trichomoniasis, a sexually transmitted disease affecting as many as 10 million women in the U.S. and 350 million worldwide. Dr. Alderete has studied the microorganism and resulting disease process for more than two decades.

Dr. Alderete and a colleague invented the first point-of-care diagnostic test for trichomoniasis. The test is now sold by Genzyme.

Dr. Alderete received his Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Kansas in 1978 and completed postdoctoral work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He joined the Health Science Center faculty in 1981.

# # #

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.