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

CIGARROA
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San Antonio (Oct. 9, 2006) – The National Academies, independent advisers to the nation on science, engineering and medicine, today announced the election of Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., president of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies.

Dr. Cigarroa joins Bettie Sue Siler Masters, Ph.D., as Institute of Medicine members from the Health Science Center. Dr. Masters, the Robert A. Welch Foundation Distinguished Professor in Chemistry in the department of biochemistry, was elected to the IOM in 1996. Dr. Cigarroa also joins Fernando A. Guerra, M.D., M.P.H., director of the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, in the IOM.

The National Academies consist of the Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council. Election recognizes those who have made major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care and public health, and is considered one of the highest honors in these fields.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 to honor professional achievement in the health sciences and to serve as a national resource for independent analysis and recommendations on issues related to medicine, biomedical sciences and health. Topics of study are aging, child health, diseases, education, environment, food and nutrition, global health, health sciences, health care and quality, mental health, military and veterans, minority health, public health and prevention, public policy, treatment, women’s health and the workplace.

(L-R) Dr. Bill Henrich, dean of the School of Medicine, congratulates Dr. Cigarroa on his election to the IOM.

“The IOM was created by the federal government to be an adviser on scientific and technological matters,” said Brian Herman, Ph.D., vice president for research at the Health Science Center. “The IOM creates various committees from its volunteer membership who undertake studies and provide peer-reviewed reports on their findings, which often are used to determine and set national priorities in the areas of medicine, heath and science. It is a tremendous honor for Dr. Cigarroa and the Health Science Center that he was selected for this rare and prestigious designation.”

Thomas E. Starzl, M.D., Ph.D., the Distinguished Service Professor of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and Patricia K. Donahoe, M.D., the Marshall K. Bartlett Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, nominated Dr. Cigarroa for the IOM’s administration of health services, education and research section. Dr. Cigarroa will provide specific expertise for the health policy/science leadership, advocacy and/or consulting subsection.

His nominators placed special emphasis on Dr. Cigarroa’s leadership in designing, funding and implementing the expansion of health professional education and research along the Texas-Mexico border through the Regional Academic Health Center in Harlingen and Edinburg. “These effective skills can be used at the national level to reinforce the IOM’s emphasis on public health and health disparities,” Drs. Starzl and Donahoe wrote. “As one of the nation’s highest-ranking Hispanic medical leaders, Dr. Cigarroa is now a primary spokesman for health issues relating to the nationally growing Hispanic and under-represented populations.”

Dr. Cigarroa, a graduate of Yale and The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, completed 12 years of postgraduate training at Harvard and Johns Hopkins. He joined the Health Science Center department of surgery in 1995 and was named president by The University of Texas System Board of Regents in October 2000. He has presided over a period of significant advancement for the Health Science Center, including development of the nationally recognized Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies, the Regional Academic Health Center, the Laredo Campus Extension and the Children’s Cancer Research Institute.

Dr. Cigarroa, who as president concurrently serves as professor of pediatric and transplantation surgery, has participated in a number of surgical advancements, including leading the team that performed South Texas’ first pediatric small bowel transplant at University Hospital in July 2000. His leadership and expertise was recognized by President George W. Bush, who appointed him as a member of the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science.

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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 22,000 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, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, allied health, dentistry and many other fields. For more information, click on www.uthscsa.edu.