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

(L-R) Dr. Michael Davis, associate professor at the Research Imaging Center; Dr. Francisco G. Cigarroa, president of the Health Science Center; State Sen. Jeff Wentworth; David Spencer, chair of the Texas Emerging Technology Fund; and Dr. Harold Timboe, associate vice president for research at the Health Science Center
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San Antonio (Oct. 31, 2006) – The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio on Oct. 27 announced an $8.2 million boost for its research imaging programs – $4.1 million from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund and $4.1 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The funding is part of a $16.8 million infusion of capital from federal and state sources and private philanthropy that is expected to triple the Health Science Center’s research imaging enterprise from $25 million to $75 million annually.

The funds will establish a Comprehensive Facility for Animal Imaging Research (CFAIR) as a component of the Health Science Center’s Research Imaging Center. CFAIR scientists will use imaging to evaluate new drugs and medical devices prior to and during human trials.

“An array of research imaging instruments found nowhere else in the country, and geared to conduct research of diseases and battlefield conditions in animal models, will be acquired because of the strong commitments announced today,” said Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., president of the Health Science Center. “Thanks to the vision of Governor Rick Perry, who established the Emerging Technology Fund, we have a Texas-sized investment in research that has the potential to save the lives of many soldiers, lead to breakthroughs in the treatment of many diseases and conditions, and yield findings that can be commercialized.”

David Spencer, chairman of the Texas Emerging Technology Fund Advisory Committee, said San Antonio is poised for growth in the biotechnology sector. He praised city leaders for founding the San Antonio Technology Accelerator Initiative five years ago. Gov. Perry and other leaders will speak in San Antonio Nov. 13-14 at “Harnessing the Lightning: An Economic Growth Summit for Texas,” sponsored by The Texas Lyceum, a statewide leadership organization.

The Emerging Technology Fund and DARPA grants complement a significant donation from San Antonio philanthropist Ruth McLean Bowers and more than $5 million in Health Science Center institutional funds committed to establish CFAIR.

“This landmark investment will open the door for Texas to take the global lead in pioneering the use of medical imaging of animal models to study human disease,” said Brian Herman, Ph.D., vice president for research at the Health Science Center. “Our Research Imaging Center is already internationally acclaimed for both its human and small-animal imaging research. Establishing the Comprehensive Facility for Animal Imaging Research is the next logical step.”

World-renowned neurologist and imaging researcher Peter T. Fox, M.D., Research Imaging Center director, said small-animal imaging makes it possible to more quickly study treatments for diseases at all stages of the life span. What would take 50 to 75 years to study in humans can be achieved in a few years in small animals and lead to effective interventions in human care.

“Establishing CFAIR will make it possible for scientists and students from the public and private sectors, including pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers, to discover potential new treatments for patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders, as well as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and arthritis,” Dr. Fox said. “This will be done at great cost savings.”

The DARPA grant will support research involving functional imaging. The equipment will include a 7-Tesla magnet, the highest field strength made. This magnet, one of only a handful of such instruments in the country, will provide incredible, high-resolution images.

The Research Imaging Center has done many studies of human performance under stress, including being dehydrated, hungry, breathless and overheated, and DARPA wants to build on this expertise, Dr. Fox said.

DARPA’s intent also is to share the equipment with other investigators. The Research Imaging Center, soon to be enhanced by the CFAIR, is a shared-use scientific resource, much like the Keck Telescope on the island of Hawaii is a shared resource to the world’s astronomers.

Dr. Fox said the CFAIR equipment will be installed inside laboratory animal resources space at the Research Imaging Center. This arrangement, thought to be without parallel in the U.S., will protect against travel-related stress and microbial infection in valuable research animals.

The state of Texas is contributing to the CFAIR through funding allocated for Health Science Center capital projects. Institutional collaborators in the CFAIR will include the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research and Brooke Army Medical Center.

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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, visit www.uthscsa.edu.