Leaders of the CTSA award (left to right) are Drs. Kenneth Hargreaves, Robin Brey, Michael Lichtenstein and Robert A. Clark, with Drs. Brian Herman, Francisco G. Cigarroa and Fernando Guerra.
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“In my eight years as president, this is an unparalleled milestone. It identifies our university and our partners as a top-tier consortium of excellence to benefit mankind.”

With those words, Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., president, kicked off a June 17 reception at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio to applaud those who worked so diligently and successfully to secure a $26 million Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the National Institutes of Health/National Center for Research Resources.

CTSA principal investigators
The 200 in attendance honored the CTSA principal investigators:

• Robert A. Clark, M.D., assistant vice president for clinical research and director of the Institute for Integration of Medicine and Science, which oversees the CTSA;
  
• Robin Brey, M.D., associate dean for research in the School of Medicine;
  
• Michael J. Lichtenstein, M.D., M.Sc., professor of medicine in geriatrics, gerontology and palliative medicine; and
  
• Kenneth Hargreaves, D.D.S., Ph.D., professor and chairman of endodontics.

Brian Herman, Ph.D., vice president for research, said the CTSA program is a national attempt to create a roadmap that moves scientific knowledge from laboratories to clinical research studies and then to physicians and communities.

South Texas research partners
Dr. Cigarroa said Dr. Clark courageously ventured into uncharted territory to lead the Health Science Center’s CTSA initiative, which includes key participation by these partners:

• CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health Care
  
• San Antonio Metropolitan Health District
  
• San Antonio Military Medical Center
  
• South Texas Veterans Health Care System
  
• Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research
  
• University Health System
  
• The University of Texas-Pan American at Edinburg
  
• The University of Texas at Brownsville
  
• The University of Texas School of Public Health San Antonio Regional Campus
  
• UT Medicine

The Health Science Center is one of the first 38 CTSA institutions nationwide, joining a distinguished group that includes Harvard and Stanford. Dr. Clark said the South Texas partners developed a well-conceived strategy and worked hard to make it a successful undertaking.

Fernando Guerra, M.D., M.P.H., spoke on behalf of the community partners. “This is a project for our community, a chance to improve the quality of the discussions that take place,” he said. “When you bring the community together like this, you are really doing an intervention that promotes wellness.”

Dr. Clark honored Linda Knieriem, research coordinator II in the Office of the Vice President for Research, for her invaluable role in administrative activity that assisted the CTSA effort.