Reto Asmis, Ph.D., directs the research efforts in the School of Health Professions.
Printer Friendly Format

The School of Health Professions has traditionally focused on providing educational opportunities, conducting clinical research and graduating culturally sensitive practitioners to provide health care to the medically underserved residents of South Texas. Now, the school is working to expand its basic research programs, too.

“I have wanted to increase research in our school for some time,” said Marilyn Harrington, Ph.D., dean of the School of Health Professions. “Having a strong basic research program could help our school contribute to the Health Science Center’s translational research program. We already have students conducting clinical rotations all over South Texas and many are deciding to stay there and practice. That creates a great link to the community where we can conduct clinical and community-based studies and then implement the results we discover,” she said.

Three researchers now committed to basic research
Results of the effort are beginning to show:

• George Kudolo, Ph.D., a Health Science Center faculty member for 20 years, is nationally known for his research involving the herb Ginkgo biloba and insulin resistance syndrome. In November 2008, the school’s only basic science researcher was recognized in the inaugural edition of “Who’s Who in Black San Antonio.” Besides proving for the first time that ginkgo biloba can improve blood circulation, Dr. Kudolo’s research showed that the herb may be of tremendous benefit to diabetic patients who experience pancreatic exhaustion, a condition in which the gland can no longer produce insulin.
  
  He continues to study Ginkgo biloba and diabetes, as well as new applications of the herb to Alzheimer’s disease. He is also exploring soy and estrogen replacement therapy, as well as chemical agents in red grapes and their possible effects on cardiovascular disease



• In fall 2007, Reto Asmis, Ph.D., was invited to direct a new research mentoring program in the school. “The idea is to offer junior faculty members the opportunity to work with established researchers in other schools, such as the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, so that they can develop the skills they need to become independent researchers,” Dr. Asmis said.
  
  Before joining the Health Science Center’s Graduate School in 2005, Dr. Asmis was graduate studies director of the nationally recognized nutritional sciences program at the University of Kentucky. In 2007, he joined the School of Health Professions and will continue with a joint appointment in the Department of Biochemistry in the Graduate School. “His link to both schools fosters the mentoring relationship and forms a bridge between the two schools,” Dean Harrington said.
  
  Dr. Asmis is funded by a $1.55 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study signaling mechanisms and inflammatory disease in the body’s natural defense system. He also has been awarded funding from the American Heart Association and industry sources. “I have been working on the signaling mechanisms inside macrophages (white blood cells). My aim is to determine why they malfunction, migrate into atherosclerotic plaque and die. We believe macrophage malfunction causes atherosclerosis, and has important implications for other chronic inflammatory diseases including cancer,” Dr. Asmis explained.
  
  

  Yolanda Rangel, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, is conducting research with Dr. Asmis.

  
  
• In January 2008, a new junior faculty member, Dr. Yolanda Rangel, joined the School of Health Professions as an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy. Dr. Rangel had completed a Ph.D. in neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania and post-doctoral fellowships at the University of Miami and Washington University.
  
  Coincidentally, she had also conducted research on signaling and inflammatory disease during her post-doctoral fellowships, but in regards to strokes and neurodegenerative diseases. “I wanted to continue my research, but was afraid I’d have to set it aside to teach full time,” Dr. Rangel said.
  
  Dr. Asmis heard of Dr. Rangel’s interest in becoming an independent researcher and welcomed her into his lab. Together they wrote a diversity research supplement to his current NIH grant resulting in an award of $353,000 from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
  
  “Dr. Asmis is an amazing person,” Dr. Rangel said. “He knows so much about macrophages and what they do. It was perfect for me to be able to join his lab,” she said. “This partnership between Drs. Asmis and Rangel is an excellent example of how the school can expand research expertise and contribute to disease prevention, health promotion and allied health therapies in a more meaningful way,” Dean Harrington said.

“Over time, the School of Health Professions’ research program will be as strong as the educational and service missions of our school,” she said. “The faculty members and I agree that we will become integral partners in the new CTSA grant program titled the “Institute for Integration of Medicine and Science,” through our basic, translational and clinical research. Drs. George Kudolo, Reto Asmis and Yolanda Rangel are leading the way with this effort.”