Mission Magazine - Nobel Laureate's lecture, STRF highlight collaboration

Dignitaries celebrate the School of Medicine's 40th anniversary

(Above) Celebrating the School of Medicine's 40th anniversary are (from left) University of Texas System Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs Kenneth I. Shine, M.D.; UT System Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D.; Nobel Laureate Michael S. Brown, M.D., and Health Science Center President William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP.

Nobel Laureate's lecture, STRF highlight collaboration

September 2009

The scientific discourse that moves discoveries from labs to patients' bedsides was the theme this past spring as the Health Science Center welcomed Nobel Laureate Michael Brown, M.D., for a School of Medicine 40th anniversary lecture and unveiled the cornerstone of the Health Science Center's newest research building, the $150-million South Texas Research Facility (STRF). The lecture highlighted the good ideas and effective innovations that can come when clinicians who treat health problems partner with bench researchers to study the molecules, proteins and genes underlying heart conditions due to high cholesterol. That theme continued in the afternoon at the STRF ceremony, where, as leaders said, the 200,000-square-foot facility will "change the face of biomedical research in San Antonio." The STRF will be one of the largest research buildings ever constructed in San Antonio.

"The South Texas Research Facility's close proximity to the Medical Arts & Research Center (MARC) is certain to fuel translational research, thereby moving discoveries from the lab bench to use in our communities," said William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP, Health Science Center president.