Produced by the Office of Communications // July 12, 2012

TMC institutions win $20M CTSA renewal

In 2006, three Texas Medical Center institutions were among the first in the nation to receive a Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to accelerate the translation of laboratory discoveries into patient treatments. That grant has been renewed for another 5 years. 

The grant was used to establish the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences(CCTS), which is operated by UTHealth,  The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center.

Headquartered at UTHealth, the center is one of 60 nationwide with a goal of fast-tracking research development, training a new generation of researchers, and engaging communities in clinical research. In the latest grant, the NIH is providing $20 million for the center’s infrastructure, with participating institutions contributing more than $25 million in matching funds.

“The CTSA brings institutions and knowledge together, and UTHealth is proud to be a keystone in that process,” said Dean Giuseppe Colasurdo. “This grant renewal is vital to enhancing collaboration - thereby fostering innovation and outcomes.”

Dr. David McPherson, executive director and co-principal investigator of the CCTS, and chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, said the institutions are “fortunate to be the recipient of this grant in this time of budget restraints.”

Highlights of the center’s first 5 years include support of studies demonstrating the benefit of a drug that treats blindness in premature babies, showing that body cooling reduces mortality of infants with asphyxia, targeting delivery of new drugs directly to disease sites, and administering bone marrow-derived stem cells to improve recovery from stroke, said Dr. Maureen Goode, the administrative director of the CCTS.

CCTS-supported research also helped establish that delivering intensive care to extremely premature infants should not be solely based on the infant's gestational age and that phototherapy reduces impairment in extremely low birth weight babies.

Since it was established, the CCTS has helped researchers produce more than 2,500 research publications and is working with residents of the Houston area and Brownsville to address health issues. The CCTS community engagement component is working to accelerate the adoption of programs with evidence of effectiveness and to conduct research on obesity-reduction strategies that can be disseminated broadly.

“Our team will work closely with the community and fellow researchers in a participatory approach to build capacity for the translation of science into practice settings such as community clinics and nonprofit organizations” said Dr. Belinda Reininger, co-leader of the CCTS community engagement component and associate professor at The University of Texas School of Public Health Brownsville Regional Campus. “The focus of the CCTS community engagement component is to work with underserved populations.”

The CCTS is collaborating with the other three UT System institutions that have CTSA awards and has formed the Texas Regional CTSA Consortium, which includes the translational medicine programs at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. The UTHealth-based CCTS also is providing research services to Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center -El Paso, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, and Baylor College of Medicine.

“The CCTS provides a terrific platform for scientists from many disciplines to work together and create powerful synergies.  Ultimately the desire is to expedite the process of bringing new science to the patient’s bedside,” said SPH Dean Roberta Ness.

The CTSA awards were created to expedite the process by identifying the obstacles that impede the transformation of basic research discoveries into drugs, treatments or methods for prevention. As an example of a way to promote collaboration among institutions, officials in the UT System have reached an agreement that facilitates multi-site studies at the system’s 15 institutions.

"At MD Anderson, the grant has provided critical laboratory support for our Clinical and Translational Research Center,” said Dr. Daniel Karp, who is a co-principal investigator of CCTS and a professor in MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics. “The CTSA has also helped support innovations in bioinformatics, robust tumor banking and important community initiatives - especially in the critical areas of nutrition, obesity, and liver disease.”

Divided into 12 components that support different aspects of the discovery process, the CCTS supports innovative clinical and translational projects proposed by faculty and students at UTHealth, MD Anderson Cancer Center and other institutions. CCTS also supports work at other UTHealth research centers, including one dedicated to improving the care of people with injuries.

“The research and breakthroughs made by the CCTS have made significant improvements and positive impacts on patient care in our hospital and clinics,” said Craig Cordola, chief executive officer of Memorial Hermann-TMC.  “We are very grateful for the renewal of this grant and look forward to the continued progress from this collaboration.”

The CCTS supports young investigators and students by providing salary and mentors who assist them with research. The center provides the statistical support necessary to manage and analyze complex multi-variable projects.The training of graduate students in translational research is conducted in part by The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, which is operated by UTHealth and MD Anderson Cancer Center.

“The students get to conduct research in the laboratories of scientists at both institutions,” said UTHealth Biochemistry Department Vice Chair Dr. Michael Blackburn, who along with Dr. Michelle Barton, a professor of biochemistry at MD Anderson Cancer Center, is jointly serving as dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

The CCTS facilitates research at three Clinical Research Units (CRUs). Staffed by experienced research nurses and phlebotomists, the CRUs provide dedicated space and equipment for clinical research. The CRUs are located at Memorial Hermann-TMC, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Valley Baptist Medical Center in Brownsville.

Researchers also can utilize the services of a genetics core laboratory, which provides DNA harvesting, DNA genotyping and DNA sequencing. Other services include the microarray core laboratory, a proteomics core laboratory, the quantitative genomics core laboratory, and imaging facilities.

—Rob Cahill, Office of Advancement, Media Relations

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Postdoctoral fellows graduate with certificate

The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs offers a certificate training program, which this school year had 136 participants enrolled.

The program started in the fall of 2006 with just 32 postdocs enrolled. To date, more than 60 faculty and staff have provided lectures and training for this two-year program, which is available at no charge for fellows.

The following postdocs received awards at the June 28 postdoc event:

• Bazan, SoledadCho, Kwang-Jin
• Choi, Yohan
• Darne, Chinmay D.
• Dehghani, Mehdi
• Huby Vidaurre, Maria del Pilar
• Hutchison, Alexander T
• Jeter, Cameron Beth
• Karmouty-Quintana, Harry
• Luo, Jialie
• Matthias, Nadine
• Papke, Christina Leann
• Saxena, Geetu
• Xu, Wenlong
• Yoshikawa,Shunichi
• Zhu, Yingmin

Registration for Fall 2012 program is now open. Contact the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, or Leslie Beckman to register, or for more information.

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Sandberg named director of Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery

Dr. David Sandberg has been named director of the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery in the Department of Pediatric Surgery and an attending physician at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital and Mischer Neuroscience Institute (MNI) at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center.

Sandberg, who specializes in pediatric brain tumors, has developed novel neurosurgery treatment approaches for children. He brings expertise in minimally invasive endoscopic approaches to pediatric brain tumors, hydrocephalus, and arachnoid cysts as well as surgical management of arteriovenous malformations of the brain, congenital spinal anomalies, spasticity, and craniofacial anomalies.

"We are so pleased to have Dr. Sandberg join our neuroscience team and bring his outstanding medical experience and passion of caring for children," said Dr. Kevin Lally, chair of the Department of Pediatric Surgery and surgeon-in-chief of Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital. "He will play an important role in expanding our pediatric oncology and neurosurgery services to provide the best care to our littlest patients in the Houston community."

Sandberg comes to Houston from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, where he served as an associate professor of clinical neurological surgery and pediatrics. A graduate of Harvard University, he received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and neurosurgery training from Weill Medical College of Cornell University and New York Presbyterian Hospital. Sandberg completed his pediatric neurosurgery fellowship at Children's Hospital Los Angeles before joining the faculty at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

"David is an accomplished researcher and neurosurgeon and also just a wonderful person," said Dr. Dong Kim, chair of the Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery UTHealth and director of the Mischer Neuroscience Institute at Memorial Hermann-TMC. "I have full confidence that Dr. Sandberg will develop the best pediatric neurosurgery program in the region."

Sandberg is board certified by the American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery and the American Board of Neurological Surgery. He has received numerous professional awards for his contributions to research, teaching, and medical practice and serves as an active member in numerous professional organizations, including the Children's Oncology Group and the American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgeons among others. He is actively involved in international volunteer work and has made multiple trips to Honduras, Guatemala, Uganda, Peru, and Haiti to perform neurosurgery on patients in underserved countries.

—Deborah Mann Lake, Office of Advancement, Media Relations

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Wray receives grant to help those with advance liver cancer

The American Cancer Society has awarded Dr. Curtis Wray, an assistant professor of surgery, a grant to find ways to improve the care and quality of life for people with liver cancer.

Liver cancer is the sixth most common type of cancer in the world and about 750,000 new cases were diagnosed in 2008.

Wray is using his five-year, $729,000 grant to study disparities in the life expectancy of patients with advanced liver cancer, which averages about seven months but is considerably less in the underserved population. In an effort to pinpoint factors contributing to this disparity, Wray is following liver cancer patients in the Harris County Hospital District, which is the community’s leading integrated healthcare system focused on caring for the medically underserved individuals and families in Harris County.

“We know the outcomes for people with liver cancer have been suboptimal in an underserved population,” he said. “We want to know why and what can be done to improve the quality of life for these patients.”

—Rob Cahill, Office of Advancement, Media Relations

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Sunnier days

It was a sunny day when these flowers were in full bloom in front of the Medical School Building.

— Dwight C. Andrews, Office of Communications, Medical School

 

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