RAHC, RGV Universities to Benefit From $26M Grant

By Melissa Mcever, Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Texas

May 30–HARLINGEN — The Regional Academic Health Center campuses and the Rio Grande Valley’s universities will benefit from a $26 million National Institutes of Health grant awarded to The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio on Thursday, officials said.

The university, along with Harvard University, Stanford University and 11 other institutions, has won a five-year Clinical and Translational Science Award to help researchers “translate” studies into practical applications in the real world, said Dr. Robert Clark, principal investigator and professor of medicine at UT Health Science Center at San Antonio.

“We want to move things more quickly and efficiently from basic science discovery at the laboratory bench to everyday use in the community,” Clark said.

Using the grant funds, the university will establish the Institute for Integration of Medicine and Science, which will be devoted to supporting existing research projects, wading through research-related red tape and minimizing hassles that slow down studies, Clark said.

“There will be a very broad range of activities,” he said.

The RAHC campuses in Edinburg and Harlingen, as well as the University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College and the University of Texas-Pan American all will be partners in the institute, officials said. The grant will help develop facilities for research in the Valley, establish needed research databases, offer assistance with ethical issues, bring in more doctors and community providers into projects, and other steps, they said.

“We’re facilitating the work,” Clark said. “Our overall goal is to cut the time from discovery, to clinical (success), to bringing something to the public-health setting.”

A research project on diabetes at the RAHC’s clinical facility in Harlingen will be one of the projects to benefit, said Dr. Leonel Vela, RAHC regional dean. The grant will help fund additional researchers and biomedical equipment, he said.

Ultimately, the institute’s programs will help South Texas patients because research will more quickly influence their medical care, said Brian Herman, vice president of research for UT Health Science Center-San Antonio.

“It will improve the health of the South Texas community,” Herman said.

—–

To see more of the Valley Morning Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.valleystar.com.

Copyright (c) 2008, Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Texas

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.