Focus: Hidden - Texas

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A phase I, first-in-human study led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reveals for the first time, an investigational drug that is effective and safe for patients with cancers caused by an alteration in the receptor tyrosine kinase known as RET. The drug appears to be promising as a potential therapy for RET-driven cancers, such as medullary and papillary thyroid, non-small cell lung, colorectal and bile duct cancers, which have been historically difficult to treat.

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Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for 14 percent of all lung cancers and is often rapidly resistant to chemotherapy resulting in poor clinical outcomes. Treatment has changed little for decades, but a study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center offers a potential explanation for why the disease becomes chemoresistant, and a possible avenue to explore new diagnostic approaches.

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Baylor University Medical Center is the first in North Texas to offer the only FDA approved CAR-T cellular therapy to treat diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. (DLBCL)

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UT Southwestern researchers identify a hormone that acts on the brain to increase the desire to drink water in response to specific nutrient stresses that can cause dehydration.

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Dr. Herbert J. Zeh III, an innovator and leader in the field of pancreatic diseases and pancreatic cancer, has been selected as the next Chair of the Department of Surgery.

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Jane Mayer, author of the nonfiction bestseller “Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right,” will speak at UT Austin this Friday about how untraceable corporate money is affecting American democracy.

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Patients with cholangiocarcinoma, a form of liver cancer, were never candidates for liver transplant in the past. However, a new study looking at treating these patients with chemotherapy treatment first.

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The Tiny Tot Clinic helps premature babies realize their full potential.

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Houston Methodist Global Health Services is working with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Health to decrease sepsis across the entire area.

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UT Southwestern’s Dr. Deepak Nijhawan became a co-recipient of the 2018 Donald Seldin-Holly Smith Award for Pioneering Research. The award recognizes Dr. Nijhawan’s work identifying targets for cancer treatment.

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A rare, inherited neurodegenerative disorder will soon be the focus of an international clinical research effort led by Houston Methodist and funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health.

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Judith Smith, now 71, was at a routine appointment several years ago with her longtime ophthalmologist when the doctor made a comment that her right eye looked a little suspicious for glaucoma, an incurable disease that occurs when the optic nerve is damaged by pressure building inside the eye. Smith didn’t think she needed to worry about it since her doctor had just mentioned it in passing, so she put it out of her mind. A year later, when Smith returned for her checkup, her doctor was shocked to find that the optic nerve in her eye was already compromised and possibly permanently damaged.

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Prominent health professionals will address students, faculty, staff and guests when the six schools of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) hold their 2018 commencement ceremonies.

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Underage drinking can lead to risky or harmful behaviors that include unintentional and unprotected sex, physical and sexual assault, traffic and other injuries, suicide, homicide, and overdoses. Binge drinking among adults is defined as five drinks consumed during two hours by adult men and four drinks by adult women – typically producing a blood alcohol level (BAL) of ≥0.08%. Adolescents can reach a similar BAL after consuming fewer drinks. This paper explored whether and how different levels of adolescent drinking affected associations with health-risk behaviors.

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Surgeons at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) are seeking community input for a proposed study into the effectiveness of a potential treatment for trauma-related abdominal bleeding.

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Researchers at McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have been awarded grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to explore how the buildup of protein deposits in the brain can trigger dementia and stroke.

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The term “superfluid quasicrystal” sounds like something a comic-book villain might use to carry out his dastardly plans. In reality, it’s a new form of matter proposed by theoretical physicists at The University of Texas at Dallas in a recent study published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

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People who are “secure” in interpersonal settings are most likely to engage in social projection (making choices on behalf of others based on their own preferences). Those who are “anxious” are less likely to assume that others share their preferences and less likely to make choices for others based on their personal attitudes.

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McCombs School of Business Dean Jay Hartzell has appointed Raji Srinivasan as the school’s first associate dean for diversity and inclusion, effective July 1, 2018. The search process included multiple engagements with faculty, staff, and students across the university who provided valuable insight and feedback that assisted in selection of this pivotal role.

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At the heart of any cancer diagnosis or treatment are cells. If one thinks of the cell components controlling gene activation as a Russian nesting-doll of gene regulatory layers, within those increasingly smaller tiers are short pieces of non-coding DNA called enhancers. A study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reveals enhancers as a significant area of research for diagnosing and/or treating many cancers.

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Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have found a startling amount of new information about molecular features of tumors as well as identified previously unknown cancer subtypes based on a comprehensive analysis of 2,579 tumors from breast and four different types of gynecologic cancers. These new findings potentially could serve as a launching pad for future therapeutic studies.

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Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a complex trait, both in its causes and characteristics. Individuals’ sensitivity to alcohol can predict their risk of adverse alcohol outcomes like AUD. Further, AUD runs in families, reflecting in part a genetic component. Alcohol sensitivity includes multiple sub-types whose characteristics (phenotypes) reflect the genetic and environmental factors that interact to produce the disorder. This critical review examines phenotypes related to a person’s response to alcohol, with an emphasis on specific gene variants that potentially impact alcohol sensitivity.

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Four months after Hurricane Harvey soaked the Houston area and displaced more than a third of the population, an alarming 52 percent of Harris County residents said they were still struggling to recover, according to a new report from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health.

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Baylor Scott & White Health leaders joined Buda city officials today to celebrate the start of construction on a new medical center set to open in summer 2019.

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T Southwestern Medical Center Professor Dr. Zhijian “James” Chen today became the recipient of the 2018 Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences for his discovery of the cGAS enzyme, a sensor of innate immunity. The enzyme patrols the cell’s interior and sounds the alarm to trigger the immune system in response to DNA.

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A one-two combo punch using two currently available drugs could be an effective treatment for the majority of lung cancers, a study by scientists with UT Southwestern’s Simmons Cancer Center shows.

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Alcohol use in social settings can have both desirable and undesirable effects – ranging from better mood and less anxiety to verbal and physical aggression, including violence. These outcomes often reflect the interplay of factors that are both internal and external to an individual. Intra-individual differences in alcohol reactions contribute to the various internal responses to drinking that a person may have; for example, alcohol can induce both positive and negative effects in the same person at different times. However, how that person acts upon impulses that he or she may have can depend on inter-individual differences, such as the individual’s frequency or intensity of drinking in comparison to others. This study examined the influence of inter-individual differences in alcohol use on intra-individual perceptions of drinking during real-world social interactions.

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Texas Tech University’s College of Education has been awarded a grant worth $1,464,882 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the establishment of a data-management system within the University School Partnerships for the Renewal of Education Preparation (US PREP) National Center.

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A first-of-its-kind drug targeting a fused gene found in many types of cancer was effective in 93 percent of pediatric patients tested, researchers at UT Southwestern’s Simmons Cancer Center announced.

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The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) has awarded UT Southwestern researchers more than $27 million, including nearly $3 million for two key cancer screening programs in underserved areas.

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More than a dozen UT Southwestern Simmons Cancer Center researchers received awards from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) for research into breast, prostate, brain, kidney, liver, and pediatric cancers.

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Baylor Scott & White McLane Children’s Medical Center and Clinics care for children and their families with compassion and quality care, and the newest four-legged staff member, Lorenzo, plans to do the same by motivating and supporting patients with gentle snuggles and a warm heart. Lorenzo, a certified facility dog from Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), who will assist the medical center’s Child Life Program and becomes the first facility dog from CCI to join a Texas pediatric (children's) hospital.

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Researchers from UT Southwestern’s Charles and Jane Pak Center for Mineral Metabolism and Clinical Research and Internal Medicine’s Division of Nephrology recently published work in Nature that reveals the molecular structure of the so-called “anti-aging” protein alpha Klotho (a-Klotho) and how it transmits a hormonal signal that controls a variety of biologic processes.

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Making the transition from high school to college may be stressful — but it can be downright depressing for students who graduate from a school with peers of high academic ability and wind up at a college with students of lesser ability, according to a new study.

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By detailing the mechanisms underlying the development of medulloblastoma tumors, these findings could lead to new treatments, noted Dr. Mukhopadhyay, a W.W. Caruth, Jr. Scholar in Biomedical Research.

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Unmanned aerial systems experts from UTEP are leading a team made up of leaders from El Paso County, the City of El Paso, El Paso International Airport and other local government entities that will install the country’s first countywide-area operational low-altitude UAS Traffic Management system.

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The McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin is expanding its healthcare portfolio with the addition of the Health Informatics and Health IT Certificate Program.

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Scientists have found a genetic trigger that may improve the brain’s ability to heal from a range of debilitating conditions, from strokes to concussions and spinal cord injuries.

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UT Southwestern Medical Center is implementing education and research programs in Texas schools to address a startling rise in teen depression and suicide across the country.

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For the first time, researchers in the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University have provided the strongest evidence to date that grade retention in the elementary grades hurts students’ chances of graduating high school.

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Research in an arid area of Texas has yielded a statewide rainwater harvesting award for a group at The University of Texas at El Paso.

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GCOOS announced that it has received official certification from the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (U.S. IOOS®) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Certification means that GCOOS is meeting federal standards for data gathering and management and operates inclusively, transparently and seeks user input to determine system priorities.

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For the first time, El Pasoans can access the highest-level stroke treatment available without having to leave home. On Friday, March 9, University Medical Center of El Paso (UMC)

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GCOOS and Mississippi State University have developed a short survey to query the public — especially residents in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas and Florida — about their beach visits and help make beach days more enjoyable.

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Less nutritious dietary choices made by South Asians living in developed countries like the U.S. are a key contributor to the group’s rising rate of Type 2 diabetes, UT Southwestern researchers report.

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Researchers at Houston Methodist used computer modeling to find an existing investigational drug compound for leukemia patients to treat triple negative breast cancer once it spreads to the brain.

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Texas A&M researchers are using redundancy in stored files to correct errors.

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A UT Southwestern study in mice provides new clues about how a class of anti-rejection drugs used after organ transplants may also slow the progression of early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.

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A report that Americans are drinking a lot of coffee might be good news in the battle against colon cancer, scientists with the Simmons Cancer Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center say.

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Scott & White Medical Center – Temple, part of Baylor Scott & White, is one of 15 U.S. hospitals selected to participate in the American College of Cardiology Patient Navigator Program: Focus MI Quality Campaign as a “Diplomat Hospital.” This is an expanded version of the original Patient Navigator Program launched in 2013. Scott & White – Temple was one of 35 pioneering hospitals chosen to provide personalized services to heart disease patients to help them avoid a quick return to the hospital.