Low’s New Life Blends Interests

In retirement, M. David Low, M.D., Ph.D., is returning to his geographical and medical roots – British Columbia and neurological research – with an added twist from his days at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Working with a team of researchers from the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria, Low will explore the impact of educational intervention on health, starting in childhood. The project will use state-of-the-art neurological imaging and also will tap extensive databases tracking the health, medical history and educational attainment of British Columbians born in the past 19 years.

Neurological imaging was his specialty as a physician, the impact of education on health his most recent focus as professor and holder of the Rockwell Chair in Society and Health at the UT School of Public Health at Houston.

Cultivating the big-picture issues of social determinants of health – income, status and education – is part of Low’s legacy to the institution and to Houston. “These social, economic and environmental aspects of health were missing from health care,” Low said. “Virtuoso scientific achievements in understanding the molecular basis of disease left out these important factors in the origins of illness.“

The health science center established the Center for Society and Population Health in the School of Public Health, and Low played a central role in establishing the Texas Program in Society and Health with the Baker Institute at Rice University to address social determinants of health in research, teaching and ultimately in policy decisions.

Looking back on his presidency from 1989 to 2000, Low notes some important priorities that he pursued from day one.

The health science center reached out, participating in clinics such as those at Acres Homes, Rusk Elementary School and the Good Neighbor Clinic. A mobile clinic went to work in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and the institutions affiliated with the Harris County Hospital District, providing medical care at LBJ Hospital and in four clinics. Educational outreach included programs that connected with public schools to boost math and science education and encourage students to pursue health and medical careers.

Another initiative aimed at discovering community needs. “What we needed was a health intelligence unit,” Low said. Working with St. Luke’s Episcopal Health Charities, the School of Public Health did just that, assessing health needs in the 57-county Episcopal Diocese of Texas and helping the SLEHC focus its charitable donations on fundamental health problems.

During Low’s administration, there were a number of initiatives large and small designed to encourage collaboration and a sense of cohesion among the six schools of the health science center.

“The important thing was that each of the six schools sees itself as part of a whole that was collectively more and better than the individual schools were alone,” Low said. “We made progress on that, and it’s still important.”