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Castro Assumes Joint UT Appointment
Between Houston and El Paso
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Vice President for Academic Affairs Gilbert A. Castro, Ph.D., has started a new, dual role both as vice president for health affairs at UT El Paso and as vice president for inter-institutional relations at the Houston campus.
Gilbert A. Castro, Ph.D.
Castro, who has worked at the UT Health Science Center for nearly 30 years and has served as an advisor and consultant to many UTEP programs during that time, now splits his time in a joint appointment between the health science center in Houston and El Paso.
As part of a major administrative change announced July 16 by UTEP President Diana Natalicio, Ph.D., the newly created position oversees UTEP’s health-related research and education partnerships. These cooperative programs include the master’s degree offered by the El Paso Regional Campus of the UT School of Public Health at Houston, the UTEP/UT-Austin Doctor of Pharmacy degree, collaborations with Texas Tech’s medical school, and a number of other health-related initiatives.
“UTEP’s biomedical and health portfolio has grown to be considerably larger than those at most academic institutions,” Natalicio said. “Coordinating and leveraging these many programs and activities will be critical to UTEP’s – and this region’s – future success.”
Castro, who joined the UT Health Science Center’s faculty at the institution’s inception in 1972, served as interim vice president for academic affairs and research from 2001 to 2003. He also is associate dean for special projects and professor in the Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology at the UT Medical School at Houston.
“Dr. Castro brings an extensive knowledge of both UT Health Science Center at Houston and UTEP to this appointment,” said UT Health Science Center Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Michael D. McKinney, M.D. “He also embodies the cooperative spirit so necessary in our partnership with our sister UT institution in El Paso. Students of both universities will benefit greatly from his work.”