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Development Board Members Head Back to School
Visits help board members learn about the university's activities and projects first-hand
Minus the bells and yellow buses, it was back to school time for Development Board members of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
At the UT School of Health Information Sciences at Houston, Development Board member Gail Adler wears 3-D glasses while exploring virtual reality applications and interacting with virtual molecular structures.
At sessions in April they were given lessons on science at the UT Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston (GSBS) and the UT School of Health Information Sciences at Houston.
Launched by the Office of Development in collaboration with the Office of Public Affairs in fall 2004, the Back to School sessions help educate Development Board members about the health science center using a "hands on" approach in classrooms and laboratories. The school deans, faculty, students and alumni discuss current research and clinical projects.
The first sessions were at the UT Medical School at Houston and the UT School of Nursing at Houston. The other schools and the UT Harris County Psychiatric Center also have hosted sessions.
"These sessions are an excellent way to learn about the university's exciting activities and projects firsthand," said Development Board chairman Brad Howell, who attended the recent sessions. "Getting up close and personal with our talented faculty, students and alumni really enhances our understanding of what goes on in a bustling academic health care setting."
In April, board members were introduced to the world of biomedical science by GSBS Dean George Stancel, Ph.D., the John P. McGovern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Endowed Professor. The lunchand-learn session was held in the Onstead Auditorium of the school's home, the June and Virgil Waggoner Academic Hall, within the George and Cynthia Mitchell Basic Sciences Research Building of the UT M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Pointing out that GSBS trains the largest number of biomedical science doctorates in the state, Stancel said, "We see our goal as conducting world class biomedical research that will help our faculty develop new treatments and cures to prevent human diseases, and where all students can get a world class education. That's really what we're here for."
GSBS faculty members and genetic counselors Leslie Colvin-James and Jennifer Hoskovec discussed the role genetic counselors play in helping individuals and families understand genetic testing and the risks involved. Hoskovec, a GSBS alumna, is a genetic counselor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Medical School. The GSBS is the only school in Texas that offers genetic counseling training.
UT Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston student Megalie Leduc discusses research in cholesterol/lipid metabolism with UT Health Science Center at Houston Development Board member David Grimes. Photos by Jacqueline Preston
Eleven award-winning GSBS students gave a scientific poster primer displaying sample health and scientific problems involved in their research studies - from understanding the genetics of blood clotting to unraveling the molecular mystery of why some pain relievers affect men differently from women.
The UT School of Health Information Sciences (SHIS) hosted an afternoon Back to School session in April in the 14th floor classrooms and laboratory in University Center Tower. SHIS Interim Dean Jack W. Smith, M.D., Ph.D., explained how information sciences can arm patients and health care providers with the knowledge needed for customized treatment.
"Our goal is to advance personalized health care by providing the right information to the right person at the right time in the right format," said Smith, who also has a faculty appointment in GSBS. "We use information technology to do just that."
Smith said that health information technology is critical to reducing the high number of medical errors. "Approximately 98,000 people die each year due to medical errors," Smith said. "That's more than the number of people who die of AIDS and motor vehicle accidents combined."
Two SHIS alumni, Betty Souther, Ph.D., and Constance Johnson, Ph.D., shared their experiences in the classroom and on the job.
Earning her doctorate in nursing and teaching, Souther recognized the value of health informatics after practicing as a registered nurse. She became one of the first SHIS master's degree graduates and today is a senior systems analyst at Texas Children's Hospital, where she helps develop electronic medical records.
Johnson is a registered nurse who earned master's and Ph.D. degrees in informatics at SHIS. She is currently an instructor at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, where she is working with a multidisciplinary team to develop a risk assessment model.
Smith discussed how cell phones and games are being used to help children with type 1 diabetes control their condition. The cell phone-based game called INSULOT, combining the terms insulin and slot machine, is what Smith calls an "edutainment learning tool." Designed by Noriaki Aoki, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor and alumnus, INSULOT is a special three-window slot machine that shows how blood sugar, food and insulin work together.
Ananth Annapragrada, Ph.D., associate professor at SHIS and GSBS, and Natalya Mishchiy, SHIS doctoral candidate, presented a lesson on lung simulations and customized drug delivery to help physicians provide more effective inhalation drug therapies with fewer side effects.
Participants in the SHIS Back to School session donned 3-D glasses for a view of molecules in the school's 3-D Visualization Facility. Built by Keck postdoctoral fellow Stefan Birmanns, Ph.D., the facility is directed by Willy Wriggers, Ph.D., assistant professor at SHIS and GSBS and director of the Laboratories for Biocomputing and Imaging at SHIS and the Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases.
Smith said the 3-D models are helping scientists understand how molecules work. "By rotating molecules and seeing a high resolution structure, we can actually see how molecules approach each other and act like a lock and key," Smith said.
Development Board member Gail Adler was particularly impressed with the colorful 3-D molecular images. "The faculty and staff worked very hard to educate us as lay people," Adler said. "Now we can be ambassadors to share what we've learned with others so that they can see these molecules in living color as a merger of science and art and be enlightened about biomedicine and the great research being performed at the school."
By Jacqueline Preston, Development