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MEDICAL SCHOOL
EVALUATION & GRADUATION
San Antonio Historical

Advancements and Developments

of Modern Medicine

By Noor Wadi, OMS-I and Abdullah Ghali, MS-III

The development of accessible health care in San Antonio is due to Among other branches of the institution, The Barshop Institute for
an exponentially growing population with a vast base of ethnicities that Longevity and Aging Studies is now the only aging-intensive research
mimic populations throughout the nation. This allows San Antonio to institute in the country to have four designations. The designations are
rapidly develop into a city now home to 29 large-scale health care facil- two NIA-funded centers (Nathan Shock and Claude D. Pepper), a test-
ities spanning the region and servicing the community. Along with ded- ing site of the NIA-sponsored Interventions Testing Program and a U.S.
ication to service, health care development has brought along the Department of Veterans Affairs Geriatric Research, Education and
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advances of multiple research centers invested in creating solutions that Clinical Center. Their team, along with the collaboration with Sam
impact local and international challenges in health care. San Antonio and Ann Barshop Institute, the University of Michigan and the Jackson
has grown to develop into the top three Texas cities for funding from Laboratory, developed the anti-aging drug Rapamycin. This is currently
the National Institutes of Health in the Fiscal Year of 2021, with the in clinical trials and showing promising results in geriatric patients. This
UT Health San Antonio (UT Health) alone receiving $116,658,251 key development will lead to further studies assessing its application in
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in funding in the year 2021. There are over 600 research projects con- treatment for patients with Alzheimer’s and prostate cancer.
ducted at University Hospital alone, including clinical trials in collabo- These are a few among many exciting advances in science and the
ration with the UT Health San Antonio system. This allows for the health care field as San Antonio develops into a health care destina-
development of novel treatments and further understanding of disorders tion. The accessibility to health care and drive to continue enhancing
that affect our communities. and widening the depth of knowledge available is felt throughout
UT Health holds a legacy in research innovation. It is home to the many of our local institutions. The ability to have access to the latest
development of the first clinical estrogen receptor test developed by clinical trials for risk populations is invaluable to those in search of
Dr. William L. McGuire, MD, former Chief of Medical Oncology at limited treatment options.
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UT Health. This novel discovery allowed for further depth of under-
standing of the estrogen receptor, which lead to the development of Abdullah Ghali is a third year medical student at the UT
targeted anti-estrogen receptor drugs for treatment of breast cancer. Health San Antonio Long School of Medicine.
This development opened the door to current research projects inves-
tigating the efficacy of 12 breast cancer management clinical trials led Noor Wadi is a first year Osteopathic medical student at the
by UT Health for FDA registration. One of the projects that can be University of Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine.
highlighted is the development of an antidepressant that functions as
an inhibitor of breast cancer proliferation. This was developed by Dr. Sources:
1,3
Manjeet Rao, PhD and colleagues. These developments were pre- 1. Honoring a Foundation of Innovation. Magazines of the Schools
sented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, the world’s cur- at UT Health San Antonio. (2020, October 22).
rent largest symposium devoted to breast cancer research nationwide. 2. Hospitals by County. Txcip.org. Published 2019. Accessed March
The UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center estab- 28, 2021.
lished the Mays Cancer Center as the only National Cancer Institute- 3. Manjeet Rao, Ph.D. - Feature Presentation at 2020 San Antonio
designated cancer center in South Texas. Community members Breast Cancer Symposium. Cell Systems and Anatomy
seeking clinical trials for the management of certain adult and pedi- 4. Our Cancer Research | UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson
atric cancers can find them exclusively at the Mays Cancer Center. The Cancer Center. (2021). UTHSCSA
Mays Cancer Center also developed the Greehey Children’s Cancer 5. “RePORT 〉 RePORTER.” National Institutes of Health, U.S.
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Research Institute. It remains as one of the few institutes that explores Department of Health and Human Services 2021 Funding.
pediatric cancer methods, prevention and treatment options to de-
crease the instance of cancer prevalence in South Texas.

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