BROWNSVILLE, RGV – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and UTHealth in Houston are teaming up to fast track the development of new treatments for disease.
The Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences at UTHealth recently announced that is partnering with UTRGV on clinical trials and other research.
Joseph McCormick, MD, the director of the center’s clinical research unit in Brownsville, spoke about the new partnership in an exclusive interview with the Rio Grande Guardian.
McCormick is a professor with UTHealth School of Public Health in Brownsville and director of the clinical research unit in Brownsville operated by The Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences.
“In this new award, one of the areas being developed is for us to be able to do clinical trials,” McCormick said.
“This means being able to test new medicines with our populiation.”
McCormick said that currently, a lot of the clinical trials fail to include minority populations.
A news release from UTHealth Houston stated:
“Bolstered by more than $37 million in renewed funding from the National Institutes of Health, four institutions in The University of Texas System, along with Rice University, are partnering to expand clinical and translational research, producing better health outcomes for those in Texas and across the nation.
“The expansion, made possible by the five-year federal grant, builds upon the formative work of the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences, which The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center first established in 2006 with one of the NIH’s inaugural Clinical and Translational Science Awards.”
Giuseppe N. Colasurdo, MD, UTHealth president and Alkek-Williams Distinguished Chair, said: “Working with our partners across the state, UTHealth will continue to improve the efficiency, quality, and impact of translational research.
“This collaboration will enable our researchers to accelerate the discovery and delivery of new, targeted treatments that will improve patient outcomes and drive innovation across the health care system.”
Editor’s Note: Dr. Joseph B. McCormick is featured in the main image accompanying the above news story.
