Message from the Dean
Please see corrected "Medical Students in the Real World" story.
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This month the UTRGV School of Medicine has had much to celebrate as we continue our efforts of transforming the healthcare and educational landscape of the Rio Grande Valley.
Our UTRGV Institute of Neuroscience opened its doors with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting event.
The neuroscience facility will act as a hub for multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research, education, clinical care and community partnership facility with a central goal: transforming brain health in the Valley and beyond.
I want to thank and congratulate our faculty, staff, and community partners who have made the institute a reality. This Institute of Neuroscience is a concrete example of UTRGV’s mission to provide leading-edge research, as well as educational and clinical care opportunities to this area of the country.
In addition, this month we welcomed new faculty members to our School of Medicine family. We welcome, Dr. Duncan Ramsey, Dr. Steven Toller, Dr. Carlos Villalta, and Dr. Luis Reyes and wish them great success within our institution.
Also worth noting, Dr. Al Rawwad and Dr. Sandoval's proposal for research, "The Role of Community Pharmacists in the provision of Medication-Assisted Treatment in the RGV," has been selected for funding. The grant will allow both Dr. Al Rawwad and Dr. Sandoval to examine different methods of improving the health outcomes of patients with opioid use disorders.
We congratulate them on their efforts.
Please take a moment to read these and other great School of Medicine developments that took place recently.
We will continue to make progress on our goals of transforming the health of the RGV through innovative education, life changing research and discoveries, high quality patient centered care, serving our community, and sustainability and a culture of entrepreneurship.
Sincerely,
Michael B. Hocker, MD, MHS
Dean, School of Medicine
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Ribbon cutting officially opens UTRGV Institute of Neuroscience in Harlingen |
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The UTRGV School of Medicine, together with its clinical arm UT Health RGV, officially opened its Institute of Neuroscience (ION) with a ribbon-cutting event on Tuesday.
The institute, which broke ground in 2019, is an all-encompassing research, education, clinical care and community partnership facility with the goal of transforming brain health for the Rio Grande Valley community.
ION will bring advanced care and training in specialized neurological medical treatments and research to the Valley.
UTRGV President Guy Bailey said partnerships with the South Texas Medical Foundation – which gifted the 35 acres on which the institute is being built – the City of Harlingen, and the Valley Baptist Legacy Foundation, which contributed $15 million to support the operations of the institute, have made it possible to bring ION to fruition.
“The Institute of Neuroscience is really transformative, for the UTRGV School of Medicine and for the Valley,” Bailey said. “This building is going to house a lot of folks who are going to transform the lives of the people of the Valley.
“We thank our partners – including the City of Harlingen, the Valley Baptist Legacy Foundation, and the South Texas Medical Foundation – for helping us take this bold step in fulfilling our commitment of improving healthcare in South Texas,” he said.
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UTRGV School of Medicine
Faculty Assembly Executive Committee named
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The Faculty Assembly Executive Committee membership has changed as a result of the elections held over the summer, the appointments are as follows: |
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Dr. Jose Campo Maldonado Chair Elect |
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Dr. Evan Perez Secretary Treasurer |
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Dr. Lubnaa Abdullah Representative |
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Dr. Eron Manusov
Past Chair
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Additionally, the three representatives from the UTRGV Faculty Senate are Dr. Henry Reinhart, Dr. Pad Rengasamy, and Dr. Sarah Williams-Blangero.
The FAEC works closely with Dr. Michael Hocker, the Dean of the School of Medicine to carry out the School of Medicine's mission and values.
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October's Incoming Faculty |
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Below is a list of our new faculty members. We welcome our new faculty members and thank them for joining us as we work to increase access to high-quality care in our community:
Incoming Faculty
- Dr. Duncan Ramsey - Surgery
- Dr. Steven Toller - Surgery
- Dr. Carlos Villalta - Pediatrics
- Dr. Luis Reyes - Surgery
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Dr. Al Rawwad and Dr. Sandoval's proposal for opioid use disorder research selected for funding |
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This month, Dr. Tamara Al Rawwad and Dr. Adrian Sandoval's proposal for the School of Social Work's Internal Research Grants Program, titled, "The Role of Community Pharmacists in the provision of Medication-Assisted Treatment in the Rio Grande Valley," has been selected for funding.
The program is part of a US Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) strategic plan to combat opioid abuse with multidisciplinary approaches to provide support services to prevent, treat, and rehabilitate those who have misused opioids.
This research is unique because it involves community pharmacists in the RGV, who will provide their perspective on their role in the provision of [Medication for Opioid Use Disorder] MOUD based on their understanding and involvement with the community and the culture.
This research will allow both Dr. Al Rawwad and Dr. Sandoval to examine different methods of improving the health outcomes of patients with opioid use disorder, thorough nursing, public health, and social work perspective.
This research will also allow Dr. Sandoval, as the co-investigator and clinical pharmacist specialist to expand his ongoing effort in addressing the opioid use in the RGV region, by exploring the role of pharmacist in MOUD management.
Congratulations to both Dr. Tamara Al Rawwad and Dr. Adrian Sandoval for their continued work and dedication to serving the UTRGV School of Medicine community.
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Medical Students in the Real World |
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Omar Karkoutly, a MS Biochemistry and Molecular Biology student, is working with Dr. Manish Tripathi- Assistant Professor from the department of Immunology and Microbiology, towards his thesis completion.
Dr. Anupam Dhasmana, Dr. Vijian Dhevan, and Dr. Subhash C. Chauhan are co-authors of the mini-review.
Omar also received the Best Poster Award and People's Choice Award at the International Conference on Cancer Health Disparities organized by the UTRGV School of Medicine in August 2021.
He was recently accepted to the UTRGV School of Medicine's entering class of 2022 and is excited to continue pursuing a career in medicine.
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Justin Wendel, a graduate student and class president in the Master of Physician Assistant Studies program is working towards his research interest in cancer biology with Dr. Manish Tripathi - Assistant Professor from the department of Immunology and Microbiology.
Ashmit Verma, Dr. Vijian Dhevan, and Dr. Subhash C. Chauhan, are the co-authors of the mini-review.
In addition, Justin has also been accepted for a clinical rotation in medical oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center starting this coming January 2022.
He is a candidate for a 12-month post-graduate fellowship in clinical and research oncology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX.
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SGA Treasurer, Prakhar Jain discusses passion for helping people |
Meet UTRGV medical student and Student Government Association Treasurer, Prakhar Jain.
Jain, originally from McAllen, Texas, attended The University of Texas at Pan American and majored in psychology before joining the UTRGV School of Medicine.
Jain, who has an interest for researching hospital medicine, tells us why he decided to join student government and why diversity matters.
"I joined SGA because I believe I can promote diversity and inclusion amongst my student colleagues by empowering every student to follow their interests, become leaders, and expand our school's collection of student interest groups," he said. " I hope to encourage those at our school who may feel that there is no place for them in the current interest groups to start their own and become leaders."
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Your gift to the School of Medicine supports our mission to educate a diverse group of medical students and future scientists to benefit the Rio Grande Valley and the world.
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The University of Texas
Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
Phone: (956) 296-1900
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