UT Health San Antonio and Collaborators Receive $46 Million Grant from the National Institutes of Health

Posted in Member News and Profiles | August 30, 2023

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and seven other regional collaborators have received a $46 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant will be used to translate scientific discoveries into theraputic benefits for human health and well-being over the next five to seven years, specifically focusing on health disparities among Mexican Americans, active military personnel and veterans. President of UT Health San Antonio William L. Henrich, MD, MACP, announced the funding on August 17, thanking the collaborators who supported the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) application. Partners include the University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School and College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at San Antonio, the Texas Biomedical Research Institute, The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, San Antonio Military Health System, South Texas Veterans Health Care System and University Health.

UT Health San Antonio was first awarded CTSA funding in 2008 and achieved grant renewals in 2013 and 2018. With previous awards and supplements and the latest grants, the NIH investment in South and Central Texas through the CTSA program is expected to reach $126 million by 2030. The program will strive to accelerate innovations to improve health and reduce disease. Building health equity requires community engagement, and the program’s researchers will work closely with community members to make innovations actionable and culturally tailored.

While previous grants have funded year-long projects at $50,000, the new funding will support larger pilot projects at $125,000 to $150,000, said Ken M. Hargreaves, DDS, PhD, professor and chair of endodontics in the UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry. Hargreaves is also a member of the Multiple Principal Investigator group, which leads the UT Health San Antonio CTSA program, alongside Jennifer Sharpe Potter, PhD, MPH, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and vice president for research, Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH, MPH, professor and chair of population health sciences in the Long School of Medicine, and Robert A. Clark, MD, professor of medicine and director of the Institute for Integration of Medicine & Science (IIMS). UT Health San Antonio is currently the only academic medical center in Texas to have each of the following recognitions: the Clinical and Translational Science Award, the National Institute on Aging-designated Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center.