Synapse - Life Sciences News Digest of the Medical center of the americas

UTEP has been awarded a $578,162 grant by the National Science Foundation to fund the Student Mentoring to Achieve Retention: Triads in Science (SMARTS) program. The grant will support the program’s focus to improve the retention of undergraduate students in their majors by providing increased access to educational and research training activities within science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. 

“The goal is to enhance the research experience of undergraduates, and allow graduate students to mentor and train other students,” said Renato Aguilera, Ph.D., professor of biological sciences and principle investigator of the grant along with Lourdes Echegoyen, director of the College Office... [more]

Jorge Gardea-Torresdey, PhD, chairman of the Department of Chemistry and Dudley Professor of Chemistry and Environmental Science & Engineering at the University of Texas at El Paso, was named one of 10 Piper Professors for superior teaching at the college level by The Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation. The distinction is one of the most prestigious awards bestowed on a higher education professor in the State of Texas. Gardea-Torresday was recognized for his ground-breaking work in microscopic nanoparticles while keeping the academic interests of his students a priority.

"In Dr. Gardea's 20-year tenure on this campus, he has strengthened UTEP's international reputation as a... [more]

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing has been working to develop a Centralized Clinical Nursing Scheduler Software Program. This program will allow hospital and nurse educators to track nursing students as they rotate through various clinical practicum rotations. The program was developed by the TTUHSC Paul L. Foster School of Medicine and nursing leadership at William Beaumont Army Medical Center (WBAMC).

“The Centralized Clinical Nursing Scheduler Program responds to the urgent need to automate the labor-intensive task of requesting clinical practicum rotations for nursing students in El Paso. It will maximize the use of clinical... [more]

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded the University of Texas at El Paso a federal grant of $100,000 per year for four years to support the university’s drug abuse and addiction summer research program. The Summer Mentoring & Research Training: Methods in Neuroscience of Drug Abuse, or SMART MIND program, is set to start May 14. The 11-week program will introduce eight undergraduate students – four from UTEP and four from other universities across the country – to participate in neuroscience research related to drug use. It will also involve two high school teacher-student teams for six... [more]

TTUHSC Paul L. Foster School of Medicine plans to begin recruiting fellows in July 2013 for its medical toxicology fellowship, which was accredited in 2010. The fellowship is a 24-month training program uniquely designed to leverage the breadth of pathology endemic on the U.S./Mexico border. Fellows will experience a curriculum that includes active involvement in managing chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear exposures. Fellows will gain experience in the evaluation and management of an array of differential diagnoses. The experience offers an unparalleled interface with toxicological issues distinctive to the border region. They will also benefit in leading research being carried out at... [more]

     The University of Texas at El Paso School of Nursing has been awarded nearly $4 million from the U.S. Department of Labor to accelerate the training of future registered nurses and address the nursing shortage in Texas.  UTEP is spearheading the efforts to create the Successful Transition and Retention (STaR) Program, a new graduate nurse residency program that will provide education, training and job placement assistance in the registered nurse occupation. Currently, employers are using H-1B visas to hire foreign nurses to fill those positions. The goal of the STaR program is to raise the professional and technical skill level of... [more]

The White House announced a proposed $8 billion program on Monday (Feb. 13) to help community colleges quickly train up to two million people for good-paying jobs in high-growth industries, such as health care, transportation and advanced manufacturing.  The program would transform two-year colleges into community career centers.  Funding would go to colleges and states to partner with businesses to train workers. The program would also help train entrepreneurs, and in partnership with participating businesses, provide student internships for real-life work experience.  President Barack Obama’s proposal is part of his overall budget plan.

"El Paso Community College will definitely work with our community... [more]

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine is this year’s host of the 43^rd annual meeting of the Texas Association of Advisors for the Health Professions (TAAHP), which takes place at the Camino Real Hotel Feb. 9-11. As the newest medical school in Texas, the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine now joins the eight other medical schools in the state to take its turn to host this conference.            

The purposes of TAAHP are to advance undergraduate education for all the health professions, to further the development of health science curricula, to facilitate the exchange and... [more]

On Saturday, Jan. 14, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Congressman Silvestre Reyes were on the MCA campus to discuss national issues as it affects the Paso del Norte region in terms of healthcare delivery, graduate medical education funding and biosciences research and innovation.

Leader Pelosi met with Dr. Manuel de la Rosa of TTUHSC Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Woody Hunt of the MCA Foundation Board of Directors, Dr. Jose Luna of University Medical Center of El Paso Board of Managers, and Larry Duncan of the El Paso Children’s Hospital. Leader Pelosi also received information on UTEP, NMSU and William Beaumont Army... [more]

The Wolslager Foundation recently donated $335,000 to Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso for scholarships to medical students enrolled in the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine as well as nursing students attending the Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing. Developing TTUHSC into a world-class training institution requires scholarships to attract the best and the brightest students. The foundation also contributed to Texas Tech’s University Breast Care Center. The UBCC provides comprehensive care for El Paso women with breast disease and brings screening and treatment to medically indigent patients, the target population of the UBCC.

The Wolslager Foundation was established... [more]

The Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday announced the membership of the newly formed VA advisory committee that "will provide a forum for joint planning and coordination between VA and the nation’s health professions schools and universities." The new 14-member panel "will advise Secretary Shinseki and Under Secretary for Health Robert A. Petzel on ways to further enhance what has become the largest public-private partnership in VA’s history and a cornerstone of American health professions education." Jordan J. Cohen, M.D., will chair the VA National Academic Affiliations Council. He is president-emeritus of the AAMC. Darrell G. Kirch, MD, AAMC's current President and... [more]

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine has soft-launched a new video highlighting the medical school’s research focus, research assets and recruitment of scientists. Interviews with researchers bring to light the value of El Paso as a living laboratory in terms of its unique Mexican-American population and its long generational lineages and stable gene pools. Because Mexican-Americans are a fast-growing segment of the U.S. population and because they are understudied in several areas of medicine, El Paso is poised to have an important contribution to the research needs of Mexican Americans in El Paso and across the... [more]

Those seeking to become registered dietitians often run into a big problem, there are twice as many applicants as internship programs available. New Mexico State University is helping to alleviate that problem with its newly accredited dietetic internship program. The program provides up to 12 slots for interns who have earned a bachelor's degree and met other program requirements. Before NMSU's dietetic internship opened, the nearest programs were in Arizona and north Texas. The internship is key to becoming a registered dietitian. Contact NMSU to learn more:  wmorgan@nmsu.edu or caturner@nmsu.edu.

Release 

... [more]

The Kohl's Cares program has awarded $97,000 to Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. The money will be used to expand the Kohl’s Safe Child Initiative website www.colech.edu.mx/kohls. Marie Leiner, Ph.D., a research associate professor with the Department of Psychiatry and Center of Excellence for Neurosciences plans to continue to add additional scenarios to the interactive website, which is designed to help adolescents and children make safe and wise choices in regard to their safety through a technique of vicarious learning. Since 2001 Kohl’s has donated more than $500,000 to Texas Tech through the Kohl's... [more]

The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) alumnus Mike Loya, president of energy giant Vitol Inc., pledged a $10 million gift on Oct. 19 to UTEP.  The gift is the largest donation to date to the Centennial Campaign, UTEP’s most ambitious fund raising effort with a goal of hitting $200 million by 2014, UTEP’s 100th anniversary.  Of the $10 million, $2 million will be used to expand doctoral programs, research initiatives, and promote entrepreneurship in UTEP’s College of Engineering. 

Loya’s gifts are expected to have a tremendous impact on UTEP students and greatly accelerate UTEP’s progress toward becoming the first national research... [more]

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has awarded the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the Texas Tech Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, a Pre-doctoral Training in Primary Care Award of $945,000 for the next five years. The project is called: “Expanding Family Medicine Training for Medical Students on the U.S./Mexico Border.”  The grant guarantees a smooth transition into the new Family Medicine clerkship and will allow the school offer innovative experiences for students. The aim is to stimulate student interest in family medicine with the intent of increasing service to underserved areas.

                  ... [more]

In a re-cap of the TTUHSC Paul L. Foster School of Medicine’s most important achievements over the last 12 months, J. Manuel de la Rosa, M.D., founding and regional dean for the school, points to the areas of education, research and patient care.

Education – Our charter class had a first time pass rate of 97 percent and an average score on the exam of 225 on the USMLE Step I exam. Some officials believe it exceeds national averages although that data won’t be available till later this year. Early reports indicate that they are better prepared for the trials of the clinical... [more]

UTEP and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are starting Buen Ambiente, Buena Salud: Educational Strategies for Addressing Air Quality on the Border. The five-year program is made possible with a $1.24 M grant from the EPA and $920 K from UTEP. The Center for Environmental Resource Management, under the direction of Dr. William Hargrove, principal investigator, will manage the project.

UTEP 

 Congressman Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) announced that the National Science Foundation and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will award the University of Texas at El Paso $1,274,921 in federal grant funding for solar energy research, computer technology, and to expand opportunities for students to pursue careers in health fields. For medical research and academic scholarships for health-occupation majors, HHS is awarding two grants totaling $689,921. More than $363,000 will be allotted for UTEP to conduct research into HIV prevention; more than $319,000 is for a scholarship program to benefit disadvantaged students pursuing degrees in clinical laboratory technology, speech pathology, pharmacy, occupational therapy, physical... [more]

The University of Texas at El Paso is featuring its newly expanded state-of-the-art simulation center in the new Health Sciences and Nursing Building. Members of the media have been invited to tour the 16,000-square-foot facility, which functions as a real-world hospital where students from the School of Nursing’s critical care program will practice their skills on actors posing as patients. The 54-bed facility is one of the largest university-based simulation centers in the country.  

The center features nine simulation laboratories; an apartment-style setting with bedroom furniture, kitchen and bathroom; four testing rooms; and six standardized patient... [more]

The Residency Review Committee of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has approved a new fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry for the Department of Psychiatry, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. The program is actively recruiting applicants, graduates of a psychiatry residency. Cecilia de Vargas, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry has been appointed program director. 

“The border region will benefit enormously from the fellowship training program especially if the fellows stay in this area because there is a great need for child and adolescent psychiatrists to serve a vast pediatric population... [more]

Texas Tech’s fledgling nursing school is putting the finishing touches on its transformation. It’s going from an extension campus of Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, to a stand-alone, fully accredited school in El Paso. Leading that effort is Josefina Lujan, Ph.D., R.N., interim dean. The El Paso Inc. did a Q&A with Lujan recently.

Q&A                 Faculty profile   

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has approved a doctoral program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) at The University of Texas at El Paso. The EEB doctoral program becomes UTEP’s 19th doctoral degree and will be available to students beginning in the fall 2011 semester.  It is expected to complement the existing Pathobiology Ph.D. program and the Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Engineering.

Release    
     

The University of Texas at El Paso has been awarded a $1.5 million grant to lead a  partnership with four other universities to help develop a pilot program to increase minority medical student enrollment, while decreasing the time and expense required to complete medical school. The funds are part of a $4 million grant awarded in May by The University of Texas System Board of Regents in support of the Transformation in Medical Education (TIME) initiative.

News story                     Release   

The UTEP School of Nursing is one of 63 schools that receive funding to award scholarships from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) through the RWJF New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program (NCIN). Grants provided through this competitive program will be given to students traditionally underrepresented in the field of nursing. NCIN was launched in 2008 to address the national nursing shortage and to fuel the pipeline of diverse nurse faculty.

Release  

$1M in grants will support math and science programs

El Paso Community College will receive almost $600,000 in grants from the National Science Foundation to provide scholarships through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for students pursing degrees in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  The University of Texas at El Paso also will receive $319,300 through the Department of Health and Human Services to support research in the areas of chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology, anesthesiology, and trauma.  The EP Pharma Inc. was also awarded a $138,400 grant through the Department of Health and Human Services to research preventions in... [more]

In the June 6, 2011 issue of The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education magazine, UTEP was named as the top nursing school for awarding bachelor’s degrees to Hispanics in the United States. Earlier this year, the publication ranked UTEP in the top 10 nationally in various academic specialties. This latest accolade adds momentum to a program which will soon get a tremendous boost in facilities with the opening of the new Health Sciences and Nursing Building later this summer. 

Hispanic Outlook                    News story  

The University of Texas at El Paso and the University of Texas at Austin are honoring six pre-pharmacy students today (June 3) during the 13th annual White Coat Ceremony taking place on the UTEP campus. The students are part of the UTEP-UT Austin Cooperative Pharmacy Program, a six-year curriculum that leads to a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the UT Austin College of Pharmacy in cooperation with UTEP’s College of Health Sciences. The program was created in 1999 to help alleviate the pharmacist shortage and increase the number of Latinos in the profession.  

UTEP Cooperative Pharmacy Program  

... [more]

A faculty member from The University of Texas at El Paso announced this week that he rediscovered four species of frogs during a recent African expedition, which bodes well for the planet’s endangered biodiversity. Eli Greenbaum, Ph.D., assistant professor of biological sciences, made the discoveries with African collaborators during his fifth venture to the Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this year. The discoveries by Greenbaum's team highlight the need for conservation efforts in the remote mountains of eastern Congo. He also rediscovered a fifth species during a 2009 trip to the Congo sponsored by the National... [more]

Leaders at the Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing have been successful with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Board of Nursing. The school has achieved freestanding status and now has 100 days to open. Dr. Josefina Lujan is the interim dean for the Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing. She is tasked with seating a class of 40 students in September, hiring faculty and staff, retrofitting her building, and preparing for her accreditation visits in 2012.

Meanwhile, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has approved the doctorate in nursing practice for the nursing school at the University of Texas... [more]

On April 8, a team of UTEP mechanical engineering students accomplished two flights onboard reduced-gravity research aircraft at Johnson Space Center in Houston. The team was selected by NASA late last year for microgravity construction welding technique experiments as part of NASA's System Engineering Educational Discovery Program. The team –Jorge Frias, Armando Delgado, Joseph Hernandez, and Mario Rubio – is planning to continue their work using material characterization techniques available at UTEP's College of Engineering.

A second UTEP team, led by Christopher White and Francisco Álvarez, was also selected to participate in NASA’s 2011 microgravity flight program for students of minority-serving... [more]

The El Paso Electric Company has given a $200,000 gift to The University of Texas at El Paso to help a student team enter the 2012 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, a national solar building competition. The team will include students from the colleges of Engineering, Liberal Arts and Business Administration.

Article                 UTEP article 

Michèle Shuster, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the biology department at New Mexico State University is co-author of “Biology for a Changing World,” a new textbook written specifically to help raise science understanding and knowledge for non-science majors and how it applies to a student's daily life. Shuster focuses on the scholarship of teaching and learning, studying introductory biology, microbiology and cancer biology classes at the undergraduate level. She also works on several K-12 science education programs.

Release

Forty-one senior medical students at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center – Paul L. Foster School of Medicine were given their residency assignments during 2011 Match Day, which took place March 17. Of the 41 medical students, two will stay in El Paso to practice emergency medicine:

• Dustin Corgan
• Yu He

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center-Paul L. Foster School of Medicine has been approved to start a three-year gastroenterology fellowship to begin in 2012.  There will be two fellows per year for the three-year program, for a total of six when fully filled said fellowship program director Marc J. Zuckerman, M.D. Internal Medicine Department Chairman Richard McCallum, M.D., said the development is great news for physicians and patients in El Paso who now have a national caliber faculty to serve them.

Thirty-five soldiers graduated from the 88th William Beaumont Army Medical Center Licensed Practical Nurse Course recently. The 52-week-long course is designed for enlisted soldiers during peace and mobilization. 

The U.S. Army Medical Department announced today the publication of Combat Orthopedic Surgery: Lessons Learned in Iraq and Afghanistan, a new medical textbook co-edited by Army Lieutenant Colonels Brett D. Owens, M.D. and Philip J. Belmont, Jr., M.D.  The textbook was launched this week at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons 2011 Annual Meeting. More than 50 military surgeons and scientists collaborated on this initiative to address a widely recognized need for an evidence-based resource that prepares military orthopedic surgeons facing deployment to today's combat zone.

"This project is exceptional because the contributing authors encapsulate a remarkable scope of experience," said co-editor Dr.... [more]

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) approved and accredited a two-year fellowship program in rheumatology and a three-year fellowship in cardiovascular disease. Both fellowships are cleared to recruit and matriculate their first class of fellows in July. The approval of these fellowships bring the total to five fellowships on the Texas Tech El Paso campus. The others are sports medicine (also cleared to recruit in July), imaging and medical toxicology. Fellowship training is subspecialty training beyond the three-to-five year residency training physicians complete upon graduation from medical school.

Release  

Bradley W. Lane, an assistant professor and transportation expert at the University of Texas at El Paso, is the co-author of a report on electric cars published this month by Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs, where he previously taught. A diverse panel of experts, including members of the auto industry, contributed to the report titled "Plug-in Electric Vehicles: A Practical Plan for Progress."

The Report

Article

The TTUHSC Paul L. Foster School of Medicine has received accreditation for a one-year Sports Medicine Fellowship, which will begin in July. The fellowship program received approval for four years. This is fellowship program has lead to a Texas Tech Department of Family and Community Medicine partnership with UTEP, many local high schools, the Sun City Athletic Trainers Association, the El Paso Diablos, the El Paso Marathon organization, and many other groups.

UTEP graduate Bob Malone and his wife gave the University of Texas at El Paso $1.5 million. Halliburton, a worldwide energy and oil company, gave an additional $500,000. Malone is a Halliburton board member. The donation will be used by the College of Engineering to start a new bachelor of science degree that will teach engineering students management skills.

Article

Forbes Magazine has ranked Texas Tech University-Lubbock, New Mexico State University and New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology as three of the best colleges for minorities pursuing opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The report, released Dec. 15, ranked Texas Tech at 7, NMSU at 13 and New Mexico Tech at 20.

Rankings list                               Forbes

An article in the Boston Globe on Jan. 10 discussed the increasing number of U.S. medical residency programs that are offering international experiences. The American Medical Association Journal of Ethics reports that the percentage of graduating medical students participating in global health electives has risen from 6 to 30 percent in the past 25 years. The American Academy of Family Physicians lists almost 80 international programs for residents, some with rotations in several countries.

Boston Globe

Leaders at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) publicly sign an agreement formalizing their commitment to work together to provide high quality health professions education, research and health care services to the Paso del Norte region. Participants included UTEP President Diana Natalicio, TTUHSC President Tedd L. Mitchell, M.D., UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa, Texas Tech University System Chancellor Kent Hance, and UT System Board of Regents Vice Chairman Paul L. Foster.

Article

Beginning the spring 2011 semester, The University of Texas at El Paso will offer a new undergraduate degree in biochemistry. Students who earn the new biochemistry degree will be prepared to go to medical school or a graduate program on their way to careers as doctors or with pharmaceutical companies discovering new treatments for disease. Since 2001, the chemistry department at UTEP has grown from 46 undergraduates to more than 200 undergraduates and 100 graduate students.

Release

Faculty and staff at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) School of Nursing in El Paso are preparing documents for accreditation of the new and autonomous TTUHSC Gail Greve Hunt School of Nursing in El Paso.  The documents will be mailed to the Texas State Board of Nursing on Dec. 20, putting the institution in line for an accreditation site visit by the board in January. The board will issue their decision in March, formally accrediting the school.  The first class will enter the school September 2011, designating the Gail Greve Hunt School of Nursing as the seventh school at... [more]

Stella Quiñones, Ph.D., assistant professor of engineering and computer science at the University of Texas at El Paso, was named among 53 of the nation’s most innovative young engineering educators. Her achievements will be recognized at this year’s second annual Frontiers of Engineering Education symposium to be held Dec. 13-18 in Irvine, Calif. 

Release

A grant from the National Institutes of Health will allow New Mexico State University and the University of Colorado Denver to focus on preparing students in the Southwest and Rocky Mountain region for careers in neuroscience research. Specifically, the $2.4 million will go toward establishing the Building Research Achievement in Neuroscience (BRAiN) program.

BRAiN will allow junior and senior undergraduates at both universities to benefit from mentoring, research experience, curriculum development, seminars and journal clubs. Students will be chosen based on competitive criteria. The program is expected to initiate during the spring semester and will begin accepting student applications January 2011.

The BRAiN partnership... [more]

Richard Schoephoerster, Ph.D., has been the dean of UTEP’s College of Engineering for four years. He leadership comes with the assertion that the development of a new kind of engineer is imperative toward being globally competitive. This new kind of engineer is people savvy, a good communicator and creative. A leader in the region’s life sciences community, Schoephoerster says he would like to see a Silicon Valley of sorts develop in El Paso. His bachelor’s degree is in Biomedical Engineering, and he holds a master and doctoral degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Iowa.

El Paso Inc. 

Thomas Boland, Ph.D., has been named to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering’s (AIMBE) College of Fellows, Class of 2011.  A metallurgical and materials engineering professor, Dr. Boland also serves as director of the biomedical engineering programs at The University of Texas at El Paso.  Boland’s work has been cited more than 800 times and he has received numerous awards.  He was featured on CNN and the Discovery Channel for his groundbreaking research using inkjet printers to assemble cells and biomaterials into viable and functioning structures. 

AIMBE’s College of Fellows is comprised of 1,000 individuals who are outstanding bioengineers... [more]

Since the Human Genome Project was completed in 2003, the introduction of new genetic tests has far outpaced the ability of doctors to figure out what to do with them.  The Scripps Translational Science Institute in La Jolla plans to launch the College of Genomic Medicine, a free online physician training and accreditation program, early next year. To become accredited, doctors will spend five to eight hours reviewing materials developed by an international group of leaders in the field and then take a highly interactive test.

USA Today

Related news:

The fall issue of Stanford Medicine magazine explores the dawning age... [more]

The Residency Review Committee of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has approved a four-year anesthesiology residency program at the TTUHSC Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. Twelve resident spots, three in each program year, have been approved for the program.

Texas Tech University System Chancellor Kent Hance announced a generous gift of $10 million from the Hunt Family Foundation to the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC). The donation will be used to develop an autonomous, fully accredited nursing school at the TTUHSC campus in El Paso.  The school will be named the Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing, after the wife of Woody L. Hunt, chairman of the Hunt Family Foundation and CEO of the Hunt Companies.

It is anticipated that the Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing will have an enrollment of 500 students by 2015.  In the future, the... [more]

Philanthropist and FEMAP founder Guadalupe De la Vega was named a top-10 finalist for the CNN Hero of the Year award. De la Vega will receive $25,000 as a finalist. The money has been earmarked for the construction of the nonprofit's new nursing school in Juarez. Voters will decide who wins the top honor, which comes with $100,000. CNN reporter Anderson Cooper will announce the winner on Thanksgiving Day.

FEMAP is a nonprofit healthcare organization and it runs Hospital de la Familia in Juarez. Earlier this year, FEMAP announced plans to build a new school to accommodate more nursing students. If De la... [more]

The National Academies released a report, Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads. The report says that efforts to strengthen U.S. science and engineering and the nation's competitive edge must include all Americans, especially minorities, who are the fastest growing groups of the U.S. population but the most underrepresented in science and technology careers.

Powerpoint

Read more

The FEMAP Foundation in collaboration with Salud y Desarrollo Comunitario de Cd. Juárez has been awarded a $15,000 grant from the Paso del Norte Health Foundation to develop and pilot a modified form of the “KidsExcel” program to 200 fourth-grade children from three schools in Ciudad Juárez plagued by poverty and violence.  Through physically challenging artistic activities, the program empowers children to be active, be assertive, be creative thinkers, learn self control, respect diversity, and have the desire to learn. 

Release

Kids Excel

The Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, TTUHSC Paul L. Foster School of Medicine has been named a National Center of Excellence by the American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society (ANMS).  Richard McCallum, M.D., professor and founding chair of the Department of Internal Medicine and Marc J. Zuckerman, M.D., chief of the Division of Gastroenterology, will head up the teaching team.  It is one of eight sites selected in the U.S. and the only site in the Southwest.    Recently, the division was recognized for its NIH-funded research as well as pioneering work on gastroparesis and gastric electrical stimulation.

Release

A new bachelor's degree at The University of Texas at El Paso is designed to help prepare the next generation of biomedical researchers. The Bachelor of Science degree in cellular and molecular biochemistry will differ from other options within the Department of Biological Sciences by focusing on research theory and practice in biochemistry, said department Chair Robert Kirken, Ph.D.

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A delegation from China's Ministry of Transportation visited NMSU recently to gain expertise from the university's Bridge Evaluation Research Center, while also pursuing a potential academic exchange program.

TV news

The Seattle Times reported on returning U.S. soldiers from Iraq and the Army’s problem with epidemic drug abuse and criminal behavior.  The story cites a 350-page report issued in July after a 15-month investigation into the Army's rising suicide rate. The report found that levels of illegal drug use and criminal activity have reached record highs, while the number of disciplinary actions and forced discharges were at record lows.

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Rick Francis, J. Robert Brown and Dr. Jose Manuel de la Rosa were inducted into the El Paso Business Hall of Fame this week.  They were selected for playing key roles in getting a Texas Tech medical school opened in El Paso.  The medical school is considered one of the most important economic drivers in the community for decades to come.

Article

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The Texas Tech University Board of Regents unanimously approved an initiative to start planning an autonomous school of nursing in El Paso.  Tedd Mitchell, M.D., president of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, said the school may take about five years to open due to the state budget crunch.

Release                            El Paso Times

The Texas Workforce Commission has awarded El Paso Community College a $343,928 grant from the Skills Development Fund. The grant will enable EPCC’s Workforce/Economic Development Department and the El Paso Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee to train 65 contractor employees in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

El Paso Inc.

New Mexico State University's College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences announced the appointment of David Thompson as Associate Dean and Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station. Thompson has been the department head and a professor in the Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Weed Science since July 2007. He has been with NMSU since 1987.

Thompson                Publications

Healthy populations and gainful employment are the key to protecting the nation's borders, experts said at the 7th Annual Border Security Conference Aug. 12. Health care, especially with the expected U.S. reforms, can provide an engine to boost economic activity and create jobs on both sides of the border, which will reduce the need for illegal crossings.

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The University of Texas at El Paso has a Medical Professions Institute designed to help students compete for admission into medical school. The majority of the institute’s pre-med students are Hispanic, giving medical schools a pool from which to recruit future physicians who are bilingual and culturally sensitive. UTEP is a partnership school for early medical acceptance programs at Boston University and all Texas public medical schools.
 
UTEP                                   USA Today

The University of Texas at El Paso will begin offering a new Master of Science in medical physics degree in the fall 2010 semester. The degree is the first of its kind in West Texas. The announcement was made July 1.

UTEP