OCTOBER 3, 2022 — State and national thought leaders will make their way to Austin next month for The University of Texas Systemwide Brain Research Summit. The event, scheduled November 7-8, will highlight the innovative brain health research taking place across the UT System. Among those participating in the summit are three prominent professors from the UTSA Brain Health Consortium.
“Brain health impacts all of our lives,” said Jenny Hsieh, the Semmes Foundation Distinguished Chair in Cell Biology and chair of the UTSA College of Sciences’ (COS) Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology. “We are coming together to discuss what’s being done, and what’s left to do.”
Hsieh, a member of the summit’s planning committee, is the director of the UTSA Brain Health Consortium. Established in 2017, the group now boasts more than 50 of the nation’s leading brain health researchers, dedicated to conquering the greatest mysteries of the brain.
The organization has been key to elevating awareness of UTSA’s brain health research, according to Hsieh, who adds that having a seat at the table of this systemwide summit is representative of the critical mass of research taking place at the Consortium.
Joining Hsieh at the summit are Consortium colleagues Leslie Neely, associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development’s educational psychology department, and Astrid E. Cardona, professor and department chair of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology in the COS.
Neely’s work centers on progressing the treatment of children with autism with the science of applied behavior analysis. She will be a panelist in a discussion around autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Hsieh will moderate the presentation.
Cardona’s research is focused on understanding the mechanisms of tissue damage in Multiple Sclerosis and diabetic retinopathy, including determining the origins of tissue injury and the factors that account for disease progression. She will serve as a moderator on the panel covering neurodegenerative disorders.
Their presence at the upcoming summit demonstrates the impactful work in brain health that is taking place across the UT System—and at UTSA.
Researchers in the Brain Health Consortium collaborate on complex, large-scale research projects that will produce a greater understanding of the brain’s complexity and the factors that cause its decline. This knowledge is being used to develop new and more effective methods for treating such debilitating conditions as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, addiction and traumatic brain injury. The researchers’ expertise includes:
Hsieh expects next month’s summit to expand opportunities for researchers in the UTSA Brain Health Consortium. In addition to offering a forum where participants can share clinical and basic research advancements occurring across the system, the summit will identify challenges and opportunities to advance brain research in Texas and across the country and to foster new collaborative research programs, especially among UT System investigators.
Hsieh also believes that the event will showcase how the UT System is driving investments into brain health in Texas, which could entice other medical and academic leaders to Texas to join the effort.
“We can leverage each other’s strengths,” said Hsieh, adding that this work has the potential to make the UT System a national hub for significant clinical and basic neuroscience research.
The Brain Health Consortium took research of the brain to a whole new level at UTSA. The upcoming summit in Austin underscores the strong partnerships that are being forged among the UT System’s academic and health institutions.
Hsieh believes these partnerships will be key to developing the innovative approaches needed to conquer neurodegenerative diseases and reverse life-threatening brain injuries.
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Come celebrate the doctoral students graduating this commencement season.
H-E-B Student Union Ballrooms, UTSA Main CampusCelebrate the accomplishments of the graduates of the College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and College of Sciences.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St, San Antonio, TX 78203Celebrate the accomplishments of the graduates of the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, College of Education and Human Development, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design and University College.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St, San Antonio, TX 78203First Friday Stargazing gives anyone free access to the night sky using university telescopes and teaching equipment. Weather permitting, experienced astronomers will provide a handful of telescopes of varying designs, give training on how each operates, and point to various astronomical objects that may appear in the sky for that given time of the year. If you have a telescope and do not know how to operate it, feel free to bring it and get instructions on its use.
4th Floor of Flawn Science Building, Main CampusThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education.
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to ending generations of discrimination and inequity. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.