From funding new laboratory equipment to researchers’ salaries, the recently donated $1 million from the City of McAllen has already begun to fund the endeavors of the UTRGV School of Medicine.
On Nov. 15, the City of McAllen presented the check to the UTRGV School of Medicine in the Biomedical Research Building in McAllen.
McAllen Mayor Jim Darling said it is the city’s second $1 million donation to the school. However, this year, the money presented will be used specifically for the School of Medicine’s cancer immunology program housed in the Biomedical Research Building.
Darling said the city tied its donation to research and asked the School of Medicine to develop a budget for the cancer program.
“[The School of Medicine is] gonna add some diabetes research and when they come up with a budget for that, we will reconsider on whether we’ll fund [it],” he said. “The diabetes research, I think, is very important because we have the highest instances of diabetes in my understanding, some people say in the country. And if that’s true, well, the more diabetes research we can do, the better off we are.”
Darling said the money given to the school came from McAllen’s economic development fund, which is derived from the city’s sales taxes.
John Krouse, dean of the School of Medicine and executive vice president for Health Affairs, said these kinds of funds are necessary in order to provide and deliver on the UTRGV School of Medicine’s missions to train the next generation of medical professionals, expand clinical services across both primary and specialty care and provide research.
Krouse said the cancer immunology program started in June and will focus on three types of cancer research: cervical, pancreatic and prostate.
He said the research is focusing on pancreatic cancer because it is a lethal cancer with a low cure rate, cervical cancer because it is an area with great importance to the women of the Rio Grande Valley and prostate cancer because it is the most common cancer in men.
“We really are trying to look at diseases that are common and try to find innovative approaches to treat some of these cancers,” Krouse said.
Darling said he believes the research the program is conducting, where “your own body fights the cancer cells,” is cutting-edge and exciting.
He said the program is comprised of an experienced, assembled team from Tennessee.
Krouse said the School of Medicine hired six “doctorly trained faculty” and a number of fellows to work in the lab.
The program’s founding director is Subhash Chauhan. With years of experience in cancer immunology research, and a Science and Technology Acquisition and Retention (STAR) award in the amount of $5 million from the University of Texas System, Chauhan “organizes the whole team,”according to Krouse.
“[The team] is very expert in cancer immunology,” he said. “In fact, this is probably the biggest area of opportunity in cancer now.”
Krouse said the team is looking at innovative immunologic treatments and new ways to deliver drugs directly to the site of the tumor.
He said he is thankful to the cities, county and the School of Medicine’s partners.
“It’s with their generosity and their support that we’re able to continue to grow and to provide those needed, mission-driven services to the communities here in the Valley,” Krouse said.
