The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) proposes to enhance basic and translational research on pathologies prevalent in the Hispanic-majority population along the United States border with Mexico. Specifically, UTEP seeks to increase the productivity and capacity of its Border Biomedical Research Center (BBRC) to promote new discoveries and apply them to benefit health and education in this region and the nation as a whole. To accomplish this, the institution has assigned priority for research in (1) infectious diseases and immunology, (2) toxicology, and (3) neuroscience and metabolic disorders, major research thrusts of the BBRC. The BBRC's research team has been expanded with faculty acquisitions in Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, and the College of Health Sciences. Commitments of support have been obtained from external research centers, such as the national laboratories at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. A new Biosciences research facility has been built on campus, and houses BBRC Core labs in Cell Culture and High Throughput Screening, DNA Analysis, Analytical Cytology, Biomolecule Anlaysis, Bioinformatics and Statistical Consulting. These Core resources are being used to attract additional talent that will contribute to the biomedical research program. The developing scientific competitiveness of BBRC investigators is evident in the increased number of R-01 grants funded, from 0 to 6, in the last three years alone. The BBRC provides a strong research infrastructure for undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral training. Thus, through this key RCMI-supported program, UTEP is realizing an institutional goal of serving as a major point of entry for underrepresented minorities into the biomedical research mainstream of the nation. As partial evidence of progress in this area, UTEP has increased its Ph.D. graduates in biology from 0 to 14 in this past RCMI funding cycle. Through significant RCMI support and a strong institutional commitment to the BBRC, and through the productivity and collaborations of this Center, UTEP is establising itself as a leading regional research entity and is gaining national and international recognition for its biomedical research and training resources and capabilities.

Public Health Relevance

The overall goal of the RCMI-Border Biomedical Research Center is to promote and enable quality biomedical research on the pathologies of major health problems prevalent on the U.S.-Mexican border and provide opportunities for Hispanics and other underrepresented minorities entry into the biomedical research mainstream of the nation.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
Type
Research Centers in Minority Institutions Award (G12)
Project #
8G12MD007592-19
Application #
8307466
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRR1-RI-B (01))
Program Officer
Sayre, Michael
Project Start
1998-06-15
Project End
2014-06-30
Budget Start
2012-07-13
Budget End
2013-06-30
Support Year
19
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$2,702,692
Indirect Cost
$894,871
Name
University of Texas El Paso
Department
Biology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
132051285
City
El Paso
State
TX
Country
United States
Zip Code
79968
Pawar, Hitesh N; Balivada, Sivasai; Kenney, Michael J (2018) Does acute heat stress differentially-modulate expression of ionotropic neurotransmitter receptors in the RVLM of young and aged F344 rats? Neurosci Lett 687:223-233
Qasim, Hanan; Karim, Zubair A; Silva-Espinoza, Juan C et al. (2018) Short-Term E-Cigarette Exposure Increases the Risk of Thrombogenesis and Enhances Platelet Function in Mice. J Am Heart Assoc 7:
Contreras, Lisett; Calderon, Ruben I; Varela-Ramirez, Armando et al. (2018) Induction of apoptosis via proteasome inhibition in leukemia/lymphoma cells by two potent piperidones. Cell Oncol (Dordr) 41:623-636
Sierra-Fonseca, Jorge A; Bracamontes, Christina; Saldecke, Jessica et al. (2018) Activation of ?- and ?2-adrenergic receptors stimulate tubulin polymerization and promote the association of G?? with microtubules in cultured NIH3T3 cells. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 503:102-108
Ornelas, Alfredo; Williams, Kaitlyn N; Hatch, Kevin A et al. (2018) Synthesis and characterization of a photocleavable collagen-like peptide. Org Biomol Chem 16:1000-1013
AnilKumar, Shweta; Allen, Shane C; Tasnim, Nishat et al. (2018) The applicability of furfuryl-gelatin as a novel bioink for tissue engineering applications. J Biomed Mater Res B Appl Biomater :
Arroyo, Itizia Z; Gomez, Clarissa; Alarcon, Hugo et al. (2018) Alkyl Length Effects on the DNA Transport Properties of Cu (II) and Zn(II) Metallovesicles: An In Vitro and In Vivo Study. J Drug Deliv 2018:2851579
Skouta, Rachid; Morán-Santibañez, Karla; Valenzuela, Carlos A et al. (2018) Assessing the Antioxidant Properties of Larrea tridentata Extract as a Potential Molecular Therapy against Oxidative Stress. Molecules 23:
Zhu, Yaoqiu; Romero, Elkin L; Ren, Xiaodong et al. (2018) Clopidogrel as a donor probe and thioenol derivatives as flexible promoieties for enabling H2S biomedicine. Nat Commun 9:3952
Tasnim, Nishat; Thakur, Vikram; Chattopadhyay, Munmun et al. (2018) The Efficacy of Graphene Foams for Culturing Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Their Differentiation into Dopaminergic Neurons. Stem Cells Int 2018:3410168

Showing the most recent 10 out of 212 publications