Updates + Accolades
School of Public Health Addresses Pressing Health Needs
T
he O’Donnell School of Public Health (OSPH) strives to address the nation’s and the world’s most pressing public health problems through creative cross-disciplinary research and a focus on effecting change. Approved by the UT System Board of Regents, endorsed by the Texas Legislature, and supported by a
transformative $100 million gift from the O’Donnell Foundation, the OSPH is the fourth school to be created in the UT Southwestern Medical Center, and the first in the past half-century. It ties together the foundational research expertise and experience of UT Southwestern’s Medical School, School of Health Professions, and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. OSPH welcomed its inaugural class of M.D./M.P.H. and Master of Public Health students in 2023 and will launch doctoral degree programs in 2024. “Our programs address some of society’s most challenging problems, which affect communities in North Texas and beyond,” says internationally recognized epidemiologist Saad B. Omer, M.B.B.S., M.P.H., Ph.D., Professor and founding Dean of the O’Donnell School of Public Health. “Our ultimate goal is to influence public health policy and clinical practice.”
Saad B. Omer, M.B.B.S., M.P.H., Ph.D., is the founding Dean of the O’Donnell School of Public Health. He is an internationally recognized epidemiologist and policy adviser whose work has positively impacted communities around the world. His research has been cited in global and country-specific public health policy, practices, and legislation.
Molecular Geneticist, Physiologist Elected to National Academy of Sciences Two UT Southwestern researchers – Russell DeBose-Boyd, Ph.D. (left), and Duojia Pan, Ph.D. (right), were elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in recognition of their scientific discoveries. Election to the NAS is one of the greatest honors a scientist can receive. Dr. DeBose-Boyd, Professor of Molecular Genetics, discovered the biochemical pathway by which sterol and nonsterol isoprenoids combine to regulate the degradation of HMG-CoA reductase, a basic cellular mechanism that informs the prevention and treatment of heart disease. Dr. Pan, Professor and Chair of Physiology, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, identified the “Hippo” signaling pathway, which plays important roles in the determination of organ size, tissue regeneration, and tumorigenesis. With their elections, UT Southwestern now has 26 faculty who are members of the NAS, surpassing all other institutions in Texas.
Physician-scientist Receives White House Moonshot Cancer Scholar Award Todd Aguilera, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology and a member of UT Southwestern’s Experimental Therapeutics Program in the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been named one of 11 inaugural Cancer Moonshot Scholars
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as part of the Unity Agenda sponsored by President Biden and the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Aguilera, a radiation oncologist with expertise in molecular engineering, molecular imaging, and tumor immunology, will receive nearly $3.3 million from the National
Cancer Institute over five years to fund research seeking new treatments for rectal cancer. The Cancer Moonshot program recognizes emerging leaders in cancer research and innovation. Launched in 2016, the national program aims to cut the cancer mortality rate in half in 25 years.
Todd Aguilera, M.D., Ph.D.
2 0 2 4 Discovery at UT Southwestern
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