UT Health San Antonio Endowment Report 2022

A MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT WILLIAM L. HENRICH

Thank you for your generous support of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. It is through philanthropic support from you and others throughout our community and the world that UT Health San Antonio continues to be a premier academic health center, transforming health and health care for all. For more than half a century, many have relied on us for the best in care, an excellent education and groundbreaking research. We are exceptionally grateful that we can rely on your generosity which plays a critical role in our achievements, and, most importantly, our mission of making lives better

We are excited to share with you how your support has helped our endowments grow in the past five years in both size and numbers. These endowments help us attract the best students and recruit and retain world-class faculty. Your investment has allowed UT Health to be nationally recognized for its extraordinary accomplishments: our partnership with MD Anderson to provide the absolute best in cancer research, care, and treatment right here in San Antonio; the recognition of the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases as a National Institute on Aging (NIA)-designated Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center; and the building of a new and state-of-the-art multispecialty and research hospital (opening 2024) which will bring innovative therapies to San Antonio to meet the significant health challenges we face.

These unprecedented times have called for each of us to do “everything it takes” and nowhere is this more evident than at UT Health San Antonio. In this report, we showcase how endowments have made possible the innovative work of our physicians and investigators at UT Health San Antonio.

We are grateful to you for the confidence you have placed in us and enduring support for our university, for generations to come.

With greatest respect,

William L. Henrich, MD, MACP President, UT Health San Antonio

John P. Howe, III, MD, Distinguished Chair in Health Policy Professor of Medicine

Endowments At Work

Endowments are permanent funds that support The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio’s academic, research and patient care missions, and can be used to support student scholarships, recruit and retain distinguished faculty, provide lectureships, or enhance a world class research laboratory. Allocated funds work to support stellar faculty and staff members, allowing them to devote more time to areas of excellence in which they have superior expertise — from providing scholarships to teaching to research to highly specialized care.

Every year, a certain percentage of the endowment’s market value is made available to support a specific activity or program. The remainder of the fund’s earnings are reinvested as a hedge against inflation and leveraged as a tool for growth. In this way, the endowment can provide an ever-expanding base of resources.

Each UT Health San Antonio endowed fund is pooled for investment purposes with the

other endowments in The University of Texas Investment Management Company’s (UTIMCO) Long Term Fund which now has a value of approximately $52.5 billion. The fund’s strategy is to invest in a broadly diversified portfolio of fixed income and equity securities in both domestic and international markets using a long-term investment horizon. The amount distributed is determined annually by UTIMCO and, if required by policy, approved by The University of Texas Board of Regents. The distribution amount is determined by a formula that considers the needs of current beneficiaries with those of the future.

All said, endowments are the most lasting way a donor can give by providing one of the most secure sources of future revenue for UT Health San Antonio to have cutting-edge research and vital support for students, faculty and programs. They forever benefit the missions of our institution and ensure excellence in perpetuity.

Strong endowments make great universities. Thank you for making us great!

Students take a break between classes in front of the Academic Learning and Teaching Center.

Academic: Supports work of a faculty member. The endowed holder may use these funds for research and equipment expenses and other scholarly activities.

Miscellaneous: Supports programs or departments. These funds may benefit lecture series, research endeavors, or another specific priority of the program or department.

Scholarships: Supports students through financial assistance. These funds give students the opportunity to access and specialize in fields of study that otherwise may not be possible for them.

Making Lives Better

It all starts with you — alumni, friends, generous and passionate investors — and a vision for a healthier future. Because of your generosity and support of UT Health San Antonio, we are the premier academic health center in the seventh largest city in the country, and your level of commitment has been fundamental in helping us achieve this recognition. As you know, philanthropy is an essential component to any great university, and endowments have played a vital role in supporting our mission of making lives better.

Through endowments, our university is provided with resources, in perpetuity, that will advance excellence in leading-edge scientific research, professional health education, compassionate patient care, and engagement within our community — making a difference today and leaving a lasting legacy for tomorrow. We are incredibly honored that UT Health is home to your endowment. Your investment in our university has made a significant impact across South Texas and the world.

UT Health San Antonio is undergoing significant growth as evidenced by our endowments.

This past fiscal year, we established 36 new endowments and within the last five years, the number of endowments established has increased by 22.6% while distributions from these same endowments have increased by 31.8%. This impressive growth from our endowments and their impact was made possible through the support of donors like you.

You stand with us as partners whose generous support makes it possible for us to achieve excellence in education for the next generation of physicians, biomedical scientists, nurses, dentists, and health professionals; the life-saving research our world-class scientists advance every day; the compassionate patient care delivered by our dedicated health care professionals, and to provide our far-reaching community service to improve health for those in need.

We celebrate and honor the incredible history of endowed giving at UT Health San Antonio. It is our honor and privilege to share with you some important stories that define the motivation and impact of your support. We share with you these stories – your stories.

Vidal G. Balderas, DDS, MPH, assistant professor/ clinical of comprehensive dentistry, visits with a patient at the School of Dentistry’s Center for Oral Health Care and Research.

Researcher Finds Success Through Human Connection

While finishing her postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School in 2015, Bess Frost, PhD, began searching for a faculty appointment where she could lead her own lab.

At that time, Dr. Frost had been working on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias for about 10 years. “My PhD and postdoctoral research mentors both had medical degrees, but somehow that had never brought me closer to patients living with these disorders. When envisioning myself as the head of a laboratory, I wanted to ensure that my trainees could develop a human connection to the neurodegenerative disorders that we study in the lab.

“When I visited UT Health San Antonio’s Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies, I was told about the close interactions between those studying the fundamental biology of human disorders and those working in the clinic with real patients. At the time, there was a big push by Dr. (William) Henrich to start a new Alzheimer’s institute,” she said. (The Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases has since been founded.)

“As someone who had worked on Alzheimer’s disease but had never met someone with Alzheimer’s outside of my own family, this prospect appealed to me. I had an opportunity to gain that human connection and to potentially translate future findings from my lab into the clinic. I came here because of this opportunity,” added Dr. Frost, holder of the Bartell Zachry Memorial Distinguished Professorship for Research in Neurodegenerative Disorders

In the Zachry Laboratory, the Frost team found that activation of endogenous retroviruses, colloquially known as “jumping genes,” drive neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease and related tauopathies. The team’s research was published in Nature Neuroscience in 2018. The high-impact paper was Dr. Frost’s first publication from her new lab.

However, friend and colleague Campbell Sullivan, PsyD, ABPP-CN, a neuropsychologist with the Biggs Institute, pressed Dr. Frost on how this discovery could help her patients. After conferring with mentors at the Barshop and Biggs institutes, Dr. Frost and her colleagues spent the early part of the pandemic writing the protocol for a clinical trial based on their discoveries. They expect results from this phase II clinical trial in about seven months.

“Leading this trial is one of the most satisfying aspects of my life. I get to meet trial participants and their caregivers who accompany them to the clinic visits. We take a tour of the lab before their first appointment, so they get to see where the science is happening and ask questions, and people in my lab get to see how their discoveries may one day matter for a living person,” she said. “I have so much hope and excitement for the future and am happy to have the opportunity to be doing this work in San Antonio.”

Funds from the Bartell Zachry Memorial Distinguished Professorship for Research in Neurodegenerative Disorders were used for participant recruitment for the clinical trial. These funds were critical to recruiting 12 participants with a diagnosis of early Alzheimer’s disease. In this fiscal year, endowment funds will be used to analyze blood and cerebrospinal fluid from participants to determine if the drug candidate effectively reduces neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration after six months of treatment.

Bess Frost, PhD, is the holder of the Bartell Zachry Memorial Distinguished Professorship for Research in Neurodegenerative Disorders.

Scholarship Changes Doctor’s Life

For Dina Tom, MD, one couple’s decision to create an endowment to provide scholarships for students changed her life.

“I grew up the oldest of four children in a rural community in Texas. We lived in a mobile home, and my mother worked multiple jobs to support us,” Dr. Tom explained. “Neither of my parents graduated college, and the idea of going to college was never discussed in my family. A teacher encouraged me to apply to UT Austin, and a school counselor gave me an application for financial aid.”

Although accepted to UT Austin on a provisional basis, she proved herself academically and graduated in four years while struggling with the substantial costs of tuition, books and living expenses. “Throughout college, I worked part time in a work-study job to offset my student loans. The rest of my tuition was made up of need-based grants and several small scholarships,” she said.

Dr. Tom, a pediatrician and associate professor of inpatient pediatrics with the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio, said the idea of becoming a doctor never occurred to her. “My family didn’t know any doctors, especially any who came from a background like mine,” she said.

However, her resident assistant in her dorm was pre-med, and their friendship plus volunteer activities through a service organization at UT Austin helped Dr. Tom come to the realization that she wanted to be a doctor.

“I attended an informational session at UT where medical schools set up tables. This was the first time I met Dr. David Jones, our former Dean of Admissions. His enthusiasm for UT Health was infectious, and he was gracious enough to correspond with me by email as I was navigating the application process,” Dr. Tom said.

After interviewing at seven medical schools in Texas, she knew UT Health San Antonio was her No. 1 choice. “I have never forgotten the kindness shown by Dr. Jones,” she said.

Halfway through her first year of medical school, she received an email about a scholarship with four requirements: born and raised in Texas, a desire to pursue primary care, firstgeneration medical student, and remaining in Texas to practice medicine. “I realized I fit every requirement so I thought, ‘I’ve applied to a lot of scholarships before; what’s the harm? I probably won’t get it.’ I submitted my application and didn’t hear back.”

Dina Tom, MD, combines clinical work with teaching as a pediatrician and associate professor of inpatient pediatrics with the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine.

After months went by, Dr. Tom assumed someone else more deserving had received the scholarship. She was called to the Dean’s Office to meet with another Dr. Jones – Dr. Le Jones, then Dean of Student Affairs. “I was terrified. I’ve always struggled with imposter syndrome, so I was pretty sure I was being called into the Dean’s Office to be told that my time at UT Health was up, and they realized I was not meant to be here.”

When she arrived, Dr. Jones was holding her essay in his hands. “I will never forget that interaction. It changed my life. He said, ‘You got it.’ Then he asked, ‘Do you understand what this scholarship is?’ And I replied, ‘I understood that it is for a year of my tuition.’ And he said, ‘No, it’s for all four years of medical school.’ I couldn’t breathe.

“The Long Scholarship changed my life for several reasons. First, it affirmed everything that I had worked for to get to where I was. Second, medical school and residency were difficult. There were times when I questioned if I was on the right path. And when I didn’t feel my purpose or have faith in myself at times, it gave me the resolve to keep going. I always fell back on Mr. and Mrs. Long’s belief in me. Third, the scholarship gave me the peace to pursue medicine and truly focus on serving others, not having to worry each day how I was going to financially make it through four years of med school,” she said.

Joe R. Long and the late Teresa Lozano Long of Austin created the Long Scholars program through The Joe R. and Teresa L. Long Scholarship Research and Teaching Fund

The scholarship program pays the tuition of approximately 62 medical, nursing, physician assistant, and MD/PhD students each year. The Longs, who were married 63 years, have contributed more than $70 million to UT Health to advance the future of health.

Dr. Tom is now in her tenth year as a faculty member. “I couldn’t be prouder to treat patients and educate future doctors. Since graduating medical school, I’ve personally spent over 15,300 hours teaching medical students and have trained 196 residents. I’ve traveled the world serving patients with the UT Health name on my white coat. I talk to high school students in rural communities about how to pursue medicine.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Long never had children, and they always told us we were their children. They also told us the scholarship came with the expectation that one day we will give back by giving a scholarship to a student. I’m proud to say that my husband and I have been able to give back to UT Health in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Long,” she added.

Joe R. Long and the late Teresa Lozano Long of Austin began their legacy of supporting UT Health San Antonio in 1999 with an annual major gift for scholarships to 12 deserving medical students who were the first in their families to attend college and were from South Texas. They were the first 12 original Long Presidential Scholars. The Longs’ generosity continued in 2008 with a $25 million gift that established The Joe R. and Teresa L. Long Scholarship Research and Teaching Fund allowing the creation of permanent endowments toward scholarship for students, support of faculty recruitment and retention, and research in diabetes and other diseases that affect people in South Texas. Today, the fund supports the Long Presidential Scholars, the Long Medical Scholars, the Long Graduate Scholars in the MD/PhD program, the Long Nursing Scholars, and the Long Physician Assistant Scholars.

William

Health

L. Henrich, MD, MACP, UT

San Antonio president; Dina Tom, MD Class of 2010, Long Presidential Scholar; Teresa Lozano Long; Joe R. Long, and Mary Henrich visit before a Long scholarship luncheon.

Faculty Member Encourages Diversity in Medicine Through Scholarship

For more than 20 years, Robert M. Esterl, Jr., MD, associate dean for Undergraduate Medical Education in the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine, has worked in both clinical and administrative roles at UT Health San Antonio. He has taught and mentored medical students since 1994, and his guidance and leadership have led more than 8,000 students through to residency.

Dr. Esterl, a professor of surgery, is a renowned transplant surgeon who performed the first kidney and pancreas transplant in San Antonio in 1995. He also was part of the team of doctors who performed the first split-liver transplant in South Texas, in which two patients benefited from a single liver donor.

Dr. Esterl decided to take his support of the medical school and its students to a higher level with the establishment of the Dr. Robert M. Esterl, Jr., Diversity in Medicine Scholarship Endowment for the Long School of Medicine. Funds distributed from the endowment will be used to support scholarships to students who meet all the following criteria: 3.0 GPA, demonstrated financial need, and submission of an essay on the topic of the importance of increased diversity in the field of medicine.

“I wanted to establish the Dr. Robert M. Esterl, Jr., Diversity in Medicine Scholarship to recognize any student’s commitment to increasing diversity in the field of medicine. Diversity in the medical school encourages UT Health San Antonio to ‘make lives better’ and fulfill institutional priorities in its core missions of education, research, health care, and community engagement.

“The ultimate goal for diversity in medicine would be that the representation of medical students, residents, and faculty at UT Health San Antonio reflects the diverse communities we care for throughout South Texas. Students in a diverse medical school class benefit from exposure to broader perspectives, are better equipped to care for increasingly diverse patient populations, and gain knowledge and skills to address health inequities/ disparities in our diverse communities,” he said.

Dr. Esterl hopes that this renewable scholarship might minimize the self-doubt or “imposter syndrome” that some underrepresented students might feel when they start their first courses in medical school. “Receiving this scholarship might help such students realize that they have earned and deserve a position in the class. Receiving this scholarship might also encourage students to stay for residency training and then join the faculty at UT Health San Antonio,” he added.

Stephanie Reeves (left), DO, associate professor of pediatrics, and Robert M. Esterl, MD, associate dean for Undergraduate Medical Education, present a teaching excellence award to Ariana Lepri Lewis, MD, assistant professor/ clinical of obstetrics and gynecology, at a Long School of Medicine’s Clinician Letters Ceremony.

Dental Dean Supports Faculty Excellence by

Establishing

New Endowment

On February 1, 2019, Peter M. Loomer, BSc, DDS, PhD, MRCD(C), FACD, assumed the role of dean of the School of Dentistry at UT Health San Antonio. Over the next three years, he became familiar with the school’s outstanding people and programs.

“I may be new here, but I really believe in the missions of the school and the university. I want to support our amazing faculty,” Dr. Loomer said. He decided to give a substantial gift to the school to provide new opportunities for faculty to excel.

The School of Dentistry offers 17 degrees and programs in dentistry and dental hygiene, world-renowned faculty educators, a diverse student population, state-of-the-art facilities, and a distinguished research enterprise.

During his time as dean, Dr. Loomer has learned about the dental school’s need for funding for

seed money for faculty members to begin new projects in research, education and community health.

“At state institutions, there isn’t a lot of disposable income in the departments or in the school. I want to be able to help jumpstart faculty on their creative activities,” he said. “As a faculty member, you have your teaching responsibilities and your patient care responsibilities, but then you have these special projects you are working on that bring a lot of excitement to your job. I see the value of having funding available for these projects that really interest our faculty members.”

Working with the Office of Institutional Advancement at UT Health San Antonio, the Dr. Peter M. Loomer Endowment for Dental Faculty Excellence was created and will benefit the School of Dentistry in perpetuity.

Peter M. Loomer, BSc, DDS, PhD, MRCD(C), FACD, serves as dean of the School of Dentistry.

Family Finds Lifesaving Care with UT Health Physicians

In 2006, Terri and Steve Edlund faced every parent’s worst nightmare. The couple’s 4-year-old daughter, Stephanie, was ill.

Their pediatrician called with blood test results and instructed them to take Stephanie to the Emergency Room at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital.

During her initial 14-day stay at the hospital, Stephanie was diagnosed with leukemia. “We were not prepared for how difficult it would be or how long it would take to cure her leukemia,” said Terri Edlund.

At that time, Santa Rosa was staffed with UT Health San Antonio physicians. “This was our introduction to UT Health,” she said. “The care that Stephanie received was second to none; they treated her like she was their daughter. While many people suggested we take her out of town for treatment, we didn’t know a lot, but we felt immediate connections to the UT Health doctors

leading her team. We were confident in their expertise and felt their love and commitment to our daughter.”

“There were many hospital stays, procedures, blood transfusions and clinic visits. It took over two years of ongoing chemotherapy to cure her leukemia. The decision to keep her in San Antonio and have UT Health doctors treat her was the very best decision that we made. To receive medical care in your home city, sleep in your own bed, and be surrounded by family and friends as you deal with the most difficult situation in your life is invaluable,” Edlund said.

Stephanie just turned 21. She is doing well and finishing up her prerequisites at Texas State University in San Marcos. “Stephanie plans on applying to UT Health’s School of Nursing next summer. We are very proud of her,” she said.

Travis (from left), Grant and David Edlund are photographed in 2019 with younger sister, Stephanie Edlund.

Terri and Steve Edlund are loyal supporters of UT Health. In 2014, the Stephanie Edlund Distinguished Professorship in Pediatric Cancer Research was established through generous gifts from multiple donors who wished to honor Stephanie and all children with cancer. The endowment supports investigators dedicated to pediatric cancer research and the mission of the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute – to advance scientific knowledge relevant to childhood cancer and to accelerate the translation of knowledge into novel therapies.

The holder of the professorship is Gregory J. Aune, MD, who also is the Greehey Distinguished University Chair for Cancer Survivorship in Children. Dr. Aune is a physician-researcher whose career in pediatric cancer spans over 30 years. He was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 16. His experience initiated a path toward a research and clinical career aimed at developing less toxic chemotherapy regimens. As a long-term survivor, he underwent openheart surgery at age 35 due to damage by cancer therapies.

Terri Edlund said Stephanie’s illness was not the end of the family’s experience with UT Health physicians. “In 2019, I learned I had a very large tumor on my liver. My doctor scheduled me to see an oncologist. It was a Friday afternoon, and this oncologist scheduled a biopsy for Monday. We initially decided after we knew more, we’d contact UT Health.

“I was fairly calm, but Steve was not. Within hours of returning home, Steve contacted Dr. Bill Henrich and sent him my MRI results. Bill called immediately and strongly recommended that we come to UT Health. I was at UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center for a meeting with Dr. Francisco Cigarroa and his team on Monday morning.

“Confidence and expertise filled the room. It was a night-and-day experience from the Friday office visit we had just had. I left the Mays Cancer Center with a plan and complete relief. Again, we were in the hands of UT Health doctors, and they did not disappoint,” she said.

Terri Edlund was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer and underwent a 16-hour liver surgery by Dr. Cigarroa and his team. “None of this was easy, but the kindness and love shown to me was consistent at every level. It had been 13 years since Stephanie’s diagnosis, a whole different group of medical professionals and still the compassion was there. How do you teach that?

I don’t know how you teach that, but UT Health has it embedded in who they are, combined with their medical expertise is world-class care – right here in San Antonio, Texas.”

She remains in treatment at the Mays Cancer Center. “The quality of care and expertise that is UT Health San Antonio is second to none! You do not need to leave our city to find care, you should start with UT Health. Our community is so fortunate to have this institution in our city. Our family feels deeply indebted to UT Health and will be forever grateful.”

In fiscal year 2022, Dr. Aune used funds from the Stephanie Edlund Distinguished Professorship in Pediatric Cancer Research for day-to-day needs of his laboratory, which is focused on developing new non-toxic drugs for pediatric cancer and lessening long-term cardiovascular toxicity in long-term survivors. He also used these funds to facilitate his many national leadership activities focused on advancing pediatric cancer research, highlighting survivorship issues, and continuing to raise awareness for pediatric cancer patients, survivors and their families. The endowment is crucial to Dr. Aune’s ability to build a national network of physicians and researchers with the goal of helping current cancer patients and survivors.

Terri and Steve Edlund

How Do Endowments Grow?

Examples are based on 4% annual growth.

If you have questions or comments about this report, please contact:

Anamaria Repetti

Vice President for Institutional Advancement and Chief Development Officer

Designated Endowment Executive

Phone: (210) 450-7106

Email: repetti@uthscsa.edu

Mary H. Spears, MLIS Senior Manager of Administration and Endowments

Phone: (210) 567-3076

Email: spearsmh@uthscsa.edu

UT Health San Antonio

7703 Floyd Curl Drive, MC 7835 San Antonio, Texas 78229-3900

makelivesbetter.uthscsa.edu

Going Green

To better steward our relationship and resources, we are going green! Next year this report will be made available to you online to share how endowment investments have performed and been utilized more readily and efficiently. Should you wish to continue receiving this annual Endowment Report in print, please contact Yvonne R. Garcia, MS, at donorrelations@uthscsa.edu or 210-567-0771.

Together We Make Lives Better