Paula and Joseph C. “Rusty” Walter III

Translational Research Initiative

When Houston Methodist launched the Translational Research Initiative (TRI) in 2014, the aim was twofold: provide vital funding to promising new therapies ready to make the transition from research laboratory to clinical use and capitalize on Houston’s bold entrepreneurial spirit to lead the way toward a new model of medical innovation.

TRI exceeded expectations. Houston Methodist is now launching its third phase after securing more than $20 million for translational research projects. The first iteration of TRI, which became known as TRI I when a second initiative was created, began with a philanthropic matching fund established by Paula and Joseph C. “Rusty” Walter III.

The success of TRI I spurred TRI II, which was started through the generosity of the Jerold B. Katz Foundation. The Katz Foundation’s $5 million challenge gift helped raise another $5 million from community visionaries.

Building on the success of TRI I and TRI II, a third initiative was established with another matching challenge gift from Paula and Rusty Walter. TRI III’s goal is to create a $10 million fund much like its predecessors, with one major difference: these funds will focus solely on neurology and translational projects, such as neurosurgery, stroke recovery or Alzheimer’s disease.

AnatomicAligner Uses State-of-the-Art Graphics to Help Presurgical Planning

Developed by James Xia, MD, PhD, professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery, and Jaime Gateno, DDS, MD, chair of the Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery and professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery, AnatomicAligner, an FDA-approved software program uses information acquired from multiple imaging modalities to simulate jaw surgery. Due to the complex nature of the craniofacial skeleton, corrective surgeries require extensive presurgical planning. The use of state-of-the-art computer graphics and modeling in AnatomicAligner will help reduce unwanted surgical outcomes and procedures.

Before surgery, Lindsay’s bone structure was not symmetrical.

AnatomicAligner software calculated which adjustments were needed to achieve symmetry. After two extensive surgeries, Lindsay wore braces for several weeks. With newfound confidence, she began her career at a large corporation.

Innovative Magnetic Device Shows Promise for Treating Brain Injury

A noninvasive, portable, wireless, affordable, smartphone-compatible magnetic stimulation cap invented by Santosh Helekar, MD, PhD, associate professor of neurosurgery at Houston Methodist and Henning Voss, PhD, associate professor of physics in radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College, uses novel transcranial stimulation technology to modulate neural activity in multiple parts of the brain at the same time, leading to functional recovery following brain injury or dysfunction.

When David Chiu, MD, Elizabeth Blanton Wareing Chair in the Eddy Scurlock Stroke Center, and Helekar tested the device in a phase I/IIa clinical trial involving 30 ischemic stroke survivors with motor impairment, the cap increased neural activity near stroke-injured areas of the brain, inducing a trend toward recovery of motor function. The cap is also being tested for other applications, such as improvement of bladder control in multiple sclerosis.

The cap technology has been granted four patents by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office so far, which have been licensed to a startup company called Seraya Medical LLC. A larger multicenter stroke trial and submission for regulatory clearance are being planned.