Biochemist honored by American Chemical Society

By Jan Jarvis   Laszlo Prokai, PhD, DSc, is the winner of the Wilfred T. Doherty Award, which recognizes significant achievements in research, teaching, and service. The award is given annually by the American Chemical Society and honors a chemist or chemical engineer in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. It is named for Wilfred T. (Doc) Doherty,…

Helping UNTHSC be ‘the best in pharmacy’

By Jan Jarvis   Andrew Weis grew up in a family of pharmacists. His father, mother and brother chose careers in pharmacy, as did he. “Pharmacy has been in my blood a long time,” Dr. Weis said. “Collectively my parents, brother and I have 175 years of pharmacy experience.” His dedication to the profession expanded…

A link between legalized marijuana and reduced opioid deaths

By Sally Crocker Opioid-related deaths decreased following the legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado, according to a study led by a public health researcher from UNT Health Science Center. The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, showed a 6 percent reduction in opioid-related deaths in the two years after Colorado’s marijuana legalization,…

From personal trainer to PhD candidate

By Justin Sprick, GSBS student   I was working as a personal trainer in my hometown of Odessa when an article caught my eye in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. It was about using blood flow restriction exercise, which uses inflatable cuffs to reduce blood to the working muscles, as a novel strategy…

A milestone for new Interdisciplinary Research and Education Building

By Alex Branch University and community leaders marked a major milestone in the construction of the new Interdisciplinary Research and Education Building, with an event celebrating the 5-story building reaching its final height. UNT Health Science Center President Michael R. Williams, new UNT System Chancellor Lesa Roe, state Rep. Charlie Geren, employees and students were…

IPE event studies lessons of Gotham

By Sally Crocker Incoming School of Public Health graduate students learned how one of the country’s most important and controversial public health campaigns produced ground-breaking results in New York City. The Interprofessional Education and Practice (IPE) exercise studied lessons from Saving Gotham: A Billionaire Mayor, Activist Doctors, and the Fight for Eight Million Lives, the bestselling…

Autism Speaks and UNTHSC team up to meet needs of families affected by autism

By Alex Branch Leaders with Autism Speaks search the country for innovative autism research. They found it in front of a 180-degree virtual reality screen at UNT Health Science Center. There, Thomas Frazier, PhD, looked through glasses containing a tiny camera and moved his body in reaction to the movement of a virtual red ball…

Extraordinary Teamwork leads TCOM student to new TB discoveries

By Sally Crocker   A collaborative effort between UNTHSC, the CDC and Tarrant County Public Health helped establish more effective information-gathering methods in TB prevention efforts and provided some high-level recognition for fourth-year TCOM student Patrick Crowley. Crowley has been published in the Texas Journal of Public Health for his work with Dr. Thad Miller,…

Emphasizing emotional intelligence in medical education

By Alex Branch   An interprofessional team at UNT Health Science Center has developed an innovative curriculum that emphasizes development of students’ emotional intelligence, a model that has drawn interest from organizations devoted to medical education. Emotional intelligence and empathy are critical abilities for health care providers but research shows that those skills may decline…

Twenty years of teamwork, then a glaucoma breakthrough

By Jan Jarvis   More than two decades of teamwork between researchers at the University of Iowa and UNT Health Science Center has led to a breakthrough for treating a type of glaucoma that damages the eyesight of millions and can cause irreversible vision loss. The research focuses on myocilin, a protein implicated in both…