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Anuja Ghorpade, PhD, Robert Richard, DO, and Paul Bowman, MD, were named as 2010 HealthCare Heroes by the Fort Worth Business Press. They were honored at an awards dinner Thursday evening at the Fort Worth Club.

Ghorpade, chair of Cell Biology and Anatomy, joined the Health Science Center in December 2007 to establish new research programs in HIV/AIDS, glial biology, as well as a Brain Bank for neurodegeneration research. As a leading researcher of HIV-related dementia, Ghorpade investigates the responses of astrocytes to viral infection of the brain and related inflammation. Astrocytes are the nurturing cells of the brain, and their function changes when introduced to HIV and inflammation. These changes affect disease and contribute to neurodegeneration.

Richard, chair of Community Medicine, and a family practice physician at UNT Health and the John Peter Smith (JPS) Health Network, encourages extended working hours at JPS centers by recruiting physicians to work 12-hour shifts and, in some cases, opening centers from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. He also established a principle for physicians to save time in their daily schedules for a few, same-day appointments if necessary. The extended hours and open schedules have resulted in improved patient satisfaction and increased physician recruitment.

Bowman, professor and chair of Pediatrics and director of hematology/oncology at Cook Children’s Medical Center, has brought expertise in pediatric oncology to the Health Science Center since his arrival in 2008. The collaboration between the Health Science Center and Cook Children’s has allowed physicians access to innovative treatments and helped researchers bring their solutions directly to patients. Bowman also lead a collaboration between Cook Children’s and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital on a pioneering new acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treatment, which allowed children to participate in the protocol study without being referred to the home base of St. Jude – Memphis.

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