Dr. Brandy Schwarz

50 Heroes: Dr. Brandy Schwarz

Both inside and outside the HSC walls, Dr. Brandy Schwarz has earned a reputation for rising to every challenge.  To her students, she is a sought-after mentor and role model.  To her faculty colleagues, she is an innovator and collaborator.  And to her community (which stretches to all corners of the globe), she is a true servant leader. Schwarz, who joined the Department of Physical Therapy faculty in 2011, does everything with passion…
Dr. Erika Thompson

HSC researcher, collaborators help homeless mothers and children find their road back

By Sally Crocker  Hundreds of thousands of families across the U.S. struggle with homelessness each year. Living on the streets, in cars, at shelters or temporarily bunking up with others poses many risks and challenges, greatly intensified this year by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Erika Thompson, PhD, Assistant Professor at the HSC School of Public Health…
Carla Johnson

50 Heroes: Carla Johnson

Knowledgeable. Compassionate. Fair. Honest. Visionary.  A person described using any one of these words would be flattered.  Colleagues of Carla Johnson, however, used all of these descriptors when asked about a leader who has made the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences her home for nearly 28 years.  “Carla is a true advocate for students,” commented one colleague. “She is wholly invested in the success and well-being…
Dr. John Podgore

50 Heroes: Dr. John Podgore

Long before it was established as the anchor tenet of the HSC’s Values proposition, Dr. John Podgore was modeling behaviors to demonstrate his passion for “serving others first.”  Dr. Podgore, a 1967 graduate of the College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery, in Des Moines, began his 50-plus year medical career in the military, where he served his country as an Army Medical Officer in Vietnam and…
Dr. Bianka Soria Olmos

Hometown hero: TCOM grad thriving in pediatrics and Fort Worth

By Steven Bartolotta A Fort Worth born and raised girl dreams of becoming a physician since childhood, becomes a first-generation college graduate, first-generation medical student and then returns home to begin her career as a pediatrician.   That’s just the cliff notes version of Dr. Bianka Soria-Olmos, a 2011 Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine graduate and Cook Children’s Medical Center primary care pediatric…
Dr. Stacey Griner

Dr. Stacey Griner appointed APHA Section Councilor

By Sally Crocker HSC Assistant Professor Stacey Griner, PhD, MPH, has been appointed to serve a three-year term for the American Public Health Association (APHA) as Section Councilor in the Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) Section. Appointments are made through peer elections. Since 1975, SRH, formerly known as the Population, Reproductive and Sexual Health Section, has worked to improve the health and well-being of women, men and…
Dr. Rusty Reeves

50 Heroes: Dr. Rusty Reeves

Dr. Rusty Reeves, a fixture at HSC since 1992, actually predates the school where he earned his PhD. The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at HSC was founded in 1993, one year after Dr. Reeves arrived as a student.  That first year, Dr. Reeves had to travel to Denton, where he remembers going to register for classes as a “highlight.” Things have changed…
Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine student Cole Romney and family

TCOM student and wife launch “one-stop, no-scratch” mitten shop

By Steven Bartolotta  Baby mittens are perhaps the crown jewel of cuteness for little hands and feet. However, they can also be hot, sweaty and cumbersome for babies trying to use their hands. Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine student Cole Romney and his wife Kimberlynne noticed this with their infant daughter soon after she was born in July of 2016. They didn’t…
Sen. Jane Nelson

50 Heroes: Senator Jane Nelson

You can’t walk far across campus without seeing Senator Jane Nelson’s impact on HSC.  Since taking office in 1993, she has helped the university double in size, expand to six schools and lead a culture change around safety in health care with the founding of the Institute of Patient Safety, now known as SaferCare Texas. HSC even awarded her its inaugural Patient Safety Advocate…
Dr. Scott Walters

HSC Regents Professor Dr. Scott Walters and colleagues share progress addressing nation’s opioid crisis

By Sally Crocker A special issue of the peer-reviewed scientific journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence has been released, profiling the efforts of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study to address the nation’s opioid crisis.  $350 million in funding has been committed to this program between 2019-2022 in what is notably the largest implementation science study ever conducted in the field of addiction.  Scott Walters, PhD, Regents Professor at the University of North Texas Health…