Eye Fc

Promising treatment for disease that destroys eye tissue

By Jan Jarvis Ocular inflammation uveitis is a serious disease that can destroy eye tissue and cause irreversible blindness. Fortunately, blindness and eye damage can be prevented by suppressing the immune system and treating the disease with corticosteroids, said Sai Chavala, MD, Professor of Pharmacology and Neuroscience and Director of Translational Research at the North…
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Study: For vets, ‘mild’ TBI increases risk of early brain disease

By Jan Jarvis Army veteran R. J. Hillman was riding back to base from a 17-hour mission in Afghanistan when the blast from an IED sent shock waves radiating through his truck. Despite feeling dizzy, he immediately launched into his role as a medic. Later that night, his head ached. For the next 48 hours,…
Medsci Fc

Medical Sciences Program among most respected in nation

By Alex Branch   The ambivalence Sohail Siraj initially felt in college showed in the grades he earned his freshman and sophomore years at Texas A&M University. MS in Medical Sciences  Learn more about admissions requirements, curriculum and application process. The Houston native wasn’t a bad student, but rather an unfocused one, unsure of what…
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The latest research on longevity

By Jan Jarvis   By Jan Jarvis Every day, Kunlin Jin, MD, PhD, drinks five cups of green tea, three in the morning and two in the afternoon. Brewed from the unfermented plant, the tea has been touted for its anti-aging and longevity benefits. “It should be very good for your health,” said Dr. Jin,…
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A prestigious glaucoma prize, again, for UNTHSC eye researchers

By Jan Jarvis In 1998, a team of researchers that included Abe Clark, PhD, won worldwide recognition for its discovery of the first gene that causes glaucoma. Two decades later, the same team has found a possible treatment for this blinding eye disease. “We’ve gone from discovering the first glaucoma gene to finding a way…
Prof Fc

UNT System honors scientist who conducts drug studies

By Jan Jarvis   One drug treats hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia. Another treats complicated intra-abdominal infections. And a third treats skin infections. These are among the many drugs that Jerry Simecka, PhD, has evaluated as part of the discovery process since establishing the Pre-Clinical Services group at UNT Health Science Center a decade ago. The successful…
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For seniors, the growing opioids menace

  One week – that’s how long it can take for a prescription pain killer to turn into an addiction to opioids. Patients believe opioids – a class of pain-killing drugs that can produce morphine-like effects – are safe and effective because their physician prescribed them, said Annesha White, PharmD, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacotherapy…
Dr. Cunningham in the lab

Fighting a deadly side effect of heart failure

ByJan Jarvis   For many of the 6.5 million people who live with heart failure, developing water retention related to their disease will decrease their chances of survival. Although many patients with water retention are treated with diuretics, it is not known why they develop the condition, said Tom Cunningham, PhD, Regents Professor of Physiology…
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Less calories, longer lives

By Jan Jarvis   Since 2000, Dr. Rozalyn Anderson has studied aging and how calorie restriction helps monkeys live longer, healthier lives. What she has found is monkeys who eat less than their peers get fewer diseases of aging, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. “A smaller body means a longer life and greater health,”…
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‘All I needed was a chance’

By Raul Vintimilla, Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience   I had earned my medical degree and finished a three-year hospital residency in Cuenca, Ecuador when I decided to move my family to the United States. I had discovered during my training that clinical care was not my passion — research was. And the United States…