New Frontiers to Improve Cardiovascular Medicine and Disease Management
Ongoing Lessons in a Pandemic
Transplants can Boost Survival Rate of Patients with Unresectable Liver Cancers
Telehealth Video Visits During the COVID-19 Pandemic – a Glimpse into the Future?
SARS-CoV-2 Induced Chronic Oxidative Stress and Endothelial Cell Inflammation May Increase Likelihood of Cardiovascular Diseases and Respiratory Failure
Ushering medical breakthroughs from the lab to the clinic takes many years and millions of dollars. The most promising discoveries are lost in the phase of translation called the “valley of death.” To help bridge the valley and provide our most promising innovations a lifeline, Houston Methodist is drawing on the transformative power of philanthropy.
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Ann Kimball and John W. Johnson Center for Cellular Therapeutics at Houston Methodist
With generous support from Ann and John W. “Johnny” Johnson, Houston Methodist has entered a new era of cellular therapeutics that expands its growing portfolio of immunotherapeutics and RNA therapeutics. Their cornerstone commitment built a research program and production facility at Houston Methodist that allows researchers to design new therapies rapidly and produce experimental therapeutics on site. In 2022, the Johnson Center opened its doors with the mission of providing high-quality, cost-effective translational and manufacturing services to internal investigators and external academic or industry partners.
Research Projects Underway at the Johnson Center
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TCR T-cells for triple-negative breast cancer. Triple-negative breast cancer is an especially difficult-to-treat disease, as the cancer cells are virtually invisible to the patient’s immune system. Dr. Jenny Chang, Emily Herrmann Presidential Distinguished Chair in Cancer Research and Director of the Dr. Mary and Ron Neal Cancer Center, discovered that T-cells with genetically modified T-cell receptors (TCRs) can find and kill this type of cancer cell with remarkable efficiency.
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Using mRNA to enhance cell therapies. John Cooke, MD, PhD, Joseph C. “Rusty” Walter and Carole Walter Looke Presidential Distinguished Chair in Cardiovascular Disease Research is working to improve a skin product for burn patients using mRNA that encodes the protein known as telomerase. If successful, this approach could be used to improve many different types of cellular therapies.
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Expanding mesenchymal stem cells from different sources for joint repair. Francesca Taraballi, PhD, Director of the Center for Musculoskeletal Regeneration (affiliated with Houston Methodist’s Department of Orthopedics and Sports Medicine), is isolating and expanding mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow and fat for a clinical trial investigating which type of cell will work best for joint repair. She explained that patients often read online about the potential of mesenchymal stem cell treatment as a “magic bullet.” Taraballi also noted that some of these patients, who are desperate for a cure, will seek this type of therapy at other less reputable facilities, which was not previously offered by Houston Methodist. She further explained that these unapproved therapies may not be safe or effective and could even be dangerous. To meet these patients’ needs, Houston Methodist began a gold standard trial rigorously designed to validate the utility of this type of stem cell for joint repair.
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Manufacturing T regulatory exosomes for ALS. Johnson Center Director Stanley Appel is embarking on a clinical study of exosomes derived from therapeutic T regulatory cells (Tregs) for a subset of patients with ALS. “This year at our GMP facility, we grew and expanded the Tregs,” said Appel. “Exosomes are vesicles that bud off from almost every cell. When they bud off from expanded Treg lymphocytes, they can suppress myeloid inflammation as well as T effector proliferation. We’re pleased that our trial runs in the GMP facility yielded exosomes with full suppressive functions that are now undergoing detailed evaluation of the miRNAs that mediate the suppressive functions.” With these preliminary Johnson Center studies now completed, Appel and his team have engaged in resolving the details to carry out a possible small pilot exosome study in ALS patients in 2023 at Houston Methodist.
Four research projects are underway at the Johnson Center:
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TCR T-cells for triple-negative breast cancer. Triple-negative breast cancer is an especially difficult-to-treat disease, as the cancer cells are virtually invisible to the patient’s immune system. Dr. Jenny Chang, the Emily Herrmann Presidential Distinguished Chair in Cancer Research and director of the Dr. Mary and Ron Neal Cancer Center, discovered that T cells with genetically modified T-cell receptors (TCRs) can find and kill this type of cancer cell with remarkable efficiency.
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Using mRNA to enhance cell therapies. John Cooke, MD, PhD, Joseph C. “Rusty” Walter and Carole Walter Looke Presidential Distinguished Chair in Cardiovascular Disease Research is working to improve a skin product for burn patients using mRNA that encodes the protein known as telomerase. If successful, this approach could be used to improve many different types of cellular therapies.
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Using mRNA to enhance cell therapies. John Cooke, MD, PhD, Joseph C. “Rusty” Walter and Carole Walter Looke Presidential Distinguished Chair in Cardiovascular Disease Research is working to improve a skin product for burn patients using mRNA that encodes the protein known as telomerase. If successful, this approach could be used to improve many different types of cellular therapies.
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Manufacturing T regulatory exosomes for ALS. Johnson Center Director Stanley Appel is embarking on a clinical study of exosomes derived from therapeutic T regulatory cells (Tregs) for a subset of patients with ALS. “This year at our GMP facility, we grew and expanded the Tregs,” said Appel. “Exosomes are vesicles that bud off from almost every cell. When they bud off from expanded Treg lymphocytes, they can suppress myeloid inflammation as well as T effector proliferation. We’re pleased that our trial runs in the GMP facility yielded exosomes with full suppressive functions that are now undergoing detailed evaluation of the miRNAs that mediate the suppressive functions.” With these preliminary Johnson Center studies now completed, we’re engaged in resolving the details to carry out a possible small pilot exosome study in ALS patients in 2023 at Houston Methodist.
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Houston Methodist Dr. Mary and Ron Neal Cancer Center
In 2022, Houston Methodist received a $25 million philanthropic gift from Dr. Mary and Ron Neal to expand the organization’s cancer center. In recognition of the gift, the Houston Methodist Cancer Center was renamed the Houston Methodist Dr. Mary and Ron Neal Cancer Center.
The gift bolstered the ongoing research led by Jenny C. Chang, MD, Emily Herrmann Presidential Distinguished Chair in Cancer Research and Director of the Center. Chang’s groundbreaking research has significantly advanced cancer therapy with breakthroughs such as new targeted drugs that alter the tumor immune landscape of triple-negative breast cancer. Mary Neal said that she and her husband wanted to support the incredible work Chang and her associates have been conducting.
The gift supports three endowed chairs and corresponding research funds as well as ongoing cancer innovation efforts within the Center for Drug Repositioning and Development. Chang also seeks to address neglected populations in the community with the gift and to propel the center’s ongoing research to the national level, toward National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation. The Neal's gift will elevate the current research and help retain talent to accelerate Houston Methodist’s pursuit of NCI designation.
In September 2022, the Neal Cancer Center became the 105th member of the Association of American Cancer Institutes.
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The Fondren Food & Health Alliance and The Fondren Inflammation Center
The first of its kind in the Texas Medical Center, Houston and the region, the Fondren Inflammation Collaborative is creating a singular destination for patients to seek normalcy and relief from debilitating allergy, immunologic, autoimmune and gastrointestinal conditions. Patients who come to The Fondren Foundation often have been passed between doctors and clinics for months or years in search of a proper diagnosis and treatment plan. The program was made possible when The Fondren Foundation made a generous $15 million commitment to Houston Methodist. The entire program will be realized in the next decade.
The philanthropic gift strengthens and expands two Houston Methodist programs: the new Immunology Center at Houston Methodist and the Food and Health Alliance within the Lynda K. and David M. Underwood Center for Digestive Disorders. The Fondren Inflammation Collaborative will offer patients one-of-a-kind opportunities to participate in clinical trials focused on innovative treatments and therapies for inflammation-triggered conditions.
The Fondren Foundation’s vision is to close the gap in patient care by building an international destination of hope and relief for people with complex, often intertwined conditions that have underlying inflammatory triggers.
In 2022, Xian Li, MD, PhD, the Max and Lillie Frosch Centennial Chair in Transplant Research, and his team discovered that immune cells “remember” their past exposure to foreign particles and that disrupting those memories can lead to damaging effects. This work, which expands immunological memory, points to targets that may improve organ transplantation outcomes. Moreover, Immunology Center Director David Huston, MD, and Chen Hsing Lin, MD, helped secure a coveted National Institutes of Health grant for clinical trials in treating and preventing shrimp allergies. Leaders are also looking to grow the team of researchers dedicated to conducting studies in allergy and immunology. On the education side, the team launched the Rheumatology Fellowship Training Program. Two fellows have joined the team. The aim is to serve as the epicenter for training the next generation of physician-scientists in the field. In 2022, Houston Methodist received a $15 million Cornerstone commitment from The Fondren Foundation to support an Immunology Center within the Department of Medicine, a Food and Health Alliance in the Underwood Center, and a Fondren Inflammation Collaborative. Ultimately, the Fondren Inflammation Collaborative will be extended to other disease areas impacted by inflammation, such as the heart, brain, cancer and behavioral health. The gift will support research, education and training efforts.
The Fondren Foundation in 2022 received a $15 million Cornerstone commitment to support an Immunology Center within the Department of Medicine, a Food and Health Alliance in the Underwood Center, and a Fondren Inflammation Collaborative.
Ultimately, the Fondren Inflammation Collaborative will be extended to other disease areas impacted by inflammation, such as the heart, brain, cancer and behavioral health. The gift will support research, education and training efforts.
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Houston Methodist Cockrell Center for Advanced Therapeutics
Since 2009, The Cockrell Foundation has made generous gifts toward an endowment that supports the Cockrell Center for Advanced Therapeutics (CCAT), which opened its phase 1 clinical trials unit in 2015 and continues to expand today. Under the leadership of Maen Abdelrahim, MD, PhD, PharmB, and Pauline H. Todd, MBA, BSN, RN, the CCAT staff have the expertise to support all phases of clinical trials, beginning with first-in-human trials. The Center brings together world-class medical minds and facilities to study novel therapies for various medical conditions while delivering customized and compassionate care. As part of its deep commitment to developing treatments with applicability to human disease, the Center aims to make a clinical trial available to every person who needs and wants to participate.
COVID-19 and its ramifications remain, and CCAT is collaborating with the Houston Methodist Academic Office of Clinical Trials to conduct numerous studies evaluating promising therapeutic approaches to managing endemic COVID-19 for the foreseeable future. Houston Methodist was the first U.S. hospital to test and use convalescent plasma to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients, and it continues to lead in testing and administering monoclonal antibody (mAB) treatments. Utilizing CCAT resources, Houston Methodist has administered more than 20,000 mAB therapies, including 1,400 of sotrovimab, the new therapy more effective against Omicron and BA.4 and BA.5 variants.
Building on CCAT’s groundbreaking work for immunocompromised patients who do not respond well to COVID-19 vaccines, Houston Methodist has injected more than 100 patients with Evusheld. This is a pre-exposure mAB treatment available for high-risk patients who cannot receive vaccines or in whom vaccines are typically unable to produce an immune response. Evusheld is effective for six months versus other mAB treatments that are only effective for two to three months. Evusheld is transforming preventive COVID-19 care for some of Houston Methodist’s highest-risk immunocompromised patients, including cancer patients and solid organ transplant recipients.
Cockrell Center For Advanced Therapeutics
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Houston Methodist Research Institute
Ccat - Tmc
Clinical Research Phase 1 Unit - Tmc
Reynolds and Reynolds Company Infectious Disease Research Unit
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Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital
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Houston Methodist West Hospital
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Houston Methodist Continuing Care Hospital
Highly Infectious Disease Unit Clinical Trials Center
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Houston Methodist Primary Care Group in Pearland
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Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital
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Paula and Joseph C. “Rusty” Walter III
Translational Research Initiative
Houston Methodist launched the Translational Research Initiative (TRI) in 2014 to provide vital funding to promising new therapies ready to make the transition from research laboratory to clinical use. The TRI provides vital funding for Houston Methodist’s brightest minds to translate new, innovative treatments into bedside-ready therapies and medicines more quickly and at a fraction of the cost of typical innovations.
The TRI has enabled Houston Methodist to launch its third phase after securing more than $20 million for translational research projects. The first iteration of TRI (TRI I) began with a philanthropic matching fund established by Paula and Joseph C. “Rusty” Walter III.
Houston Methodist Walter Tower
TRI II
The success of TRI I spurred TRI II, which was started through the generosity of the Jerold B. Katz Foundation. 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 III. TRI III focuses solely on neurology and translational projects, such as neurosurgery, stroke recovery or Alzheimer’s disease. Beneficiaries of the fund include Zheng Li, PhD, Associate Research Professor of Bioenergetics; Ashrith Guha, MD, Director of the Houston Methodist Pulmonary Hypertension Program; Philip J. Horner, PhD, Scientific Director of the Houston Methodist Center for Neuroregeneration; and Neurophysicist Tatiana Wolfe, PhD.
Li and Guha are developing a probe that attaches to the heart and lung’s blood vessels, which can be seen through PET scans. The team has an agreement with a vendor to complete precursor synthesis and the first compound. Horner and Wolfe are developing a mathematical algorithm for machine learning to measure the MR signal located in thinly packed layers of myelin. The team has a patent claim review ongoing and is working with Siemens representatives to coordinate imaging plans.
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Jerold B. Katz Academy of Translational Research
The Katz Foundation endowment was used to establish the Jerold B. Katz Academy of Translational Research, which aims to recruit and retain the world’s most promising transformational researchers in health care. Its funding will eventually support eight Katz Investigator endowed positions at $1 million each. Katz Investigators are recommended by the President and CEO of the Houston Methodist Research Institute and approved by the President and CEO of Houston Methodist (or his/her designee). Katz award recipients hold their position for five years, after which they will retain the title, but the $1 million endowed position will be used to recruit new Katz Investigators.
Katz Investigators Welcome a New Member
Tariq Shafi, MD
In 2022, Houston Methodist’s elite group of researchers funded through the Jerold B. Katz Foundation welcomed its fifth Katz Investigator, Tariq Shafi, MD, in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery. Shafi is a nationally recognized authority in cardiovascular risk factors and outcomes in patients with kidney disease treated with dialysis. Previously, he served at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where he was as the John D. Bower Director of the Division of Nephrology and Professor of Medicine with a joint appointment in Physiology and Biophysics. Shafi is a permanent member of the National Institutes of Health Services Organization and Delivery Study Section and is a member of the editorial boards of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology and the American Journal of Kidney Diseases. The Katz Investigator Award will support Shafi’s research into cardiovascular risk factors and outcomes in dialysis-treated patients with kidney disease. He will receive $750,000 in support for a five-year term.
Previous Katz Scholars:
Khurram Nasir, MD
2019
Since receiving the Katz Investigator Award, Nasir has published high-impact papers in JAMA Cardiology and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, among others. In addition to an R01 in collaboration with Vanderbilt University, Nasir has developed industry connections to further research in cardiovascular disease and population health. His research under the Katz Investigator funding is focusing on efforts to develop a systemwide hospital resource for research into cardiovascular disease prevention. He aims to harness the power of big data, innovative computation paradigms and artificial intelligence to integrate patients’ clinical and research data and to identify gaps in preventive care among high-risk individuals. Applications under review include patient care dashboards, clinical decision support systems, mobile patient engagement applications and key performance indicators.
Trisha Roy, MD, PhD
2020
A vascular surgeon-scientist as well as a Houston Methodist Clinical Scholar, Roy is studying advanced imaging options to develop an imaging method for evaluating blood vessel blockages that will enable precisely tailoring surgeries and endovascular procedures to individual patients. The Katz Investigator award is funding a project in which Roy is using advanced MRI imaging, using the Siemens 7-Tesla MAGNETOM Terra MRI (the first 7T MRI scanner approved for use in the U.S.), to evaluate blockages and determine where minimally invasive techniques will be warranted based on the blockages’ characteristics.
Nester Esnaola, MD
2020
Esnaola was awarded Katz Investigator funding to support his research in population sciences and cancer health disparities as well as to help launch the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program at the Houston Methodist Neal Cancer Center. The Research Program’s three main aims are to: 1) identify and understand factors that contribute to cancer risk to enable the development of precision prevention strategies; 2) develop innovative strategies for early detection of primary and recurrent cancers through the discovery of novel biomarkers; and 3) develop and optimize cancer care delivery and survivorship from diagnosis to end of life.
Rodney Folz, MD, PhD
2021
Folz will seek to further our knowledge and understanding of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with the eventual focus on asthma-COPD overlap syndrome. He will examine bioactive lipids associated with oxidative stress to determine a racial phenotype for older adults with asthma and to assess whether it’s associated with poorer asthma control, highlighting the contribution that environmental factors have on the loss of asthma control. He also will use the funding to support ongoing collaborations with investigators at Texas A&M University and the Institute of Biosciences and Technology, with the goal of recruiting and characterizing COPD patients to identify mechanism-based sensitive biomarkers of genomic instability, proteomics, and immune cell profiling for early diagnosis and disease prevention.
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Arias to Lead Houston Methodist’s Research in Infectious Disease
Philanthropic visionaries have played a pivotal role in making it possible for Houston Methodist’s frontline workers to provide lifesaving care from the Spanish flu in the hospital’s early days to the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. With an eye to being prepared for the next public health crisis, Houston Methodist’s Infectious Disease Research Fund is arming researchers and physicians with the resources they need to serve the Houston community and beyond.
Cesar A. Arias, MD, PhD
In 2022, Cesar A. Arias, MD, PhD, an internationally recognized infectious disease expert, joined Houston Methodist. Here, he will continue his NIH-funded basic, translational and clinical research on antibiotic resistance. As chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases as the John F. III and Ann H. Bookout Distinguished Chair, Arias will serve as the co-director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research at Houston Methodist, bringing extensive accomplishments in basic and translational work on antimicrobial resistance and microbial genomics to help diagnose and treat antibiotic-resistant organisms.
He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles, books and book chapters. He is currently chair of the Gulf Coast Consortium (GCC) on Antimicrobial Resistance and serves as editor in chief of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Arias is a member of the Board of Directors of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and has served as member of the IDSA COVID-19 Guidelines and both the vice chair and chair of IDWeek. He was inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2015 and to the American Academy of Microbiology in 2019. He has also built an outstanding educational and mentoring program in antimicrobial resistance, including serving as principal investigator of the Gulf Coast Consortium-based NIH-funded Texas Medical Center T32 Training Program in Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
He was recently awarded a $12 million P01 grant, titled DYNAMITE: Dynamics of Colonization and Infection by Multidrug-Resistant Pathogens in Immunocompromised and Critically Ill Patients. DYNAMITE involves five institutions in the Texas Medical Center including Baylor College of Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Houston, Rice University (including the GCC) and Houston Methodist— bringing together microbiome, clinical microbiology, omics and bioinformatics expertise to dissect the interactions behind antimicrobial resistance.
Given the group’s strong history of multi-institutional collaboration on AMR and microbiome science and their access to two major cohorts of critically ill and immunocompromised patients—in addition to centralized state-of-the art facilities in the Texas Medical Center—the results of these high impact, complementary projects are expected to provide critical foundations for development of novel and more effective preventative, diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to combat gut-derived AMR organisms affecting critically ill patients.
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George and Angelina Kostas Research Center for Cardiovascular Nanomedicine Annual Informational Meeting – The New Frontier of RNA Nanotherapeutics
The RNA vaccines against COVID-19 marked the beginning of a technological revolution that will transform the way we treat disease and restore health. The Kostas Research Center’s annual event, — The New Frontier of RNA Therapeutics, — provided a discussion on the events that led to the RNA vaccine breakthrough and previewed emerging RNA nanotherapeutics. Leading-edge developments in nanomedicine to improve delivery and tissue specificity were covered. "The potential on nanotechnology-enabled RNA therapeutics to enhance health is virtually limitless.”
John P. Cooke, MD, PhD, Joseph C. “Rusty” Walter and Caorle Walter Looke Presidential Char in Cardiovascular Disease Research and Chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, served as the program director along with co-director Alessandro Grattoni, PhD, Chair of the Department of Nanomedicine. The annual event on Oct. 24 hosted 131 in-person attendees and 303 virtual attendees, 15 speakers participating in a blitz presentation format of two-minute talks, and six Shark Tank participants. There were 1,000 views on the DeBakey CV Education YouTube Channel. Three research teams were selected to participate in the “Shark Tank” competition. Each team pitched innovative ideas in the field of cardiovascular nanomedicine to a panel of judges and competed for a $10,000 award. After five-minute presentations followed by 10 minutes of discussion, judges (Sharks) voted on the winning project deemed most likely to be translated toward the clinic — and awarded a $10,000 prize to apply toward the team’s research.
Three research teams were selected to participate in the “Shark Tank” competition. Each team pitched innovative ideas in the field of cardiovascular nanomedicine to a panel of judges and competed for a $10,000 award. After five-minute presentations followed by 10 minutes of discussion, the judges (Sharks) voted on the winning project deemed most likely to be translated toward the clinic — and awarded a $10,000 prize to apply toward that research.
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New Endowed Chairs
John F. III and Ann H. Bookout Distinguished Chair for Research Excellence
Cesar A. Arias, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine
Co-director, Center for Infectious Diseases Research
Gerald H. Dubin, M.D. Presidential Distinguished Centennial Director in the Art of Medicine for the Center for Performing Arts Medicine
J. Todd Frazier, Director
Houston Methodist Hospital’s Center for Performing Arts Medicine
Dr. and Mrs. Alan L. Kaplan Centennial Professor in Cellular Therapeutics and Organ Bioengineering
Joan Nichols, PhD, Professor of Immunology in Surgery
Lois E. and Carl A. Davis Centennial Associate Professor in Cancer Research
Polly Niravath, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine in Oncology
John M. O’Quinn Foundation Presidential Distinguished Chair in Neurology
Jun Li, MD, PhD
Paula and Joseph C. “Rusty” Walter III Associate Professor in Neuromodulation
Dimitry Sayenko, MD, PhD
C. James and Carole Walter Looke Presidential Distinguished Centennial Chair in Orthopedics
Kevin E. Varner, MD
Daniel E. Lehane, M.D. Distinguished Chair in Cancer Excellence
Ming You, MD, PhD
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Houston Methodist Teams with Texas A&M University to Train ‘physicianeers’ —A New Kind of Health Care Leader
Houston Methodist has raised $11.3 million toward an overall $16 million EnMed goal. The Brown, Smith & Raymond EnMed Capstone Innovator Projects, supporting technology innovation, are fully funded by benefactors. Other EnMed Founding Members have contributed to support EnMed students building their Innovation Portfolios in either the Clinical Research Scholars Program or the Matched Laboratory Research Initiative. All benefactors who have made a gift of $50,000 or more are recognized as EnMed Founding Members with opportunities to meet and meaningfully engage with EnMed students and faculty. EnMed Founding Members are also recognized as Lifetime Members of The Society for Leading Medicine, Houston Methodist’s annual giving society. The ENMED program, founded in 2019, is a collaboration between Texas A&M’s School of Engineering Medicine and Houston Methodist to transform health care through the development and training of physicianeers, the creation of medical technologies, and translational research.
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Center for Bioenergetics
Energy transfer drives every process in the body, from a heartbeat and rhythmic breathing to the formation of new life within the womb. Without energy, there can be no life.
Animal cells transfer energy from food to fuel synthesis of ATP (Adenosine triphosphate), a key biological energy transporter. This process occurs within mitochondria, which are critical cellular organelles. Energy transfer, a fundamental function of all biological processes, remains relatively understudied in relation to human health challenges, even today. The Houston Methodist Center for Bioenergetics seeks to change that paradigm to consider the transfer of energy at every biological turn. The team works to view all biological processes, as well as the energetic mistakes and missteps that can lead to disease, through the lens of cellular metabolism and energy transfer. Through these fundamental investigations, our understanding of underlying pathogenic disease mechanisms, discoveries and innovations can blossom from the energy and resources put into the research at the Houston Methodist Research Institute.
The Center for Bioenergetics was formed in 2013 to investigate the cellular mechanisms of inefficient bioenergetic function that may contribute to diseases such as cancer, atherosclerosis, heart failure and diabetes. Discoveries within the center have led to improved early diagnosis for diseases that are typically caught too late to treat or cure. The center’s leadership spent much of 2021 planning for expansion, and 2022 brought many growing, exciting changes to fruition. Thanks to our benefactors, the Center for Bioenergetics is nowendowed, and today it houses basic, translational and clinical research projects to support work from the bedside to the bench and back. Researchers at the center are investigating the possible reasons why some patients recovering from COVID-19 experience chronic symptoms such as fatigue, muscle aches, fevers, difficulty breathing and “brain fog,” or differences in memory, taste and smell. Collectively, this condition is called post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), more commonly known as “long COVID-19” or simply “long COVID.” The study’s initial phase has been completed, and data shows a reduced ATP production rate in patients with symptomatic long COVID correlates with CPET changes. By having a reduced ATP production rate, patients with long COVID may have less energy available for cellular function. Researchers found that the mitochondria in patients with long COVID were functional based on minimal proton LEAK rates and comparative basal respiratory rates. They appear to have decreased capacity to produce ATP. In vivo clinical cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) studies were completed, which included oxygen and carbon dioxide measurements at rest and during exercise.
