Dell Pediatric Research Institute

Dr. Richard Finnell is beginning a new chapter in his career as a pediatric geneticist in the Department of Nutritional Sciences in the School of Human Ecology at The University of Texas at Austin.

“It is hard to live in Texas and not be impressed by the outstanding research environment of the University of Texas,” said Finnell. “Once they decided to place an emphasis on children’s health with the development of the Dell Pediatric Research Institute, I knew that I wanted to get in on the ground floor and do whatever I could to make it a success.”

Finnell will be involved in teaching undergraduates and supervising the research of graduate students, while continuing and extending his own research program. His research examines the interaction between specific genes and environmental toxins as they influence normal embryonic development.

While his primary research focuses on discovering the role of folic acid in the prevention of birth defects, his laboratory is also working to identify the gene or genes that determine susceptibility to human neural tube defects (NTDs) and orofacial clefts.

Finnell is studying teratogenic agents, both pharmaceutical compounds and those found in the environment, that contribute to the population burden of birth defects. Given the recent oil spill a few hundred miles offshore from Houston, he is acutely aware of the potential threat to human health stemming from this environmental catastrophe and hopes to work with teams of new colleagues at the university as they assess, and perhaps remedy, the reproductive risks associated with the oil slick.

Finnell will move into the DPRI and officially begin his appointment on September 1, 2010.

Read more on the College of Natural Sciences web.

Event: Grand opening of The University of Texas at Austin’s Dell Pediatric Research Institute.

When: 2 p.m., Friday, April 23.

Where: Dell Pediatric Research Institute, 1400 Barbara Jordan Blvd., Austin, Texas.

Background: The Dell Pediatric Research Institute (DPRI) is The University of Texas at Austin’s new state-of-the-art medical research facility that promises to advance understanding of childhood diseases and disorders. DPRI is located on the site of the old Robert Mueller Airport in Central Austin and next door to the Dell Children’s Medical Center.

DPRI research will enable advances in areas including childhood obesity, cancer, birth defects, brain injury, nutrition, epilepsy and autism.

The institute is being created as a result of a $38 million challenge grant from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.

One of the greatest childhood health problems today is the high prevalence of obesity and obesity-related diseases, including coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke, hypertension, gallbladder disease, chronic respiratory disease and many cancers, say university faculty members John DiGiovanni and Stephen Hursting.

They will study the impact of obesity on cancer development and progression, including obesity that occurs early in life.

“Obesity in children has risen dramatically in recent years, and the growing epidemic is alarming,” said DiGiovanni, who joined the Colleges of Pharmacy and Natural Sciences in January. “Obesity in both adults and children increases the risk of cancer development as well as severity of the disease for a number of important cancers.”

Over the past 25 years, the number of Texas children and adolescents who are overweight or obese has more than quadrupled, with nearly 25 percent of elementary, middle school and high school students overweight, and another 20 percent at high risk of becoming overweight.

(more…)

John Wallingford and Tim George work at different ends of the biomedical-health-care spectrum.

Wallingford is a scientist doing basic research at The University of Texas at Austin. Using frogs and mice as models, he studies how embryos develop and what can go wrong in development.

George is a pediatric neuro-surgeon at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas. Among his patients are children with birth defects.

The scientist and the surgeon have teamed up to find ways to translate the basic discoveries made in Wallingford’s laboratory for use in George’s examination room.

They want to reduce birth defects, particularly neural tube defects, the second most common class of birth defects behind heart problems…

Read more.

An April open house will mark the official launch of the Dell Pediatric Research Institute: the latest measured step toward establishing a world-class academic health center, including a medical school, in Austin.

The institute—a collaboration between the University of Texas at Austin and Seton Family of Hospitals—is strategically located in the Mueller Development, near the UT campus and right across the street from Seton’s Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas. The objective is for UT researchers to mingle with Dell physicians and swap ideas about research, how it relates to practical medicine, and vice versa.

“In a sense, Dell represents a bridge between UT Austin and clinical enterprise. It is a very important step,” said Dr. Kenneth Shine, UT System executive vice chancellor for Health Affairs.

The institute, with a total projected capacity of 28 senior faculty members, is the first of several planned UT Austin research institutes on 30 acres of land at Mueller. It is a prime example of the kind of translational research activity that large biotech companies seek out when deciding where to locate.

The institute cost about $100 million to establish, including $38 million from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and $45 million from the UT System.

Read the full story on Impact News.

Dr. John Wallingford (College of Natural Sciences) and Dr. Tim George (Dell Children’s Medical Center) highlight ways in which the new Dell Pediatric Research Institute (DPRI) will allow critical relationships to be forged between clinicians and researchers. Wallingford and George use their own work–in neural tube defects such as spina bifida–as an example of how collaboration at DRPI can accelerate advances in diagnosis and therapies for childrens’ health. Video by Christina Murrey.

AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas at Austin today received a $1 million gift from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation for capital support of the Dell Pediatric Research Institute, a cutting-edge center for children’s health research in Central Texas. (more…)