UT Health San Antonio’s Center for Brain Health will bring together clinician expertise in dozens of disorders. The facility will participate in national research initiatives, focusing on clinical trials to enable earlier detection and treatment of rare diseases, said Dr. Carlayne Jackson, chair of neurology at UT Health San Antonio.
The big picture
Jackson described the $100 million, 103,000-square- foot Center for Brain Health as a one-stop shop for patients with neurodegenerative diseases.
As home to the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases, the center employs clinicians who can innovate treatments by leveraging its brain bank, which contains over 2,000 donated brains, including nearly 500 from Texans, said Dr. Sudha Seshadri, the founding director of the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases.
“We can test different treatments, look at different types of models, and, hopefully, bring only the most promising compounds to human studies,” Seshadri said.
Zooming in
Jackson said that with 40 neurology residents and eight fellowships, the center offers a unique environment to train the next generation of neurologists.
“We’ve always considered our clinics a research lab in many aspects,” Jackson said. “[Patients participating in clinical trials] is an opportunity for us to collect information that will allow us to answer questions about diseases that we still need to learn a lot about.”
The Center for Brain Health is conducting over 55 active clinical trials and over 265 observational studies. Some of the clinical trials include drug and aging-related studies, clinical trials for conditions without approved treatments and Alzheimer’s disease research. Other studies use emerging technologies to predict falls and monitor treatments using wearable and at-home devices.
The conditions
Dr. Amelie Ramirez, director of Salud America!- an organization that makes educational materials to influence healthy lifestyles within the Latino community-said that although Hispanics make up about 70% of South Texas’ population, fewer than 5% participate in clinical trials.
“We really need to educate our communities on the importance of participating in clinical trials, and this is kind of our partnership work that we’ll be doing with the Biggs Institute and the Center for Brain Health in San Antonio, is to help promote that awareness and opportunities to participate in future clinical trials,” Ramirez said.
Seshadri said that the Biggs Institute is the top recruiter for Hispanic clinical trial patients.
“We are the largest Hispanic-recruiting [Aging and Disability Resource Center] among all 37 [centers], which is not surprising because we are in South Texas,” Seshadri said.
Research at the center includes studying how Alzheimer’s genes behave differently in Hispanic patients and the unique risk factors at work.
The outlook
District 10 council member Marc Whyte said that one of the most noticeable aspects of the new center is its thoughtful design, which incorporates a variety of facilities, including a library, music room, therapy rooms, spaces for educational and group meetings and an infusion suite.
“[The center] really gives our folks an opportunity to participate in cutting-edge research that’s being done right here in our city,” Whyte said. “Alzheimer’s affects people around the world, and certainly right here in San Antonio, and to have a facility that’s on the cutting edge right here in San Antonio is a win for our citizens.”
Dianne Teran, program manager at the Alzheimer’s Association San Antonio and South Texas Chapter, said the center may allow organizations to host educational and outreach programs.
“Hopefully, the Alzheimer’s Association [and] other organizations could have a space to also come in and bring in education as well,” Teran said. “It’s all about how we work together to fill that need, so it’s really holding hands [to provide comprehensive care].”
Looking ahead
Jackson said State Proposition 14, recently approved in the Nov. 4 election, created a $3 billion dedicated fund for dementia prevention and research, which will have a transformative impact on researcher recruitment and medical discovery at the Center for Brain Health.
“I can’t understate the incredible gift that was for researchers,” Jackson said. “I really think this will be an opportunity for us to recruit really smart, bright scientists from across the country who can’t get funding nationally.”