$50M Perot Family Donation Expands Medical Scientist Training Program at UT Southwestern University
Newswise — Dallas – November 4, 2022 – The Perot Family, the Perot Foundation, and the Sarah and Ross Perot Jr. Foundation are transforming one of America’s elite Medical Scientist Training Programs (MSTPs) at UT Southwestern University. provided a $50 million fund to bring A program offering dual MD/Ph.D to graduates. A degree that enhances the advancement of laboratory discovery into the clinical field.
Funds provide a permanent endowment to the Perot Family Scholars Medical Scientist Training Program. An in-country training program sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The program marks his 40th anniversary of graduating from the UT Southwestern Medical School and the UT Southwestern School of Biomedical Sciences as a top-level Physician Scientist.
“This special gift provides UT Southwestern with a permanent foundation for this unique dual degree programme. It also helps address the disturbing national trend of declining numbers of qualified physician-scientists,” said Daniel. K. Podolsky, MD, President of UT Southwestern Medical Center. “The Perot family’s generous support further cements their historic commitment to the continued advancement of academic medicine and its interests.”
The UT Southwestern faculty includes many prominent dual-degree medical scientists, including the late Nobel Laureate Alfred G. Gilman, MD, Ph.D., former president of UT Southwestern Medical School. It contains. Three of his 18 members at the National Academy of Medicine at UT Southwestern. Two of his 14 Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigators at UT Southwestern.
“Ross was an enthusiastic supporter of the medical training program because he considered it one of the best investments in people and intelligence,” said Margot Perrault. “Our family is delighted to continue our support and ties to the MSTP program. We know it will bring enormous benefits for years to come. I am confident that will be of great use in training young scientists destined for important medical breakthroughs in the future.”
The Perot Family Scholars program builds on the legacy Ross and Margot Perot have invested in over the past 40 years, and began in 1987 with Nobel laureates Michael Brown, MD and Joseph Goldstein, MD, and medical scientists. A donation of $20 million was made to support the training program. , followed in 1996 by her additional funding of over $23 million for training and biomedical research. In addition, the Perot family has generously supported the Perot Foundation Center for Neuroscience and Translational Research, his programs in mental health, and veteran research, including groundbreaking research by Robert Haley, M.D., on Gulf War syndrome. I was.
“I think the Perot family’s contribution is very positive, as it was in the 1980s,” said Dr. Brown. “This latest gift will enable us to create a whole new generation of medical scientists who will develop new treatments and, ultimately, means of preventing many diseases.”
Since its inception in 1978, UT Southwestern’s MD/Ph.D. program has graduated approximately 300 physician-scientists, approximately 75% of whom have received admissions from Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Stanford, UT Southwestern, and many other prestigious institutions. I have a faculty position at an academic medical center, including an institution. Twenty-four of the alumni work on his UT Southwestern faculty, where he trains the next generation of medical scientists. UT Southwestern Medical School is ranked among the top 25 in research in the United States and among the top 20 in primary care nationally. US News & World ReportOnly six institutions in the country were rated higher than UTSW in both categories, and UTSW ranks UT Southwestern University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences programs nationally, ranking 25th nationally in biology. Ranked.
The Perot family’s support will expand the number of students enrolled in the dual degree program and the research areas they study in to include biomedical engineering, computational biology, bioinformatics and data science. The investment also enhances MSTP’s student curriculum and experience, and strengthens efforts to recruit students from top U.S. universities, including highly qualified international students who wish to remain in the U.S. for their careers.
Successful MSTP research
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) bridges the gap between basic science and clinical research by offering both graduate training in biomedical sciences and clinical training offered in medical schools. Her 2014 report by her NIH Physician-Scientist Workforce (PSW) Working Group, which includes Helen H. Hobbs, M.D., UTSW professor of internal medicine and HHMI investigator, says strengthening the biomedical workforce identified the need to According to the Physician-Scientist Support Foundation, over the past 30 years, the percentage of physicians involved in research has fallen to about 1.5% of all physicians.
NIGMS research shows NIH MSTP graduates are more likely to undertake both research and clinical postdoc training, retain their degrees, publish more papers, and receive research support . For example, her three-quarters of her MSTP graduates who applied were able to get NIH support.
UT Southwestern ranked #1 among global healthcare providers in 2022 Nature An index of published research and included among the top 20 global academic life sciences institutions. The UTSW faculty includes four current Nobel laureates, 24 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 18 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 14 of his HHMI researchers.
Dr. Brown has been awarded the WA (Monty) Moncrief Distinguished Chair for Cholesterol and Atherosclerosis Research and the Paul J. Thomas Chair for Medicine. Dr. Goldstein holds the Julie and Louis A. Beecher Jr. Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Research and the Paul J. Thomas Chair in Medicine. Dr. Haley serves as the U.S. Armed Forces Veterans Special Chair for Medical Research, honoring Robert Haley, M.D., and American Gulf War veterans. Dr. Hobbs has been awarded the Eugene McDermott Distinguished Chair for research in human growth and development, the Philip O’Bryan Montgomery, Jr., MD Distinguished Chair for developmental biology, and the 1995 Dallas Heart Ball Chair for research in cardiology. . Dr. Podolski holds the Philip O’Brian Montgomery Jr., MD Distinguished Presidential Chair of Academic Administration and the Doris and Bryan Wildenthal Distinguished Chair of Medical Science.
About UT Southwestern Medical Center
One of the nation’s leading academic medical centers, UT Southwestern combines pioneering biomedical research with excellence in clinical care and education. The institution’s faculty has won his six Nobel Prizes, his 24 members of the National Academy of Sciences, his 18 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 14 Howard Hughes Medical Institute research person is included. More than 2,900 full-time faculty are responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and are committed to rapidly translating science-driven research into new clinical treatments. A UT Southwestern physician, in more than 80 specialties, he provides care to over 100,000 inpatients, over 360,000 emergency room cases, and supervises nearly 4 million outpatient visits annually. .
