In Pursuit of Breakthroughs
In 2021, UTSW scientists never missed a beat, even with the challenges of working during the ongoing pandemic.
Their relentless dedication to biomedical innovation set the stage for continued advancement, with innovative research that ranged from mapping the mammalian immune system to using genetic engineering to create new nerve cells. The year also brought prestigious scientific honors for faculty members, a new collaboration intended to foster growth in the field of bioengineering, and the recruitment of leaders determined to grow UT Southwestern’s strengths in basic science and clinical research.
Partnering for Bioengineering Innovation
UT Southwestern is collaborating with UT Dallas on a bioengineering facility to foster education and research innovations. Construction began in November on the 150,000-square-foot Texas Instruments Biomedical Engineering and Sciences Building located at East Campus. Learn more about the goals of this transformative partnership in the video below.
Video of groundbreaking for Biomedical engineering building
Two UTSW faculty members were elected to membership of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), one of the highest honors for American scientists. The inductions grew UTSW’s total NAS membership to 25, more than any other Texas institution. Two other faculty members were named Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators, bringing our roster to 14, also the most of any Texas institution.
Using genetic engineering, researchers at UT Southwestern and collaborators reprogrammed scar-forming cells in mouse spinal cords to create new nerve cells, spurring recovery after spinal cord injury. The findings, published in Cell Stem Cell, could offer hope for the hundreds of thousands of people worldwide who suffer a spinal cord injury each year.
Joan Conaway, Ph.D., joined UT Southwestern in July as Vice Provost and Dean of Basic Research, bringing decades of bench science to her new role. Formerly with the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, Missouri, Dr. Conaway plans to build on UT Southwestern’s legacy of research excellence, growing areas such as bioinformatics, as well as expand faculty and staff diversity at all levels of basic science.
UT Southwestern scientists identified thousands of genetic mutations likely to affect the immune system in mice. The research, using artificial intelligence, is part of the quest of Nobel Laureate Bruce Beutler, M.D., to find virtually all such variations in mammals and was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Using artificial intelligence (AI), researchers from UT Southwestern have developed a way to accurately predict which skin cancers are highly metastatic. The findings, published as the July cover article of Cell Systems, show the potential for AI-based tools to revolutionize pathology for cancer and a variety of other diseases.
Eric Peterson, M.D., M.P.H., has been busy building a robust clinical research program. Hired as the inaugural Vice Provost and Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Research in late 2020, Dr. Peterson aims to enhance the University’s clinical research enterprise by adding better and faster technologies, improving training and processes, and recruiting more clinical researchers to make UTSW a national leader in this field.
From gene discovery to a first-in-class drug
A drug developed from laboratory studies at UT Southwestern gained approval this year, providing hope in the form of a new treatment for those with familial kidney cancer. Merck’s belzutifan grew out of a discovery at UT Southwestern by Steven McKnight, Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry, of the protein hypoxia-inducible factor 2-alpha (HIF-2α), which was found to fuel the growth of kidney and other cancers.
