February
2009
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After four decades of helping aspiring stage stars rise from the University of Houston’s School of Theatre & Dance and ascend to professional heights, Sidney Berger will retire at the end of the spring semester...
UH Recruits Top Researcher
With the aid of a $5.5 million grant through the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, the University of Houston has recruited one of the world’s top hormones researchers and his team.
Jan-Åke Gustafsson and his
team will carry out laboratory research and create next-generation pharmaceuticals
and medical technologies at a world-class center to be established by
UH and The Methodist Hospital Research Institute (TMHRI)."The biomedical industry is one of the largest in our state, and has the potential to greatly improve many Texans' quality of life with continued research and expansion," said Gov. Rick Perry, who announced the award. "This world-class research team will lead the charge in developing treatments for diseases that plague our citizens and enhance the University of Houston’s presence as a biomedical research institution."
Gustafsson, a renowned figure in the study of hormones and a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the Nobel Assembly, accepted an appointment this summer to expand his revolutionary research efforts at the University of Houston. He arrived on campus in late January.
"We are delighted to have Dr. Gustafsson join our faculty as a key leader in our biomedical initiative," said Renu Khator, president of UH and chancellor of the UH System. "He was courted by Ivy League institutions and determined the University of Houston offered the best opportunity to advance his research. He will play an important role in our quest for flagship university status."
Gustafsson's hiring represents a key element in fulfilling Khator's vision for the university, which includes a UH Health Initiative that will expand the university's presence and its partnerships with Texas Medical Center institutions, filling gaps that currently exist and advancing strengths already in place.
Gustafsson, who holds both a Ph.D. and M.D., will teach as a distinguished professor at both the department of biology and biochemistry and the department of chemistry at UH's College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Gustafsson also will be a distinguished member of TMHRI and will head the proposed Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling, a collaborative effort between UH and TMHRI.
"The recruitment of Dr. Gustafsson and establishment of the center represents a substantial collaboration between UH and Methodist," said Michael Lieberman, M.D., Ph.D., director of TMHRI. "Dr. Gustafsson will join two of the world's top nuclear receptor researchers, TMHRI's Drs. Willa Hsueh and John Baxter, in establishing the world’s largest center for nuclear receptor research."
Gustafsson said he looks forward to building a state-of-the-art research center, focusing on "the medically very important field of nuclear receptors and cell signaling"
"The concentration of outstanding scientists at UH, TMHRI and in the Houston area in general, including the medical center, provides unique possibilities for cutting-edge translational research with great clinical and commercial potential," he said.
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