Research
In the coming years, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso will be the catalyst for enhancing first-rate medical care in the region, training more physicians and bringing more equity to the health care status of El Pasoans. The first four-year medical school on the U.S./Mexico border is expected to improve the local economy by $1.31 billion by the year 2013. TTUHSC at El Paso will also fill a niche in border and Hispanic health by leading research that will have a huge impact on the nation by contributing to literature dealing with Hispanics and diseases that affect the El Paso area diabetes, obesity and depression.
Current research projects include the study of low blood lead level and chronic kidney disease, breast carcinogenesis, developing RNA interference (RNAi)-based treatment methods for HIV infection, and testing the therapeutic applicability of siRNAs to prevent and cure West Nile and St. Louis encephalitis viruses.
Centers of Excellence
- Center of Excellence for Infectious Disease Research
- Center of Excellence for Neurosciences
- Center of Excellence for Cancer
- Center of Excellence for Diabetes and Obesity
Core Labs
- Proteomics
- Genomics
- Cytometry
- Histology
Researcher Name
Premlata Shankar, Professor and Co-Director, Center of Excellence of Infectious Disease Reaearch
Harvard and Texas Tech researchers halt spread of HIV with RNAi
Main Findings
Using a novel method to deliver small molecules called siRNAs into T cells, researchers dramatically suppressed HIV in the first-ever animal model that mirrors progression of the disease in humans. The siRNAs knocked down three key genes and kept the infection from spreading in mice containing human immune cells infected with the virus.[Link to article here]