TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | m a y 7, 2 0 1 4 38 Nurses. Champions. Every day, you make a dierence in our patients' lives. You partner with our physicians from Baylor College of Medicine and UTHealth to inuence and improve the health of our community. And you light the way for future nursing generations to follow. Thank you for being a Harris Health champion. harrishealth.org Cool off this summer in your new apartment. 8000 Bellaire Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77036 www.parkwayparkgreen.com Apartment Features Community Features Direct bus route to TMC 4 Saltwater Swimming Pools 4 Laundry Facilities Outdoor BBQ Grills Controlled Access Gates On-site 24/7 Courtesy Patrol Easy Access to Highway 59 and Tollway 24-hour Emergency Maintenance Team 713.774.2591 Walk-in Closets Balcony / Patio Frost-free Refrigerator Ceiling Fans Fireplaces (in some units) Energy Efficient A/C Units Near to a Golf Course Near to a Park Upgraded Units Ceramic Tile (in selected units) M odern-day travel has made the world more easily accessible. Within 24 hours, you can fly from Houston to Peru and then back to Houston again. But with that conve- nience, diseases once found in isolated areas are now appearing at hospitals in Texas. To better understand infections that might spread to the United States, researchers at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) are collaborating with the U.S. Navy and the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH) at Lima, Peru, to study infectious diseases in Cusco, Peru. As the home of the former Inca Empire and the closest city to Machu Picchu, Cusco has been declared a World Heritage Site and is a major hub for tourism. With millions of visitors each year, Cusco is an ideal location to study diseases affecting travelers. "A major goal of the UPCH-UTMB Collaborative Research Center – Cusco is to study infectious diseases and illnesses that have been neglected by the research community," said Clinton White, M.D., director of the Infectious Diseases Division at UTMB. UPCH and the U.S. Navy's Medical Research Unit No. 6 were key collabora- tors in the setup of the research center. "We have a joint research project with the Navy, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, to study the causes and severity of travelers' diarrhea," said Miguel Cabada, M.D., director of the research center and UTMB adjunct instructor of infec- tious diseases. Travelers' diarrhea is a travel-related illness caused by eating contaminated food or water in devel- oping nations. In addition to diarrhea, the illness can cause abdominal pain, cramping and dehydration, which can last for more than a week. While travelers' diarrhea may seem like a common and minor conse- quence of traveling abroad, for soldiers UTMB Collaborates with U.S. Navy to Study Infectious Diseases in Peru a major goal of the upch-utMb collaborative Research center – cusco is to study infectious diseases and illnesses that have been neglected by the research community. — clInton WhIte, M.d. director of the infectious diseases division at utmb deployed for combat, the illness can be debilitating. The research center's studies have helped identify the various causes of travelers' diarrhea and will soon begin examining interventions to help pre- vent the illness. The center is also concentrating on leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease that causes a disfiguring skin ailment, which can destroy the nose and throat. While unusual in the United States, nearly 1,400 military personnel who served in Iraq and Afghanistan were infected with the disease. Cabada works with a neighboring clinic to improve the diagnosis and treatment of leishmaniasis. In addition, a grant from the National Institutes of Health is supporting studies of fasciolasis, a parasite that affects the liver. The disease can cause anemia and malnu- trition in children. Diagnostics and treatment are not routinely available in Cusco. "Through our studies, we brought diagnostics to hundreds of children, and we are working on testing new treatments," said Cabada. Since the research center opened in 2012, more than 80 children have been treated for fasciola. More than a dozen medical students have trained at the research center, including a Navy Fulbright Scholar, trainees from UTMB, UPCH and Rice University. The UPCH-UTMB Collaborative Research Center and its partners have submitted additional grant applications to expand their efforts. SHORT TAKES

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