Sarah Williams-Blangero, Ph.D., chair of the department of genetics at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute, has been designated a ‘Health Care Hero’ by the San Antonio Business Journal. The annual award honors leaders in the city’s health care and biomedical fields. All 21 awardees will be recognized at a reception tonight at the McNay Art Museum.
“We are extremely proud of Sarah for her tireless work on behalf of the Texas Biomed and for genetics research that has relevance worldwide,” said Kenneth P. Trevett, Texas Biomed’s president and CEO.
“Sarah is internationally recognized for her pioneering contributions to understanding the genetic basis of susceptibility to infectious diseases, and for her strong leadership as chair of one of the largest and most distinguished departments of genetics in the world,” said Texas Biomed Chief Scientific Officer John L. VandeBerg, Ph.D.
Williams-Blangero’s research focuses on the determinants of complex characteristics that are associated with disease and with normal development. Utilizing statistical genetic approaches and genome-wide scanning techniques, she assesses the genetic components of a number of parasitic diseases causing intestinal worm infections and of Chagas disease.
She also has a research program on the genetic factors of aging, and has made a significant contribution to improving the genetic management of captive nonhuman primate populations for biomedical research.
Texas Biomed, formerly the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, is one of the world’s leading independent biomedical research institutions dedicated to advancing health worldwide through innovative biomedical research. Located on a 200-acre campus on the northwest side of San Antonio, Texas, the Institute partners with hundreds of researchers and institutions around the world, targeting advances in the fight against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, psychiatric disorders, problems of pregnancy, AIDS, hepatitis, malaria, parasitic infections and a host of other infectious diseases. For more information on Texas Biomed, go to www.TxBiomed.org.