The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) was created in 1972
by The University of Texas System Board of Regents.
UTHealth is located in Houston, Texas, in the Texas Medical Center, which is considered
the largest medical center in the world.
It is composed of six schools: John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Medical School, The University
of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, UTHealth
School of Dentistry, Cizik School of Nursing, UTHealth School of Biomedical Informatics
and UTHealth School of Public Health.
== About ==
Established in 1972 by The University of Texas System Board of Regents, The University of
Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) is Houston’s Health University and Texas’
resource for health care education, innovation, scientific discovery and excellence in patient
care.
The most comprehensive academic health center in The UT System and the U.S. Gulf Coast region,
UTHealth is home to schools of biomedical informatics, biomedical sciences, dentistry,
medicine, nursing and public health.
UTHealth includes The University of Texas Harris County Psychiatric Center, as well
as the following clinical practices: UT Physicians, UT Dentists and UT Health Services.
The university’s primary teaching hospitals are Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center,
Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital and Harris Health Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital.
The President of UTHealth is Giuseppe N. Colasurdo, M.D.
== Academics ==
=== John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Medical School ===
One of the largest medical schools in the United States, John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern
Medical School was established by The University of Texas System Board of Regents in 1969 to
help shore up the projected state and national shortages of physicians.
The school is divided into 23 departments and various specialized research centers.
The school's primary teaching hospitals are Memorial Hermann - Texas Medical Center, Children's
Memorial Hermann Hospital and Harris Health Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital.
The dean of McGovern Medical School is Barbara Stoll, M.D.
On November 23, 2015, UTHealth announced that the UTHealth Medical School had been renamed
the John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Medical School in honor of a $75 million gift from
the John P. McGovern Foundation, the largest gift in the university’s history.
=== The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical
Sciences === In 1962 there was a movement, led by then
MD Anderson Hospital President, R. Lee Clark, to establish The University of Texas Graduate
School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston.
At that time there were 13 predoctoral students studying with scientists at MD Anderson who
were enrolled through The University of Texas at Austin.
Six MD Anderson scientists were special members, and four students were special associates,
in the Graduate School Faculty at Austin.
The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences was established on June 11, 1963, and activated
by the Board of Regents of the University of Texas on September 28, 1963.After a two-year
national search to recruit an outstanding scientist as dean of the new school, Paul
A. Weiss, was chosen.
At the time of his appointment he was 66 and had just retired from the Rockefeller Institute.
The Rockefeller graduate program, where the curriculum was interdisciplinary, was the
prototype for Weiss' plan for the curriculum.
This tradition has been integral to the graduate school's mission.
Currently, the deans of the graduate school are Michael Blackburn, and Michelle Barton.
In 2017, the school was renamed The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
=== UTHealth School of Dentistry === Founded in 1905, UTHealth School of Dentistry
offers 10 accredited programs: DDS, dental hygiene, two primary care general residency
programs, and specialty programs in endodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery
(OMS), orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, periodontics, and prosthodontics..
The dean of UTHealth School of Dentistry is John A. Valenza.
Students gain clinical skills at affiliated hospitals, school districts and through community
outreach projects.
UTHealth School of Dentistry also has off-site clinics: University Dental Center (postgraduate
general dentistry), UT Professional Building, 6410 Fannin St., Suite 310; UTHealth Pediatric
Dentistry (postgraduate clinic), Houston Medical Center Plaza, 6655 Travis St., Suite 460;
UT Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, Scurlock Tower, 6560 Fannin St., Suite 1900.
In addition, faculty and students provide dental services inside Texas Children’s
Health Plan facilities at 700 N. Sam Houston Parkway West in the Greenspoint area and 9700
Bissonnet in Southwest Houston.
=== Jane and Robert Cizik School of Nursing ===
Established in 1972, Jane and Robert Cizik School of Nursing is ranked in the top five
percent of graduate nursing programs in the country and is the highest ranked in Texas.
Cizik School of Nursing offers programs resulting in a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Master
of Science in Nursing, Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice degree
or a BSN-DNP in Nurse Anesthesia Program.
The school also provides a wide variety of settings in which students and faculty can
study, conduct research and participate in clinical practice.
The dean ad interim is Diane M. Santa Maria, Dr.P.H., M.S.N., R.N., A.P.H.N.-B.C.
The school's Student Community Center opened in 2004.
The 195,000-sq.-ft. facility has received several local, state and national architectural
design awards to date.
In November 2017, Jane and Robert Cizik donated $25 million to UTHealth School of Nursing,
giving the school the resources and capacity to shape the future of nursing education and
health care delivery.
In recognition of the Cizik family, the school was renamed Jane and Robert Cizik School of
Nursing at UTHealth.
=== UTHealth School of Public Health === Following authorization in 1947, the Texas
State Legislature first appropriated funds for this school in 1967.
The first class was admitted in the fall of 1969, occupying rented and borrowed space.
The main campus of the school is located in Houston in the Texas Medical Center.
In response to the need for graduate public health education in other geographic areas
of the state, UTHealth School of Public Health established regional campuses in San Antonio
(1979), El Paso (1992), Dallas (1998), Brownsville (2000) and Austin (2007).
Each campus was established to meet the public health education and research needs of its
community.
The regional campuses have their own resident faculty and on-site course offerings.
Interactive video courses originate from and connect all six of the school's campuses.
The school has four academic divisions: Biostatistics and Data Science; Epidemiology, Human Genetics
and Environmental Sciences; Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences; and Management, Policy
and Community Health; as well as 14 research centers.
UTHealth School of Public Health offers graduate education leading to proficiency in the skills
needed for public health careers.
The main campus in Houston offers four degree programs: M.P.H., Dr.P.H., M.S. and Ph.D.
The regional campuses provide masters- and doctoral-level education to individuals in
areas geographically distanced from Houston.
This allows faculty and students to target public health issues of particular relevance
to the communities in which they are located.
The school is accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).
The dean is Eric Boerwinkle, Ph.D.
=== UTHealth School of Biomedical Informatics ===
UTHealth School of Biomedical Informatics (SBMI), formerly known as the School of Health
Information Sciences, was founded in 1972 as the School of Allied Health Sciences and
is the newest of the six UTHealth schools.
In 1992, UTHealth determined it would focus on graduate education in the health sciences.
At that time, the school began to shift from traditional allied health baccalaureate programs
toward the development of graduate programs to join the other professional and graduate
schools in the university.
In 1997, the school created the Department of Health Informatics and began to offer a
Master of Science in health informatics.
In 2001, the school name was changed to the School of Health Information Sciences, which
also subsumed all faculty and students in the department.
The school offered a Master of Science in health informatics, a Doctor of Philosophy
in health informatics and a certificate program in Health Informatics for non-degree seeking
students.
In 2010, the school underwent another name change and became UTHealth School of Biomedical
Informatics.
It currently offers certificate programs in health informatics, a Master of Science in
Health Informatics with two tracks: a traditional research track and an applied health informatics
track; and a Doctor of Philosophy in Health Informatics and dual-degree programs with
UTHealth School of Public Health.
The dean is Jiajie Zhang.
== Notable faculty == James "Red" Duke, trauma surgeon and professor
at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and Memorial
Hermann-Texas Medical Center, where he worked on-site since 1972.
Ferid Murad, 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine winner for his research on nitric
oxide as a signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system.
Palmer Beasley Stanley Schultz
Lex Frieden, disability rights activistMembers of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science
Members of the Institute of Medicine
Members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Members of the American Academy of Nursing
Members of the American College of Dentists
== University housing ==
The university has three student housing properties, one at 7900 Cambridge (Phase I) and two at
1885 El Paseo (Phase II and III).
The student housing on Cambridge, a two-story complex, was built in 1982 and includes the
Child Development Center.
The Phase II housing on El Paseo, a four-story complex, was built in 2005, and the Phase
III complex at the same location was built in 2014.
Minor dependent residents of both complexes are zoned to the Houston Independent School
District.
Residents of both complexes are zoned to Whidby Elementary School, Cullen Middle School, and
Lamar High School.
== Research Centers and Institutes == UTHealth several centers and institutes whose
work aligns with the university's mission of education, research and clinical care.
Bioinformatics & High Performance Computing Service Center
Center for Advanced Heart Failure Center for Antimicrobial Resistance and Microbial
Genomics (CARMiG) Center for Biomedical Engineering
Center for Cardiovascular Biology & Atherosclerosis Research
Center for Clinical & Translational Sciences (CCTS)
Center for Clinical Research & Evidence Based Medicine
Center for Health Promotion & Prevention Research Center for Health Services Research
Center for Healthcare Quality & Safety Center for Human Development Research
Center for Infectious Diseases Center for Innovation Generation
Center for Laboratory Animal Medicine & Care Center for Membrane Biology
Center for Neurobehavioral Research on Addiction Center for Nursing Research
Center for Substance Abuse Education & Research Center for Surgical Trials & Evidence-Based
Practice (C-STEP) Center for Translational Injury Research
Center of Excellence on Mood Disorders Center on Aging
Chemical Immunology Research Center Children's Learning Institute
Clinical Trials Resource Center (CTRC) Consortium on Aging
Cooley Life Center Coordinating Center for Clinical Trials
Dan L. Duncan Children's Neurodevelopmental Clinic
George McMillan Fleming Center for Healthcare Management
Gulf Coast Consortia Gulf States Hemophilia & Thrombophilia Center
Hispanic Health Disparities Research Center Hispanic Health Research Center
Houston Center for Biomaterials & Biomimetics Human Genetics Center
Institute for Health Policy John P. McGovern, MD, Center for Humanities
& Ethics John Ritter Research Program
Keck Center for the Neurobiology of Learning & Memory
Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living Neuroscience Research Center
Southwest Center for Occupational & Environmental Health
Surgical & Clinical Skills Center Texas Medical Center Digestive Diseases Center
The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases
The University of Texas Prevention Research Center
Weatherhead PET Imaging Center
== See also ==
The University of Texas System Texas Medical Center