By THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDICAL BRANCH

Dr. Giulio Taglialatela has been appointed as the inaugural holder of the Lawrence J. Del Papa Distinguished Chair in Neurodegenerative Disease Research. The director of the University of Texas Medical Branch’s George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, a professor and vice chair of the Department of Neurology, Taglialatela is a leading Alzheimer’s disease researcher. The Del Papa Distinguished Chair was established earlier this year through a gift from the Del Papa Distributing Company Community Fund in memory of Lawrence J. Del Papa, Sr., the company’s longtime chairman.

Speaker Straus and Rep. Faircloth visit

Texas House Speaker Joe Straus and State Rep. Wayne Faircloth last week visited the medical branch’s Galveston Campus. They toured the new Jennie Sealy Hospital and met with leaders of the Galveston National Laboratory. Their visit was a key milestone as the medical branch prepares for the 85th Legislative Session that will begin in January 2017.

LeDuc gets lifetime appointment

The Council of the National Academy of Sciences has recognized Dr. Jim LeDuc, director of the Galveston National Laboratory, with a lifetime appointment as a National Associate of the National Research Council. This honor is bestowed upon those who have provided extraordinary service to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. While thousands volunteer their time to committee activities each year, only a select few are singled out for their dedication and exemplary contributions for the honor of National Associate.

UTMB receives ‘Military Friendly’ designation

Thanks to the efforts of the medical branch’s diversity council and the veterans resource group, the medical branch has earned a “Military Friendly” designation from Victory Media, a company that helps veterans find and keep jobs and that also ranks private and public entities on their efforts to be “military friendly.” To learn more about this designation or the veterans resource group, email veterans@utmb.edu.