By UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDICAL BRANCH

The Texas Space Grant Consortium recently awarded scholarships for the upcoming academic year to two University of Texas Medical Branch students. Armando Elizondo in the School of Medicine received a $1,500 STEM Columbia Crew Memorial Scholarship. Brooke Barnette, a biochemistry and molecular biology student received a $5,000 fellowship grant. Part of the consortium’s mission is to promote high-quality, graduate-level space research.

Faculty senate officers

Suzanne Alton is the new chair of the medical branch faculty senate and Dr. George Carayannopoulos is the chair-elect. Alton, a doctor of nursing practice, is an associate professor in the School of Nursing and Carayannopoulos is an associate professor in the division of cardiology.

Kayed receives $1.9 million grant to study Alzheimer’s disease

Rakez Kayed, an associate professor in the department of neurology, received a $1.9 million grant from the National Institute of Aging to study the formation and growth of a protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease. His five-year proposal was “Formation and Propagation on Tau Oligomeric Strains in Alzheimer’s disease.”
Kayed is a member of the medical branch’s Mitchell Center for Neurodegenerative Disorders.

No guns zones at the medical branch

A reminder that a new state law allowing concealed handguns on Texas public university campuses is now in effect. However, carrying a concealed handgun is still prohibited at many medical branch locations. The UT Board of Regents last month approved the medical branch’s recommendations that included the establishment of zones across the medical branch’s three campuses where carrying a concealed weapon is not allowed. Those locations include areas designated for patient care, research and critical infrastructure. A list of the buildings, clinics and leased spaces where carrying a handgun is prohibited — along with more information about the medical branch’s policy — is available at www.utmb.edu/campus-carry.

Campus pharmacy now open

The UTMB League City Campus has a pharmacy where the medical branch patients and employees can get their prescriptions filled from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. The pharmacy is located next to the gift shop at the hospital entrance. For more information, call 832-505-3170.