Texas Medicine, May 2007 (Subscription required.) HOUSTON -- The Coordinating Center for Clinical Trials at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston has received a $17.9 million grant to serve as the hub of a nationwide network conducting research on emerging stem cell-based treatments of cardiovascular disease. Meanwhile, the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston received a $5 million gift from George and Cynthia Mitchell to expand its research into neurodegenerative disease. The $5 million gift from the Mitchells raises to $10.5 million the couple's investment in UTMB and its programs to fight diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and to improve the quality of life for seniors. The most recent gift will allow for expanded research at the university's George P. and Cynthia woods Mitchell Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, which previously focused solely on Alzheimer's disease.