PR Stories

Physician’s Weekly: PCAT: an integrated portal for genomic and preclinical testing data of pediatric cancer patient-derived xenograft models.

August 20, 2020

Although cancer is the leading cause of disease-related mortality in children, the relative rarity of pediatric cancers poses a significant challenge for developing novel therapeutics to further improve prognosis. Patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models, which are usually developed from high-risk tumors, are a useful platform to study molecular driver events, identify biomarkers and prioritize therapeutic agents.


Luiz O.F. Penalva PhD Awarded CPRIT Grant to Study Glioblastoma (GBM)

August 20, 2020

PROJECT SUMMARY Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and most aggressive brain tumor type among adults with a 14 months average patient survival. Despite all genomic efforts in recent years, novel therapies based on GBM common mutations and alterations have been disappointing. To build an alternative route, we have been focusing on oncogenic RNA binding [...]

PIPETTE GAZETTE: CSA Shoutout to Graduating Student Pooja Yadav (Rao Lab)

August 11, 2020

Congratulations to one of our CSA graduate students Pooja Yadav, M.S. (Cancer Biology discipline) who successfully defended her PhD dissertation on June 25!


Health 24: How the coronavirus infects: It can make itself unrecognisable to cells in the body

August 5, 2020

Like a thief in the night, Covid-19 can disguise itself to easily enter and infect cells in the human body. A new research study details what cells are more susceptible to the coronavirus. SARS-CoV-2 can mimic the proteins of a human cell to evade detection by the immune system. Once inside the cell, it can […]



UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL – Researchers identify enzyme that helps COVID-19 evade immune system (Gupta Lab)

July 30, 2020

Researchers announced Friday that they have discovered an enzyme that helps COVID-19 enter cells in the human body, allowing the infection to grow. Called non-structural protein 16, or nsp16, the enzyme is produced by the new coronavirus and acts as a “camouflage,” tricking human cells into thinking that the virus is “part of its own code and […]


The Ladders: Scientists just uncovered the sneaky way COVID-19 spreads so fast in cells

July 28, 2020

SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, has been labeled with a variety of different adjectives over the past few months. Deadly, awful, and evil, just to name a few. Now, according to a new study from the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, another descriptor can be added to the coronavirus’ modus operandi: deceitful.


NEWS 4 WOAI: Decoding Coronavirus Structure Could Lead to New Antiviral Drugs (Gupta lab)

July 28, 2020

SOURCE: WOAI Broadcast Date: July 27, 2020 A new discovery by researchers right here in San Antonio is giving doctors a better idea about how the coronavirus works. “I’m still not 100 percent,” said Rudy Palacios, a man who battled COVID-19 in a hospital for 16 days. “I actually was released from the hospital on […]


Laboratory Equipment: Coronavirus Makes Changes That Cause Cells Not to Recognize it

July 28, 2020

With an alarm code, we can enter a building without bells going off. It turns out that the SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has the same advantage entering cells. It possesses the code to waltz right in. On July 24 in Nature Communications, researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San […]


Times Now News: Indian origin scientist leads team of researchers on way to anti-COVID drugs

July 28, 2020

A team of scientists, including those of Indian origin, has resolved the structure of an enzyme called nsp16, which the novel coronavirus produces and then uses to fool the body’s cells, a significant discovery that may lead to the development of new antiviral drugs for COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The study […]