UT Health Science Center at Houston Governmental Relations

Development Board members Kay Holmes, left, and Ralph Thomas, right, give an update on the health science center to State Rep. Beverly Woolley, center. During her visit to the health science center campus, Woolley met with UT Health Science Center at Houston President Larry R. Kaiser, M.D., received a driving tour of the UT Research Park in the South Campus, and made a visit to the Dental Branch led by Dean Catherine Flaitz, D.D.S. Woolley is chair of the House Calendars Committee which determines which bills are debated on the House floor and she has been among the most vocal supporters of the health science center in the Texas Legislature.

State Rep. Ellen Cohen visits the simulation lab at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Nursing as Vaunette Fay, Ph.D., associate professor, left, and Tony Duran, simulation tech, center, look on. Prior to her visit to the School of Nursing, Cohen had lunch with the health science center Development Board and university leadership. She also received a tour of the Medical School led by Dean Giuseppe Colasurdo. Cohen represents much of the Texas Medical Center, including the main campus of the health science center, in the Texas House of Representatives.

Deanna Hoelscher, Ph.D., professor, The University of Texas School of Public Health Austin Regional Campus, left, presents Texas Comptroller Susan Combs, right, with the Leadership Award in Obesity Prevention during the Texas Obesity Awareness Week Lecture and Presentation held on The University of Texas at Austin campus Sept. 11. State Rep. Patrick Rose also attended and received a Texas Health Champion award. Other legislators honored as Texas Health Champions were State Rep. Susan King and State Senators Jane Nelson and Robert Nichols.

Giuseppe Colasurdo, M.D., dean of The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, right, talks with Chad Heflin, appropriations aide for U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison’s office, left, and Ezequiel Salinas, M.D., assistant professor, center, during Helfin’s Aug. 21 visit to the health science center. Also as part of his visit, Helfin received a briefing and tour of the Medical School led by Colasurdo, followed by visits to the Center for Translational Injury Research, and a visit to The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases. Sen. Hutchison is a key supporter of the health science center.