Texas A & M University, aware of the large number of talented immigrants arriving in the United States, has announced the creation of a Hispanic health institute where Latino
participation in clinical research is assured.
Thus, the presence of Hispanics in the Rio Grande Valley would be encouraged. Meanwhile, its rival, the University of Texas, has opened a new School of Medicine there.
This is the first program of its kind in Texas, and will start with a fund of $2 million.
It will be located at the Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi, but it will also operate through the hospital’s specialties clinic, which is along the border between Texas and Mexico, including Brownsville, Harlingen, McAllen and Laredo.
John Sharp, who is one of the rectors of Texas A & M University, regrets that even though Hispanics are particularly prone to suffer from hypertension, diabetes and cancer, they are not really included in global clinical trials that help doctors to test the effectiveness of drugs and treatments.
It is extremely important to take this ethnic group into account, for the impact of clinical trials is absolutely and fundamentally necessary for the development of medicine.