In another significant step towards fighting cancer, the governing board of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) has approved over $49 million in grants to further cancer research. CPRIT awarded a $2 million grant to Southern Methodist University to recruit cancer researcher Dr. Annika Wylie from UT Southwestern. CPRIT also awarded a $7.5 million grant to Baylor Research Institute in Dallas to fund Texas CONNECT for cancer study, which aims to build a diverse database better to understand the causes and prevention techniques for cancer. The University of Texas at Dallas; The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas and the Southern Methodist University, Dallas received recruitment grants, while the Baylor Research Institute, Dallas received a $7,499,998 research grant.
After being indicted in the $7 million COVID-19 testing fraud case, accused Terrance Bernard pleaded guilty in federal court. Per the plea papers, Mr. Bernard admits that he and his accomplices gained access to confidential patient data in the labs where Mr. Bernard was employed as a contract lab technician. The data was then used to file claims to insurance companies for COVID tests that never occurred without the knowledge or consent of the actual patients. Court documents said that the labs at which the tests were claimed to have occurred, namely TC Diagnostics, ME Diagnostics, and PHR Diagnostics, were all shell companies that received more than $7 million as reimbursements from the insurance companies. The Irving man now faces seven years in federal prison. He will forfeit $7.29 million and several items seized during the investigation, including $2.5 million in funds from numerous bank accounts, two residences, six vehicles, and six luxury watches. Also charged in the scheme are Connie Jo Clampitt, 52, William Paul Gray, 50, and Donn Hogg, 37. Clampitt, Hogg and Gray have each pleaded guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced in November 2023.
UTSW’s Dr. Todd Aguilera has been named one of the 11 inaugural Cancer Moonshot Scholars, gaining recognition as one of the emerging leaders in cancer research who hail from underrepresented groups. Dr. Aguilera is an assistant professor of radiation oncology and a member of the experimental therapeutics program at the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He and his team have been studying rectal cancer and will now receive $3.3 million over five years to find new cures for this type of cancer, which is becoming ever more common in young adults with limited access to healthcare.
Medical City Las Colinas, has announced Maria Garvin as their new Chief Financial Officer. Garvin, who earned her Master of Business Administration in Management from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, has been serving as the Chief Financial Officer and Ethics and Compliance Officer for HCA Healthcare’s UCF Lake Nona Hospital since 2021. There, she was responsible for establishing and implementing numerous processes for opening the new 64-bed hospital, including setting department productivity targets and monitoring all components of ethics and compliance. She brings over 20 years of healthcare experience to her new role.
