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Clinical Research is as yet another name for Advanced Clinical Care. When everything else fails, we rely on clinical research to find new cures and to develop innovative strategies to treat a refractory disease. That is precisely the goal of the DHR Health Institute for Research & Development, which also has as one of its goals the necessity to increase participation of patients with Hispanic heritage whose involvement nationally in clinical trials is <1%.
DHR Health Institute for Research & Development was established as a nonprofit 501(c)3 entity organized under the Texas Nonprofit Corporation Act. The primary objective of DHR Health Institute for Research & Development is to serve as an independent research institute with a focus on enhancing translational and clinical research in critical areas of need through collaboration with investigators at DHR Health and other affiliated academic and non-academic partners.
As part of its mission, DHR Health Institute for Research & Development is also committed to providing access to innovative and advanced clinical care models for physicians for the treatment of patients and to facilitate development of “personalized” clinical care models for Hispanic population in the Valley. It is envisioned that this will also minimize the disruption in personal lives of our patients who have to travel to another center to gain access to a clinical trial, which could be offered here in the Valley.
Dr. Rao currently serves as Executive Vice President, DHR Health System and President and Chief Executive Officer, DHR Health Institute for Research & Development.
Until recently, he served as the Senior Adviser to the President, McNeese State University. In this role, he advised the President and his senior leadership team in areas of strategy, innovation, global outreach and transforming the delivery of education and training in disciplines related to health sciences. He also served as the Chief Executive Officer, Louisiana Healthcare Education Alliance (LHCA), a not-for-profit state entity, which was established to enhance collaboration in the areas of clinical, undergraduate and graduate education in medicine, nursing, pharmacy and allied health sciences, research and community outreach.
Dr. Rao obtained his MD from Dow Medical College; his MA in Physiology from Boston University, School of Medicine and Doctorate in Philosophy (DPhil) from the Wolfson College, University of Oxford, UK.
Prior to joining University of Louisiana System, Dr. Rao served as the System Vice President for Research and Academics and Chief Academic Officer, CHRISTUS Health. He also served as Executive Director, CHRISTUS Institute for Innovation & Advanced Clinical Care, CHRISTUS Health and the Designated Institutional Official for Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Additionally, he also served as the Academic Physician Leader, CHRISTUS Physician Group and the CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic.
At CHRISTUS Health, Dr. Rao and his team have successfully created a system-wide, functional infrastructure for research, which includes (but not limited to) establishment of CHRISTUS Institute for Innovation & Advanced Clinical Care, Office of Sponsored Programs, Office of Human Subject Research Protection, Office of Research Compliance and Office Investigator Support. Given the geographical expanse of CHRISTUS Health, five domestic and international regional research offices were also created along with integration of investigators in various CHRISTUS physicians groups. To facilitate translational and clinical research, master research agreements were established with major industry partners and clinical trial organizations along with an exclusive partnership with TriNetX. In the area of graduate medical education, Dr. Rao and his team were successful in obtaining ACGME institutional accreditation; transition of sponsorships of all residency programs; recruitment of new program directors and faculty; establishment of graduate medical education committee; updated existing and created new policies that meet ACGME, specialty boards and individual State Medical Board requirements; created new academic affiliations with medical, nursing, pharmacy and schools of allied health sciences for clinical rotations for undergraduate students, residents and fellows; created new residency and fellowship programs; realignment of all interdisciplinary clinical simulation centers; integration and financial and operational oversight all of residency clinics, etc.
Prior to serving CHRISTUS Health, Dr. Rao served as System Vice President for Research, Ochsner Health System, New Orleans, Louisiana. He also served as the Professor and Deputy Head of Schools Research, Ochsner Clinical School, University of Queensland. In this capacity, he was responsible for providing leadership of a basic, translational and clinical research enterprise across the system, which included (but not limited to) the Office of Research with over 140 employees, Center for Clinical Research (with over 50 clinical coordinators), Center for Basic and Translational Research, Core Facilities, Ochsner Cancer Research Center, Ochsner Neurosciences Research Center, Ochsner Cardiovascular Research Center, Ochsner Transplantation Research Center, Ochsner Center for Women’s Health Research, Ochsner Center for Pediatric Research, Center for Applied Health Sciences, Center for Medical Informatics, Center for Investigator Education and Training, Center for Investigator Support, Phase I-IV Clinical Trial Units, and facilities for BioBanking, animal care and use facilities (both small and large animals), etc. Under his leadership, Ochsner conducted over 1000 clinical trials/year and successfully obtained AAHRPP accreditation of its Human Subject Research Protection Program as well as implement a state-of-the-art clinical trials management system which was instrumental in improving compliance.
During his tenure at Ochsner, Dr. Rao also served as the Vice President, Ochsner International. In this capacity, Dr. Rao was responsible for all international outreach in the MENA (Middle East and North America) region related to clinical, research, undergraduate and graduate education in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and allied health sciences. On behalf of Ochsner, he also served as the consultant to facilitate the establishment of two universities, a medical city and two university hospitals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Prior to coming to Ochsner, Dr. Rao served University of South Florida Health (USF Health) as Professor of Surgery and Molecular Medicine. He was also the Senior Associate Vice President at USF Health and served as the Chief Research Officer for this academic entity. His areas of oversight included the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Public Health and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He was also the Vice Dean for Research, Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in the College of Medicine, Founding Director of the School of Biomedical Sciences, and Medical Director for Research at the Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, Florida. During his tenure at USF, he also served as the Chief Operating Officer, Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute. His principal task at USF Health was to raise the NIH profile of funding for the health sciences, which culminated in the recruitment of outstanding faculty, departmental mergers and a complete redesign of the faculty appointment and tenure process. In 2017, he also served as the Vice Chair of the LCME self-study team, which was successful in obtaining continued accreditation of the medical school.
After completing his doctoral education at Oxford, Dr. Rao joined the University of Pittsburgh in 1993 where he served as an Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh and the Director and Chief of the Section of Cellular Transplantation and the Section of Medical Informatics, Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. During his tenure in Pittsburgh, he also served as the Associate Director, Thomas E. Starzl Transplant Institute where he was tasked with establishing and subsequently providing strategic and operational oversight of the world’s largest transplant program.
In 2000, he joined Drexel University, College of Medicine (previously named as MCP Hahnemann University School of Medicine) as the Senior Associate Dean for Research and Biomedical Graduate Studies and Professor in the Departments of Surgery, and Microbiology and Immunology. He subsequently became the Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Studies at Drexel University College of Medicine and in 2003, was promoted to the position of the Senior Associate Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Studies at Drexel University. He and his team were tasked with the responsibility of turning around a bankrupt medical school, which was successfully accomplished.
In 2004, he joined the Middle Tennessee State University; the largest comprehensive institution of higher education in the Tennessee Board of Regents System (the Nation’s sixth largest higher education system) where he served as Vice Provost for Research and Dean, College of Graduate Studies. During his tenure in Tennessee, he also served as the Chair, System-wide Research & Graduate Education Committee and was instrumental in initiating (among others) doctoral programs in English Literature, Molecular Sciences; Literacy Studies; Computational Sciences; Economics and Human Performance and MBA (with concentration in Healthcare Management) and Masters of Fine Arts in Recording Arts & Technology.
His area of research interest largely focused on bench to bedside (and reverse) translation of novel therapeutic strategies aimed at alleviating a clinical problem. In the area of clinical research, he and his group have worked on the protocol for induction of donor-specific tolerance in organ allograft recipients (funded by NIH); cellular therapeutic treatment of refractory post transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (funded by CTRF); islet cell transplantation to reverse type I insulin-dependent diabetes (funded by NIH and the JDFI); transmission of infection following animals to humans (funded by an extramural grant) organ and cell transplantation. Additionally, his group has also been actively involved in basic cellular and molecular biology research in the following areas: induction of tolerance, islet cell transplantation, NK cell immunobiology, post transplant vasculopathy (chronic rejection); liver derived growth factors; generation of transgenic pigs and xenotransplantation. His recent research interests involve prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, cervical cancer, Sexually Transmitted Diseases and other communicable diseases.
To his credit are over 140 publications in peer-reviewed journals and numerous book chapters. He has a Research Gate (RG) Score of 42.88. He has presented or has been invited to present >400 lectures on various issues related to his area of expertise. He has served on the editorial board of the journal Transplantation and Graft. He has served as the reviewer for Immunology, Life Sciences, Nature Medicine, Liver Transplantation Surgery, and Surgery. He has served as a mentor for >50 junior faculty and post-doctoral fellows, and >20 pre-doctoral candidates. For his team's innovative discoveries, he has been interviewed by the CNN, Discovery Channel, and many local, national, and international television, radio, and print media.
For his contributions to science, teaching, public service and for his scholarly distinction, in 2005, Dr. Rao was also selected as a Senior Scholar by Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest, largest, and most selective honor society for all academic disciplines.
Dr. Lisa R. Trevino, PhD., received her doctorate in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from the University of California at Santa Cruz. Her subsequent scientific training and career was conducted at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Human Genome Sequencing Center at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Trevino’s research focus has been the genetics and genomics of both adult and pediatric malignancies. Dr. Trevino joined DHR Health in 2014 and serves as the Vice President for the DHR Health Institute for Research and Development.
Monica is clinical research fellow and spearheads the DHR Health Institute for Research and Development Biobank initiatives. Monica is a Rio Grande Valley native and obtained her Bachelors of Science from University of Texas Pan-American and her MD from the Universidad Valle de Bravo.
Jorge Alejandro Bernal, MD currently serves as a Clinical Research Fellow at the DHR Health Institute for Research and Development. Dr. Bernal is a resident of the Rio Grande Valley and completed his undergraduate studies at UTRGV before completing his MD at Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Annelise is part of the Office of Clinical Research Coordination, DHR Health Institute for Research and Development. She has 14 years of experience in several areas of the medical field. “I find it very rewarding to be able to bring my knowledge and love of patients into our community.” She is currently a board member of the Ronald McDonald House of Charities for the Rio Grande Valley. One of her strengths is in process improvement in the medical field as she finds ever-changing development in the healthcare industry. Annelise obtained her Master’s Degree in Health Care Administration from The University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley.
Aurora Jimenez, LVN, currently serves as the Lay Health Educator for the Neuroscience Department here at DHR. She provides education to our patients in regards to stroke prevention, stroke risk factors and provides stroke support information as well. She is a graduate from South Texas College.
I am the Administrative Assistant at DHR Health Institute for Research & Development. While studying at Texas Tech University, I worked as an AVID tutor with IDEA Public Schools and as customer service representative for Bank of America. I believe that strong relationships are the foundation for success both professionally and personally. When not at work, you can find me working on my passion of lobbying for banning texting while driving and safe as many as I can. I also enjoy spending time with my family and my miniature poodle Luna Renee.
John Rodriguez received his Medical Doctor degree from the University of Monterrey in 1983. In addition to post-graduate clinical trials, John has been involved various medical specialties performing industry sponsored Phase 1 - 4 clinical trials since 1989. At present, John continues to be involved in clinical research since joining DHR Health Institute of Research and Development in October 2014.
Karla received her undergraduate nursing education from Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia–Peru.
On 2012, she started working at Harold Simmons Cancer center at UTSW in Dallas in the oncology research area. On 2014, she became part of the Texas Children’s Hospital team as a research nurse. Karla is experienced in investigator initiated trials, Phase I through Phase IV studies in oncology, gastroenterology, cardiology, and most recently NICU. At our Center, Karla is assigned as a Cardiology and NICU studies lead.
Hobbies and leisure interests include outdoor activities, dancing, playing flute, and spending time with the family at the beach. Karla is fluent in English and Spanish.
Margarita is a certified Patient Care Technician, who has aimed her main focus into phlebotomy. Prior to joining the Institute she worked as a phlebotomist for DHR Health Laboratory. She currently serves as a Research Medical Assistant for DHR Health Institute for Research and Development. Her greatest pleasure outside of the office is quality time with her family.
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”- Winston Churchill
Albert is a Rio Grande Valley native graduating high school in Weslaco, TX and receiving his certification at the Health Cross Academy for Phlebotomy. Albert has joined the DHR Health Institute for Research & Development only in the past year but he has been a valued employee of DHR Health since May 2009. Albert is not only a professional but in his off time he likes to enjoy time with his family and learning new things by reading one of his favorite quotes is by Eleanor Roosevelt which says: “I wonder if one of the penalties of growing older is that you become more and more conscious that nothing is very permanent.”
Mario Capetillo is the DHR Health Trauma Research Associate. Mr. Capetillo started his research career while attending the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Research Program. He also earned his bachelor’s in science degree from UTRGV.
Reannon currently serves as the Institutional Review Board Coordinator for the Institute for Research and Development and oversees the Office of Human Research Protection Program. Ms. Ramos obtained her undergraduate degrees in Biology and Psychology, and her Masters in Health Sciences at the University of Texas- Pan American. She has been with DHR Health since 2015 and has previous experience in the areas of healthcare administration, communications, and business development. Ms. Ramos’ hobbies include traveling, spending time with her family, and being a mother to her German Shepherd, Russell.
Juan G. Burciaga, ACNPC-AG is a nurse practitioner who has been involved in health care for more than 20 years. He is a life-long resident of the Rio Grande Valley where he completed his training and education as well. He will be working closely with DHR Health Institute for Research and Development in the upcoming C3FIT research trial.
Guillermo Duran, Jr., M.D. currently serves as a Clinical Research Coordinator at the DHR Health Institute for Research and Development. Dr. Duran received his undergraduate degree in Biology and a minor in Chemistry from the University of Houston. During his undergrad, he participated in academia research at the Center of Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling at the University of Houston. He also completed clinical research at the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. His passion for human health led him to obtain his MD at Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, Mexico. Dr. Duran is a well-rounded health professional exhibiting medical knowledge and clinical research. Aside from work, his hobbies include spending time with his wife and daughter, traveling, and learning ways blockchain can enhance our daily lives.
Dr. Torres-Reveron is a neuroscientist with a passion for improving health through research. She holds a Ph.D. in Neural Sciences and Behavior from the State University of New York and postdoctoral training in neuroendocrinology and neuroanatomy from Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Torres-Reveron is also certified in Integrative Medicine practices by the University of Arizona. Her prior experience includes teaching Pharm.D. students at Nova Southeastern University and later, teaching and research activities at Ponce Health Sciences University/Ponce Research Institute in the south of Puerto Rico. For the last three years, she was an Assistant Professor at the newly established School of Medicine at the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley. Her research interests are focused on the role of sex hormones and neuropeptide systems during disease chronicity. One of the main research contributions of Dr. Torres-Reveron has been to understand how endometriosis progression affects the central nervous system. For this, she has used a rat model of endometriosis and various behavioral manipulations in the preclinical research setting. Her most recent project, in collaboration with Ponce Research Institute, consisting of a clinical trial to test the use of environmental enrichment interventions for women with endometriosis. She has published 30 peer-review manuscripts and two book chapters. Her new duties at the Research Institute will include editorial activities of the newly established research journal, revision of grant and contracts as well as helping develop new lines of externally funded research.
Miranda is a currently residing in McAllen, TX and is the Registered Nurse for the Neuroscience Department within the C3Fit Stroke Program for our DHR Health Institute for Research & Development. Miranda graduated from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley with two degrees, one being a Bachelor in Psychology with a minor in Biology and the second being a Bachelor in Nursing. Miranda has also received her Master in Nursing- Nurse Executive/ Leadership and Management from Walden University. She has worked in the Emergency room as a charged nurse at Harlingen Medical Center. On her free time she enjoys time with family.
Vanessa has attained over 12 years of experience at DHR Health, including customer service, patient relations, information systems and technology, business intelligence and family care services. She has worked closely with healthcare staff and physicians while integrating business intelligence and technology to improve healthcare outcomes. With vast experience in the Neonatal ICU, Vanessa is assigned as the NICU studies coordinator. Vanessa obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Rehabilitative Services from The University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley and aims to pursue a Master’s Degree in Bioethics. On her spare time she loves to help rescue dogs and spend time with her husband including 3 adorable kids.
Yetunde Kare-Opaneye MD, MPH currently serves as a Clinical Research Coordinator at the DHR Health Institute for Research and Development. Dr. Kare-Opaneye was born and raised in Nigeria. She received her undergraduate degree in Pharmacology and her medical degree from the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Nigeria. She has a Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) from the school of public health, Texas A&M University. Go Aggies!!! Dr. Kare-Opaneye is experienced in clinical and community-based participatory research. In her spare time, she enjoys dancing and spending time with her family.
John Andrew Berlanga is a nurse practitioner who specializes in adult-gerontology at DHR Health Institute for Research and Development. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Nursing along with his Master of Science at Walden University. In addition, he has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from McPherson College, an Associates of Nursing from South Texas College and an EMT/LVN licensures from the Army Medical Department (AMEDD). Mr. Berlanga holds a national certification with the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.
Taylor works as a Healthcare Intern at the DHR Health Institute for Research and Development; she currently assists with the COVID-19 and Biobank initiatives. Taylor is a native of the Rio Grande Valley and obtained her undergraduate degree in Biology from Texas A&M University. She is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Healthcare Administration and Business Administration.
Graduated from Weslaco High School class of 2000 Extensive back ground in training, customer service and information technology. With 5 years at CompUSA and 8 years with Interactive Corp (Ticketmaster) and 5 years at CompUSA along with 11 years in pharmacy with Doctors Hospital At Renaissance.
Dr. Omar Cavazos, received his doctorate in pharmacy from the University of Texas at Austin. As a RGV native, he returned home to work for Doctor’s Hospital at Renaissance as a clinical pharmacist for the Women’s Hospital at Renaissance. In addition to his certification as Registered Pharmacist, Dr. Cavazos received his certification as a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist in 2013. Since 2009 Dr. Cavazos’ primary focus consists of pharmacotherapy analysis and optimization for patients seen in the NICU, Women’s Hospital, and Advanced Care Center Oncology. Since then Dr. Cavazos has been lead pharmacist in two clinical trials involving DHR’s Level 1 NICU. Omegaven use in neonatal TPN for cholestatic liver disease and a Phase 2b Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of long acting RSV vaccination.
Diana Pena-Perez born and raised in Mission, Texas.
Taught by my parents at an early age that integrity, education and hard work were the keys to the future. Honors graduate University of Texas Austin, College of Pharmacy and have been a registered Pharmacist since the age of 22. Fluent in English and Spanish.
Active participant in DHR Clinical trials since 2014 and member of the DHR Institutional Review Board since 2016. I wear many hats: daughter/sister/wife/mother/ pharmacist/ mentor/ friend/and instrument of the Lord.
Outside of the office I am committed to my family and my church. I consider myself to be fortunate and blessed.
Do not challenge me on any project – because in the words of Euripides – “Leave no stone unturned.” Believe and strive to make a difference every day, because tomorrow is not promised.
“It's the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
Veronica Hernandez nationally certified pharmacy technician with 15 years of hospital experience. Detail-oriented and committed to quality, accuracy and efficiency. Dedicated to process improvements and high customer service standards.
Became part of the DHR family in 2008 and DHR Research team in 2014.I’m always willing to expand my education, skills, and knowledge for personal growth and to strengthen my job performance.
Dr. Ozuna currently serves as the Pharmacy Clinical Coordinator for DHR Health. He also serves as the Assistant Dean for the University of Houston College of Pharmacy-RGV program and Clinical Assistant Professor within the department of Pharmacy Practice and Translational Research.
He graduated with his BA in Biology from Texas A&M University–College Station in 1994 and with his Pharm.D. from The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy in 2000.
Dr. Ozuna received his Board Certification in Pharmacotherapy (BCPS) in 2009. He has also received certifications in Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery as well as Medication Therapy Management via APHA. Dr. Ozuna’s academic and research interests include Infectious Disease, Critical Care, Diabetes and Ambulatory Care.
He has been a preceptor-faculty for multiple schools since 2002 and remains active in mentoring / precepting students for UHCOP and other schools of pharmacy as well as residents for the DHR PGY1 residency program. He has received Preceptor of the Year several times with multiple schools of pharmacy.
He is a member of Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP). As Assistant Dean and Pharmacy Clinical Coordinator for the UHCOP-RGV program at DHR, he is focused on embracing the UHCOP-DHR Health collaboration to address health disparities and improving patient outcomes.
In addition, the program will focus on providing advanced practice training for our UHCOP students at DHR Health in various areas of practice and mobilize UHCOP faculty and student researchers to work on health outcomes research projects and studies in our area.
Gavino Garza is currently employed as the Director of Pharmacy for Doctors Hospital at Renaissance (DHR) in Edinburg.
Mr. Garza joined Doctors Hospital at Renaissance 2007 and has directed the pharmacy through changes in pharmacy clinical services, pharmacy residency programs and pharmacy automation.
Mr. Garza received a BS degree in Pharmacy from University of Houston. Before joining Doctors Hospital at Renaissance, Mr. Garza served Director of Pharmacy at HCA-Rio Grande Regional Hospital from 1987 to 2007.
Mr. Garza is an active member American Society of Health-System Pharmacist and past president of the Rio Grande Valley Society of Hospital Pharmacist
Mr. Garza and his wife Judy have four children, Karina, Gabriel, Brianna and Jacob. Mr. Garza enjoys mentoring, coaching little league baseball, hunting and golfing.