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Director and research team for UTRGV South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute to be announced Monday

Two news conferences will be held Monday morning to announce that Dr. Sarah Williams-Blangero, a nationally renowned genetics and infectious disease expert, will be the inaugural director of the UTRGV South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute.

In addition, Dr. Williams-Blangero, former chair of the department of genetics at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio, is bringing a 22-person team of expert researchers and support staff with her to UTRGV.

The first news conference will take place at 9 a.m. in Salon Cassia at UT Brownsville’s Main (formerly the Education and Business Complex) and will be webcast live at media.utb.edu/live.aspx. The second news conference will begin at 11:15 a.m. in UT Pan American’s University Ballroom and will be webcast live at UTPA.edu/LIVE.

Both events will include remarks from Dr. Williams-Blangero; Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D.; Guy Bailey, founding president of UT Rio Grande Valley; and Francisco Fernandez, M.D., founding dean of the UTRGV School of Medicine.

About The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 in a historic move that will combine the resources and assets of UT Brownsville and UT Pan American and, for the first time, make it possible for residents of the Rio Grande Valley to benefit from the Permanent University Fund. The institution will also be home to a School of Medicine and will transform Texas and the nation by becoming a leader in student success, teaching, research and healthcare. UTRGV will enroll its first class in the fall of 2015, and the School of Medicine will open in 2016.

About The University of Texas System

Educating students, providing care for patients, conducting groundbreaking research and serving the needs of Texans and the nation for more than 130 years, The University of Texas System is one of the largest public university systems in the United States, with nine academic universities, six health institutions and an enrollment of more than 213,000. The UT System confers more than one-third of the state’s undergraduate degrees, educates two-thirds of the state’s health care professionals annually and accounts for almost 70 percent of all research funds awarded to public universities in Texas. The UT System has an annual operating budget of $15.6 billion (FY 2015) including $3 billion in sponsored programs funded by federal, state, local and private sources. With about 90,000 employees, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state.