2007

• Following approval of the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy officially joined the Texas A&M Health Science Center in April 2006. Classes for the first 70 students in the College, located on the Texas A&M University-Kingsville campus, began in August 2006. In addition, the HSC added the College of Nursing in 2007.
• In addition to the Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree, faculty within the College and HSC components – including the College of Medicine in College Station and Temple, Baylor College of Dentistry in Dallas and Institute of Biosciences and Technology in Houston – will benefit from collaboration opportunities for basic science and translational research.

2006

• The College of Medicine expanded its class size from 80 to 200 students per class in 2006 through the expansion of pre-clinical and clinical experiences in Bryan-College Station, Temple, and Round Rock the increase is an effort to address the health needs for the state’s increasing population.
• The School of Rural Public Health had a formal ribbon-cutting in February 2006 for the new three-building, 100,000-square-foot complex located on the Texas A&M University campus at the corner of Adriance Lab Road and University Drive.

• The Texas Enterprise Fund awarded $50 million in 2005 for the creation of the Texas Institute for Genomic Medicine, a non-profit organization founded by the Institute of Biosciences and Technology at Houston, Texas A&M University in College Station and Lexicon Genetics, Inc. in the Woodlands. The Institute is designed to pioneer the development of life-changing medical innovation, accelerate the pace of medical discoveries and foster the development of the biotechnology industry in Texas.
• In April 2005, the Health Science Center's Rural and Community Health Institute (RCHI) received a grant of $104,000 from the Sid W. Richardson Foundation for support of a Patient Safety Program that addresses the quality and safety of patient care being delivered by rural hospitals. The grant funds are intended to cover staff support needed for carrying out the program's goals and extending the program into additional rural communities in Texas.
• A new partnership between the Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health (SRPH) and the Texas Department of State Health Services will benefit Texans in the Rio Grande Valley as well as Texas cancer researchers. The SRPH and the department are establishing a pilot cancer registry program in the Rio Grande Valley to improve the completeness and quality of cancer reporting in South Texas.

• The Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health (SRPH) was awarded funding in July 2005 to establish the USA Center for Rural Public Health Preparedness. The five-year award, with $300,000 in initial funding from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is part of a national CDC program to help ensure the ability of the public health work force to respond to bioterrorism, emerging infectious diseases and other threats to the public’s health.

• The Texas A&M Health Science Center’s Rural Community Health Institute (RCHI) is participating in a three-year project involving Palo Pinto General Hospital in Mineral Wells, Texas. The $1.5 million project, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)’s Agency for Health Research and Quality, is titled "Rural Hospital Collaborative for Excellence Using Information Technology." Palo Pinto General Hospital is the lead investigative partner in the project, which also involves collaboration with Baylor Health Care System, the Texas Medical Foundation and Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council (DFWHC).
• Baylor College of Dentistry received a very prestigious $2.8 million award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)’s National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR). The two-year research infrastructure enhancement grant is one of only seven awarded to dental schools throughout the country. Baylor College of Dentistry is the only recipient in Texas. The award comes in response to an application by David Carlson, Ph.D., vice president for research and graduate studies for the Health Science Center, and will fund additional faculty for Baylor College of Dentistry (BCD) and collaborative research efforts with faculty at the A&M System Health Science Center’s Institute of Biosciences and Technology (IBT) in Houston. IBT Director Robert J. Schwartz, Ph.D., is a senior research consultant for the research infrastructure grant.
• Dental hygiene students are exposed to basic sciences and dental hygiene faculty as well as dental and dental specialties faculty. Taking courses such as professional ethics and medical emergencies with dental students provides a “real-world,” team approach to patient care as the students learn the comprehensive nature of delivering oral health care services.