UT Health San Antonio, UTSA researchers receive prestigious 2025 Hill Prizes for medicine and technology

Soon-to-be merged schools lauded for creative collaboration

UT Health San Antonio contact: Steven Lee, (210) 450-3823, [email protected]
UTSA contact: John Elizondo, (210) 458-2087, [email protected]

SAN ANTONIO, Jan. 17, 2025 - On the eve of a historic merger between The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and The University of Texas at San Antonio, researchers from the two institutions have been honored with highly prestigious 2025 Hill Prizes, in medicine and technology.

The prizes are awarded by the Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Technology (TAMEST), and Lyda Hill Philanthropies, which fund the awards to "propel high-risk, high-reward ideas and innovations that demonstrate very significant potential for real-world impact and can lead to new, paradigm-shifting paths in research," according to TAMEST.

The prizes are given in six categories: Medicine, Public Health, Engineering, Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences and Technology. They recognize and advance top Texas innovators providing seed funding to advance groundbreaking science and highlight Texas as a premier destination for world-class research. Each of the six winning proposals will receive $500,000 in funding from Lyda Hill Philanthropies to accelerate their work.

The recipient for medicine is Kenneth M. Hargreaves, DDS, PhD, professor of endodontics, pharmacology, surgery, and cellular and integrative physiology at UT Health San Antonio. His co-investigator for the award is Stanton McHardy, PhD, associate professor of medicinal chemistry at UTSA.

And the technology recipient is Robert De Lorenzo, MD, president and co-founder of university tech startup EmergenceMed LLC, and professor and vice chair of research for the Department of Emergency Medicine at UT Health San Antonio. De Lorenzo's co-principal investigator for the award is R. Lyle Hood, PhD, associate professor of mechanical engineering at UTSA, and an EmergenceMed co-founder.

"These awards will support crucial advancements in key areas of high medical need: non-opiate pain relief and emergency airway protection," said Robert Hromas, MD, FACP, acting president of UT Health San Antonio. "They are truly collaborative team efforts and are evidence of the extraordinary biomedical development going on here in San Antonio."

"I'm delighted to see our esteemed researchers and faculty members honored by TAMEST as 2025 Hill Prize recipients, as it speaks to the power of collaboration between the two institutions that will soon establish one, premier powerhouse for continued innovation and advancement in these impactful areas," said UTSA President Taylor Eighmy, PhD. "This caliber of recognition speaks volumes to the incredible work our colleagues do each day to positively and significantly improve the lives of so many in our communities."

Developing non-opioid painkillers

Hargreaves, inaugural director of the UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry's Center for Pain Therapeutics and Addiction Research, was chosen for developing non-opioid analgesics, also known as painkillers, to reduce the use of opioids and prevent drug addiction.

Prescription opioids such as hydrocodone and oxycodone are widely recognized to be a major gateway to opioid use disorder (OUD). The drug overdose epidemic continues to accelerate, with Texas experiencing a 75% increase in death rates over the last five years.

Hargreaves and his team will use the prize funding to develop novel non-opioid analgesics and create a critical bridge to help prompt commercial development. His team identified a new approach to identify novel targets and found several potential candidates.

He will partner with McHardy and other researchers at UTSA to validate the potential novel targets identified and screen active compounds. The outcome aims to create a novel non-opioid analgesic and in turn, reduce opioid use syndrome and the epidemic of related overdose deaths.

"This Hill Award will catalyze the development of novel analgesics, thereby helping to reduce the epidemic of substance use disorder," Hargreaves said.

Improving emergency airway management

De Lorenzo was chosen for addressing long-standing issues in airway management for emergency, critical care and surgical settings. Current endotracheal tubes (ETTs) have suffered from high failure rates, dislodgement, leakage and a lack of innovation over the past 125 years.

Prize funding will be used to partner with Hood and other researchers at UTSA to redesign the ETTs by developing a Flexible Airway Securement Tube (FAST) and then taking the design to market. The new design features innovative expanding/contracting geometries, smart materials and modular components.

"This award has arrived at a pivotal time for the effort," said UTSA's Hood, who serves as chief technology officer of EmergenceMed. "Our team has been exploring new materials and actuation methods for a far more user-friendly and intuitive endotracheal tube. This funding will help us achieve those improvements, broaden the patent portfolio on the technology, and engage with new partners for integrating sensors and smart systems that can respond to patient condition and first responder needs."

This will enable better adaptability to various trachea sizes, improved fluid sealing and greater stability. This redesign promises to simplify intubation, enhance patient safety and pave the way for future AI-driven advancements in airway management.

Hood's work has focused on medical device development, resulting in more than a dozen peer-reviewed articles from journals, and patents on the design, prototyping, characterization and field analysis for innovative portable oropharyngeal suction devices, endotracheal tubes and alternatives to the laryngoscope.

Rewarding creative collaboration

A committee of TAMEST members (Texas-based members of the National Academies) selected the recipients, and finalists were endorsed by a committee of Texas Nobel and Breakthrough Prize Laureates and approved by the TAMEST Board of Directors.

"On behalf of TAMEST, we are honored to congratulate this year's recipients of the Hill Prizes, whose work exemplifies innovation and excellence and helps define Texas as a leader in scientific research and discovery," said TAMEST President Brendan Lee, MD, PhD (NAM), Baylor College of Medicine. "These prestigious prizes not only recognize their remarkable research but also benefit from the critical support from Lyda Hill Philanthropies to help propel their work forward. We know their discoveries will continue to advance science in ways that will have a lasting impact on our world."

"The Hill Prizes are designed to catalyze groundbreaking ideas and offer seed funding that bridges the gap between research and real-world impact," said 2025 Hill Prizes Committee Chair David E. Daniel, PhD (NAE), The University of Texas at Dallas. "There is no shortage of innovation in Texas, and it was an honor to help put forward recipients whose deserving high-potential projects can now move forward thanks to Lyda Hill and her team's support."

The projects selected for the 2025 Hill Prizes focus on creative, collaborative approaches to some of the world's biggest challenges, featuring top-tier, cross-disciplinary teams with leaders and researchers from multiple institutions. Principal investigators of the winning proposals will be recognized the evening of Feb. 4 at the opening reception of the TAMEST 2025 Annual Conference in Irving.

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio), a primary driver of San Antonio's $44.1 billion health care and biosciences sector, is the largest academic research institution in South Texas with an annual research portfolio of $413 million. Driving substantial economic impact with its six professional schools, a diverse workforce of more than 8,500, an annual expense budget of $1.46 billion and clinical practices that provide 2.6 million patient visits each year, UT Health San Antonio plans to add more than 1,500 higher-wage jobs over the next five years to serve San Antonio, Bexar County and South Texas. To learn about the many ways "We make lives better®," visit UTHealthSA.org.

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The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is a Tier One research university and a Hispanic Serving Institution specializing in cyber, health, fundamental futures, and social-economic transformation. With more than 35,000 students, it is the largest university in the San Antonio metropolitan region. UTSA advances knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. The university embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property-for Texas, the nation and the world. Learn more online, on UTSA Today or on Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter) or LinkedIn.

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