A new, island-based facility aimed at leading medical breakthroughs in neuroscience this week announced a partnership with a global leader in neurotechnology.
Officials with the newly-formed University of Texas Medical Branch Moody Brain Health Institute on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding with officials from the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering, a nonprofit research organization based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Representatives from the hospital, the institute and the center joined Monday in the medical center’s Ashbel Smith Building, which at the time of its completion in 1890, was home to one of the country’s first human dissection labs. The third flood now serves as a museum.
“It’s very historic and exciting having this in this building because UTMB has been the first of so many things, and they were the first hospital that did dissection and so this is just a really interesting and wonderful building to hold this celebration,” state Rep. Terri Leo Wilson said.
Leo Wilson was joined by representatives from the offices of state Sen. Mayes Middleton, U.S. Rep. Randy Weber, and the Moody Foundation. The foundation in October announced a $25 million contribution to create the institute and lead advancements in common conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and the treatment of mental illnesses.
In 2021, more than 3 billion people lived with a neurological condition, according to a report from the World Health Organization. Leading conditions identified by the organization included stroke, brain injury, dementia and epilepsy.
“As the global population over the age of 65 grows to 770 million people in 2025, or roughly 10 percent of the total population, neurological disorders such as epilepsy and Alzheimer’s are unfortunately on the rise,” Dr. Jochen Reiser, president of the medical branch, said. “Fighting neurological diseases is an exhausting battle, but absolutely worth the effort. Working in collaboration, I think we can truly change the world.”
The Wyss Center, which in 2014 also was established through a philanthropic donation, specializes in technology not available at the medical branch, Dr. Giulio Taglialatela, director of the Moody Brain Health Institute, said.
“It’s an exciting time, there is no question about it, especially for the Moody Brain Health Institute,” he said. “We decided really UTMB has to be the hub for healthy brain and neuroscience in the area. Our vision is bold because we envision from preconception to death.”
The institute has made a global reach to other doctors and researchers to work alongside those in Galveston, where in July scientists announced a breakthrough in Alzheimer’s research by developing a nasal spray designed to treat the disease and other forms of dementia.
About 12 million people 65 and older in the United States suffer from Alzheimer’s, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. That number is expected to reach nearly 13 million by 2050.
“We want to innovate,” Dr. Erwin Bottinger, director of the Wyss Center, said. “We cannot rest like people 100 years ago saying, ‘Oh, you’ll find the pill for that, and the pill will solve everything.’”
Pharmacology will remain a mainstay in treatment, but new technologies combined with pharmaceuticals will restore quality of life rather than just slowing the disease, he said.
“We want to bring this indeed to patient care,” he said. “We want to make this an impact in patient care, in particular for patients here in the Galveston area, for them to be the first to benefit from these new developments that we are very confident we, together — UTMB, the Moody Brain Health Institute, and the Wyss Center can deliver in due time.”
The Wyss Center has 67 staff members and 12 labs where 150 affiliated researchers work, Bottinger said. The center and the institute already have begun collaborating on initiatives, including an analysis software powered by artificial intelligence to enhance the diagnosis of epilepsy.