Family at Heart – Care in Action
UTHealth Houston is treating clinical research as a true team sport. Daniel I. Sessler, MD, joined in 2024 as the inaugural vice president for clinical and outcomes research after leading the Department of Outcomes Research at Cleveland Clinic, where his team ran more than 1,200 studies. His goal is to expand both the quality and volume of clinical research across the university. “We already have world-class basic science. But the amount of clinical research we do is disproportionately small,” Sessler said, noting that many promising animal findings fail to work in people. To close that gap, he launched the Center for Outcomes Research, modeled on his Cleveland Clinic department. It is led by Alparslan Turan, MD, assistant vice president for translational research and Sessler’s longtime colleague. Both serve as professors in Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine. The center provides strategic guidance, training, administrative support, and methodology expertise while conducting dozens of studies, including large multinational trials. Together, Dr. Sessler and Dr. Turan are building the infrastructure and culture needed to turn strong basic science into more clinical studies that improve patient outcomes. For more details, read the full article: https://www.uth.edu/mcgovern-medicine/ (external link)
