Baylor College of Medicine

HEALTHCARE

Center for Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention's innovative approach to care in rural Texas receives funding support

The Goradia Foundation and the A.R. “Tony” and Maria J. Sanchez Family Foundation funded the first-of-its-kind Cardiometabolic Precision Health Pilot in the Texas Rio Grande Valley. Unique to this pilot is the use of a telehealth platform called Project ECHO, which allows Baylor disease experts to work directly with local doctors and patients in rural areas to improve chronic disease management in South Texas.

As one of the most impoverished areas of the country, South Texas communities also are burdened with greater numbers of patients with cardiometabolic disease and diabetes. The project has enormous potential to help individuals and families gain access to desperately needed care and lead healthier lives. It uses genomic diagnosis to identify individuals who are particularly susceptible to cardiometabolic diseases and diabetes, and trains physicians at these locations on how to implement these practices. This ensures the project is sustainable and scalable, as physicians across the state — and ultimately around the country — will be able to share this method of diagnosis and have an even greater impact on health in communities across the globe.

The pilot is a project of the Center for Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention, which also has the longtime support of generous donors Trini Mendenhall and Wendy and Jeff Hines. Mr. Vijay Goradia and Mr. A.R. “Tony” Sanchez Jr. are Baylor College of Medicine trustees.

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