October 3, 2023
We are delighted to share some of the highlights of our visit to our Nun Study home at the University of Texas Health in San Antonio (UTHSA). We arrived on September 26 and joined a development gathering that evening. Dr. Henrich, President of UTHSA, welcomed all to the evening offering information on the Nun Study as well as new initiatives occurring in brain health. S. Charlene Zeisset, SSND, our Representative to the Nun Study, shared the background of the Study and a little about why the sisters desired to participate. Then Dr. Flanagan, MD, shared some information on directions they are taking in research and how important the Nun Study remains. Many were very impressed and expressed honor that we chose the University for its home. Before we left that evening, there was already a donor coming forward to help fund digitizing some of the many boxes of paperwork housed in the library.
On September 27, S. Regina Palacios, Provincial Council member who resides in San Antonio, joined us. We spent the day touring the areas where the Nun Study materials are being housed and meeting other collaborators involved with the Nun Study (NS). The first area we visited were the labs and the room where our precious sisters’ brains are stored as well as where all the tissue blocks and microscope slides are securely stored. We prayed together joined by Dr. Flanagan’s staff and sensed the presence of our sisters with us.
We saw the area where all the frozen materials maintained at -80 degrees C that are safely alarmed for any change in temperature and connected to a generator for backup power. We met with Dr. Bieniek who is the co-chair with Dr. Flanagan of the brain bank. The NS brains are separate and only Dr Flanagan can access them to share materials.
Dr. Seshadri, MD, is a world-renowned neurologist and lectures extensively. She is the director of the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases. She has been instrumental in developing the Institute and recruiting Dr. Flanagan and the NS to UTHSA. She is filled with enthusiasm to expand how the materials can be utilized by other areas at the University. Directly resonant with our desire for the materials to be utilized. We finished in the library and saw where all the many boxes of assessments, medical records, autobiographies etc. are stored in a secure and temperature-controlled setting.
As impressive as all this is, we were most inspired by the people we met at UTHSA. There were staff and assistants to greet us at each location expressing their gratitude to meet us and to have the Nun Study at their university. They feel it is an honor to host the NS. Clinicians, researchers, staff were all people-oriented and patient driven. Offices are arranged so doctors, PT, OT, respiratory and other support services are all available at the same appointment. There is no need for a caregiver to bring someone multiple times to multiple places. We heard stories repeatedly how many of them have had their lives touched by Alzheimer’s or other dementias. This sorrow has helped them become the shining lights that they are.
We feel this indeed is “home” for the Nun Study and so happy to share this with you. Please continue to hold the people of UTHSA and the Nun Study in your prayers. May it continue to educate another era in research. The culmination of a great day ended with sharing supper, conversations, and updating our sisters in San Antonio.
S. Debra M. Sciano, SSND
Provincial, Central Pacific Province
S. Charmaine Krohe, SSND
Provincial, Atlantic-Midwest Province
