The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley hosted an open house Wednesday at its Biomedical Research building, located at 5300 N. L St. in McAllen. The event invited community members to learn about the research under way and to tour the facility.
Community health workers, students and other residents were split into two groups of 15 for guided tours. The building's main focus is cancer research. Poster boards about various projects lined the hallways. One group visited labs upstairs, where visitors could see equipment and speak with researchers about their work.
Labs are working on different projects, according to the report. These include the microbiomes of liver cancer at different stages, nano drug delivery and nanomedicine, early cancer biomarkers, sickle cell disease, and biomarkers for ALS. The university said researchers are studying more than 15 types of cancer, including liver, pancreatic and colorectal cancers, which are among the most common in the Valley.