Starr County Services Project
The Starr County Services Project, under the direction of Dr. Craig Hanis (SPH), has led to the identification of a major gene that predisposes Mexican-Americans to adult-onset diabetes. This discovery promises earlier and better treatment. The office in Starr County, now in its 26th year in the community, continues to be a community resource facilitating health screening, education, prevention and research. The project provides 4,000 participant contacts per year for free intensive physical exams and follow ups involving glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides and hypertension screening, and specialized eye exams to Mexican-Americans and their family members along the border.
The Project Center is a referral center for the Texas Commission for the Blind. Those coming to be screened also become eligible for the diabetes education programs that have grown out of these efforts. These educational efforts are now being retargeted to begin primary prevention of diabetes in Starr County. In addition, this project has been important to basic research with recent funding being awarded for the most detailed studies of the genetics of diabetes and its complications among Mexican Americans to date.