Robin Leach, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Cell Systems & Anatomy in the Joe R. & Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine, is a 2017 Piper Professor as selected by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation.

Dr. Leach received a $5,000 award, certificate and gold pin on May 5, presented at the foundation’s request by William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP, president of UT Health San Antonio.

Only 10 faculty members statewide from institutions of higher learning are honored annually as Piper Professors.

Dr. Leach is a molecular genetics who work on the genetics of complex diseases. In addition to her appointment in the Department of Cell Systems & Anatomy, she is appointed in the Department of Urology where she is the chief of the Division of Research. She is the co-leader of the Genomics Research Core for the Mays Cancer Center, an NCI-designated cancer center.

Using a molecular genetic approach, Dr. Leach studies a number of diseases, including prostate and testicular cancers, diabetes, schizophrenia and Paget’s disease of the bone.

Dr. Leach has won many teaching awards. In 2016 she earned the prestigious Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award from The University of Texas System.

The Piper Professor Award was established by the San Antonio-based Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation in 1958 to annually recognize outstanding college professors across Texas. Selection is made on the basis of nominations; each two and four-year college and university in the state may submit only one nominee annually.

This article was originally published in The Newsroom.