The recipient for medicine is Kenneth M. Hargreaves, DDS, PhD, professor of endodontics, pharmacology, surgery and cellular and integrative physiology at UT Health San Antonio. His co-investigator for the award is Stanton McHardy, PhD, associate professor of medicinal chemistry at UTSA.
And the technology recipient is Robert De Lorenzo, MD, president and co-founder of university tech startup EmergenceMed LLC, and professor and vice chair of research for the Department of Emergency Medicine at UT Health San Antonio. De Lorenzo’s co-principal investigator for the award is R. Lyle Hood, PhD, associate professor of mechanical engineering at UTSA, and an EmergenceMed co-founder.
“These awards will support crucial advancements in key areas of high medical need: non-opiate pain relief and emergency airway protection,” said Robert Hromas, MD, FACP, acting president of UT Health San Antonio.
“They are truly collaborative team efforts and are evidence of the extraordinary biomedical development going on here in San Antonio. “I’m delighted to see our esteemed researchers and faculty members honored by TAMEST as 2025 Hill Prize recipients, as it speaks to the power of collaboration between the two institutions that will soon establish one, premier powerhouse for continued innovation and advancement in these impactful areas,” said UTSA President Taylor Eighmy. “This caliber of recognition speaks volumes to the incredible work our colleagues do each day to positively and significantly improve the lives of so many in our communities.”
Developing non-opioid painkillers
Kenneth M. Hargreaves
Stanton McHardyHargreaves, inaugural director of the UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry’s Center for Pain Therapeutics and Addiction Research, was chosen for developing non-opioid analgesics, also known as painkillers, to reduce the use of opioids and prevent drug addiction.
Prescription opioids such as hydrocodone and oxycodone are widely recognized to be a major gateway to opioid use disorder (OUD). The drug overdose epidemic continues to accelerate, with Texas experiencing a 75% increase in death rates over the last five years.
Hargreaves and his team will use the prize funding to develop novel non-opioid analgesics and create a critical bridge to help prompt commercial development. His team identified a new approach to identify novel targets and found several potential candidates.
He will partner with McHardy and other researchers at UTSA to validate the potential novel targets identified and screen active compounds. The outcome aims to create a novel non-opioid analgesic and in turn, reduce opioid use syndrome and the epidemic of related overdose deaths.
“This Hill Award will catalyze the development of novel analgesics, thereby helping to reduce the epidemic of substance use disorder,” Hargreaves said.
Improving emergency airway management
Robert De Lorenzo
R. Lyle HoodDe Lorenzo was chosen for addressing long-standing issues in airway management for emergency, critical care and surgical settings. Current endotracheal tubes (ETTs) have suffered from high failure rates, dislodgement, leakage and a lack of innovation over the past 125 years. Prize funding will be used to partner with Hood and other researchers at UTSA to redesign the ETTs by developing a Flexible Airway Securement Tube (FAST) and then taking the design to market. The new design features innovative expanding/contracting geometries, smart materials and modular components.
“This award has arrived at a pivotal time for the effort,” said UTSA’s Hood, who serves as chief technology officer of EmergenceMed. “Our team has been exploring new materials and actuation methods for a far more user-friendly and intuitive endotracheal tube. This funding will help us achieve those improvements, broaden the patent portfolio on the technology, and engage with new partners for integrating sensors and smart systems that can respond to patient condition and first responder needs.”
This will enable better adaptability to various trachea sizes, improved fluid sealing and greater stability. This redesign promises to simplify intubation, enhance patient safety and pave the way for future AI-driven advancements in airway management.
Hood’s work has focused on medical device development, resulting in more than a dozen peer-reviewed articles from journals, and patents on the design, prototyping, characterization and field analysis for innovative portable oropharyngeal suction devices, endotracheal tubes and alternatives to the laryngoscope.
