Cody Ruhl, a fourth-year doctoral student in the Biological Chemistry Graduate Program at UT Southwestern, has been selected to receive a Jess Hay Endowment for Chancellor’s Graduate Student Research Fellowship from the UT System for 2020-2021.

Mr. Ruhl is pursuing his dissertation research in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Shiloh, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, who is an infectious disease specialist specializing in tuberculosis (TB), which kills 2 million people worldwide each year. The Hay Research Fellowships are designed to tie graduate education to timely and high-quality research. Two annual $15,000 fellowships rotate among 12 applicable UT institutions, benefiting both an academic and health institution each year. At UTSW, the institutional nominee is approved by Dr. W. P. Andrew Lee, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Provost, and Dean of the Medial School.

“I feel incredibly honored to have received the Jess Hay Fellowship knowing the amount of great research being done at every UT school,” Mr. Ruhl said. “This support really will help our lab continue to do the incredible research we are doing with infectious diseases, which now seems more important than ever during this pandemic.”

The Texas A&M graduate’s discovery project relates to the cause of cough during tuberculosis infection, Dr. Shiloh explained. He discovered that a molecule called sulfolipid-1 triggers coughing and that this mechanism is likely critical to the very high rate of transmission of Mycobacterium TB from infected to uninfected individuals. Furthermore, Dr. Shiloh said, the principles uncovered by Mr. Ruhl’s work have the potential to impact studies of cough and transmission of other pathogens like coronavirus, measles virus, influenza virus, and whooping cough.

“I am thrilled that Cody is being recognized for his hard work and creativity during his graduate studies. It is also a testament to the strength of science at UT Southwestern, his thesis committee, and collaborators at UT Southwestern and UT Dallas,” Dr. Shiloh said. “In this era of COVID-19, it is critical to continue to support basic studies on infectious diseases both old, like tuberculosis, and new, like COVID-19. Both Cody and I appreciate the support of the Jess Hay Endowment.”

The fellowships were established by former Regent Jess Hay, a Dallas financial leader in business and politics who passed away in 2015. Mr. Hay was an advocate and visionary leader for the UT System. From 1977 to 1989, he was a member of the Board of Regents, including 2½ years of service as the Board’s Chairman.

Mr. Ruhl is from a military family and grew up near Fort Hood, cultivating an ongoing love of music, dogs, and science. The latter really kicked in while he majored in biochemistry, mentored other students, and gained two years of experience in an infectious disease lab at A&M.

“I have been interested in drug design for a long time now,” Mr. Ruhl said. “I truly love the excitement of making new discoveries and being able to help the scientific community better understand the complex systems going on around all of us, every day.”