OUR FACULTY

Program Director, Professor

Department of Biomedical Engineering, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

• Label-free optical biosensing for biomolecular and cellular assays

• Photoacoustic Tomography for traumatic brain injury and cancer research

• Controlled drug delivery with nano-carriers based on metal-organic frameworks

• Endotoxin testing via an open-microcavity optical biosensor

Program Associate Director, Professor and Zachry Distinguished University Chair, Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

• To investigate the functional significance of gap junctions, hemichannels and integrins in signaling transmission.

• Structural and cellular biology

​

Edward E. Whitacre Endowed Chair,

Department of Biomedical Engineering, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest

• Regenerative medicine

• Vascular tissue engineering

• Biomaterials

• Imaging

​

​

​

​

Past Program Director, Associate Professor,

Department of Biomedical Engineering, UTSA

Research Thrust Lead, MATRIX AI Consortium

Areas of Research Interest:

• Systems biology

• Neurovasculature regeneration

• Computational modeling & AI

​

​

Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:​

• Articular cartilage tissue engineering

• Cellular-surface interactions from the nanoscale to macroscale

• Bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation for environmental and medical applications

• Why women are minorities in engineering in the US

Professor, Trauma Service/ Chief of Trauma Division, Orthopedic Surgery

Areas of Research Interest:

• Diabetes and its effects on the musculoskeletal system

• Fracture healing

• Biomechanism of cartilage and bone

• Retrograde femoral nailing

• Knee dislocations and cruciate injuries

• Bone graft/filler substitutes

• Wound VAC applications.

​

Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs, Biomedical Engineering, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

• Protein signaling of mechanotransduction in bone cells

• Bone reconstruction following osteosarcoma and severe trauma

• Investigation of angiogenesis applied to tissue engineering strategies

• Experimental and theoretical mechanical behavior of orthopedic implants and tissue-material hybrids

Lutcher Brown Endowed Chair Professor, Biomedical Engineering, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

• Cellular and Tissue Engineering

• Tissue regeneration

• Biomaterials (including nanostructured ones)

• Mechanisms of cellular responses to stimuli (chemical, mechanical, magnetic, electrical)

• Biocompatibility (specifically, cell/biomaterial interactions)

​

​

Assistant Professor, Cellular and Integrative Physiology, UT Health

Areas of Research Interests:

• Investigate the role of mitochondria in cardioprotective effect of hormones against ischemia/reperfusion injury and heart failure.

• Cardiovascular Pharmacology

• Mitochondrial signaling

• Pharmacological and genetic approaches

Assistant Professor, Cell Systems and Anatomy, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

• Breast cancer and malignancies of the brain and spinal cord

• Medical and Experimental Oncology

• Role of obesity in promoting breast tumorigenesis

• Effect of hypoxia on chemokines and escape from antiangiogenics

Associate Professor, Cellular and Integrative Physiology, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

• Large conductance (BK-type) calcium-activated potassium channels

• Potassium Channel Biophysical Studies

• Potassium Channel Regulation of Smooth Muscle Function

• Potassium Channel Regulation of Neuronal Action Potentials

Professor, Cell Systems and Anatomy, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

• Epigenetics of energy homeostasis, bioenergetics and obesity

• Regulation of Mitochondrial Respiratory Complex I Dynamics

• Mechanisms cy which CU/ZNSOD overexpression improves metabolic health in rats

• Regulation and Function of Adiponectin Oligomerization

• Enhancement of Sustainable Research

Professor, Developmental Dentistry, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

• Molecular mechanisms of the tissue-specific dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP) during tooth development

• Role of bone morphogenetic protein 2 (Bmp2) during tooth development

• Biological functions of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) in vitro and in vivo during tooth formation

Professor, Comprehensive Dentistry, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

• Reconstitute tissue-specific stem cell niche in vitro to control stem cell fate for tissue regenerative purposes

• Young Extracellular Matrix Rejuvenating Old Mesenchymal Stem Cells

• Bone Biology and Mineral Research

​

​

Chief, MRI Division/ Professor, Radiology, UT Health

Areas of Research Interests:

• Cardiovascular Imaging Physics including magnetic resonance imaging of coronary flow and flow reserve, regional myocardial blood volume, left ventricular function, myocardial perfusion, epicardial fat, and vascular imaging agents.

• In-vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy including phosphorus-31 MRS in skeletal muscle, hydrogen-1 MRS of lipids in skeletal muscle, myocardial muscle, and liver.

Professor of Emergency Medicine, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

• Vancomycin Powder for Acute Long-Bone, Open-Fracture Infection Prophylaxis: a Multicenter, Randomized, Controlled Trial

• Airway Intubation Assistance Devices with Haptic and Physiologic Feedback

• Assessment of far forward provider performance in using a hand-held Algorithmic EEG device to screen traumatic brain injury

Adjoint Professor, School of Dentistry, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

• Examining how osteoblasts interact with titanium implant surfaces and the role of arachidonic acid metabolites in regulating osteoblast response

• Isolating and characterizing wear debris particles from resin, wear machine fluids, and tissues

• Developing tissue engineering scaffolds for bone repair

​

​

Professor, Computational and Experimental Mechanics, Mechanical Engineering, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

• Vascular biomechanics

• Abdominal aortic aneurysms

• Pulmonary hypertension

• Non-destructive tissue mechanics

Director, Research Imaging Institute

Areas of Research Interest:

• Clinical Neurobiology

• Cognitive Neurobiology

• Computational Neurobiology

• Imaging Methodology

• Neuromodulation Methods

• Research Mentoring

Senior Lecturer, Biomedical Engineering, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

• Spatio-temporal delivery of growth factors for vascularized bone tissue regeneration

• Drug delivery and microencapsulation

• Synthetic biomaterials for bone regeneration

• Vascular regeneration in bone healing

Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

• Rotator Cuff Tears

• Vertebral Fractures and Prediction

• Spine Metastasis

• Rehabilitation

​

​

​

​

​

​

Professor, Ophthalmology, UT Health

Areas of Research Interests:

• Laser bioeffects and medical applications

• Photosensitized free-radical reactions in the eye

• Light damage and repair mechanisms in the eye

• Retinal information processing, photodynamic therapy

• Optical tissue diagnostic spectroscopy

• Ocular pharmacology

​

​

Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

• Bioreactors for musculoskeletal tissues

• Bone tissue engineering

• Interplay of biophysical and biochemical stimuli

• Cell and drug delivery for orthopedic regeneration

• Mechanical modeling of biological architectures

​

​

​

​

Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Structural Biology, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

•  X-ray crystallography

• NMR spectroscopy

• small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS)

• Other solution biophysics methods

Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

• Injury biomechanics 

• Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) 

• Finite Element Modeling 

• Biomarkers of TBI 

• Preclinical-Clinical Translation in TBI  

Professor and Zachry Mechanical Engineering Department Endowed Chair, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

• Cardiovascular Biomechanics

• Left ventricular remodeling post-myocardial infarction or due to aging

• Vascular remodeling in response to mechanical stress

• Mechanism of artery buckling and tortuosity

​

​

Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

• Medical Device Design

• Controlled Drug Delivery

• MEMS/NEMS

• Microneedles

• Photothermal Therapies

• Implant Development

• Minimally-Invasive Interventions

​

​

​

​

​

Professor and Director of the Brain Health Consortium, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

• Epilepsy-in-a-dish

• 3D cerebral organoids

• Patient recruitment

• Mechanisms of adult neurogenesis.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

• Catalyst Characterization

• Hydrogen Production Catalysis

• Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis

• Dehydrocyclization of paraffins

• Solid superacid catalysts

• Model catalysts

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Professor, Molecular Medicine, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

• Developing computational and genomics approaches for the identification of genomic regulatory elements at 1D and 3D manners

• Functionally and mechanistically characterizing the computational predictions

• Developing computational pipelines to aid molecular biomarker discovery

​

​

​

​

Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

• Synchronization and parameter estimation of chaotic systems

• Vision-based control for mobile robots

• Robust adaptive control design for nonlinear systems

• Observer design for nonlinear systems

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Associate Professor, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

• Identifying novel plasticity mechanisms underlying the transition from acute to chronic pain

• Examining the mechanism of Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD)

• Determining the mechanism of ongoing and evoked pain

​

​

​

​

Professor, Biology, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

• Cell Adhesion; Cell Biology

• Disorders of the Temporomandibular Joint

• Extracellular Matrix Molecules in Cancers and in Diabetes Complications

• Regenerative Medicine; Tissue Regeneration

​

​

​

​

​

Assistant Professor, Cellular and Integrative Physiology, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

• Identifying the molecular mechanisms responsible for the pathophysiology of autism and related disorders, and using these mechanisms to rescue behavioral dysfunction in mouse models

• Elucidating specific autistic behaviors including social communication deficits and repetitive behaviors, and identifying the brain region(s) and neuron groups

​

​

​

Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Structural Biology, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

• Understanding the assembly and functional interactions of low-complexity RNA-binding proteins involved in cancer and neurodegenerative processes

• Oncogenic fusion protein EWS-Fli1 and the structural implications of its role as the sole driver of Ewing's sarcoma

• characterizing, at atomic resolution,  structural features of proteins and their its macromolecular interactions

​

Assistant Professor, Molecular Medicine, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

• Explore the roles and regulation mechanisms of signaling-dependent gene regulation programs in normal development and disease conditions

• Decipher the epigenetic and 3D architectural changes of the cis-regulatory elements upon developmental/pathological stimuli and during hormone/drug resistance acquisition in cancers

​

​

Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:​

• Pediatric Medicine

• Contact Pathway Activation in Vascular Devices

• Platelet-derived microparticles generated by pediatric cardiopulmonary bypass As a novel biomarker of post-operative patient outcomes

• Define optimal operating parameters for extracorporeal support in a clinically relevant in vitro ECMO model using human blood

Assistant Professor of Surgery, UT Health

Areas of Research Interests:

• Micro-Robotics with integrated Artificial Intelligence for Endovascular
  interventions

• Peripheral Arterial Disease
  Myopathy

• Artificial Intelligence and Mobile phone Bioinformatics Project for
  Pandemic control and Health Care recourses management
  COVID-19

​

​

​

Senior Associate Dean of Administration and Graduate Programs, Biomedical Engineering, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

Fundamental:

• Tissue Engineering

• Surface Modification

• Implants

• Materials Characterization

• In vitro cell culture studies

• In vivo animal studies

​

​

​

​

​

​

Assistant Professor, Cellular and Integrative Physiology, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

• Astroglia-Neuron interplay

• Understanding molecular events and behavioral context leading to astroglia Ca2+ dynamics in awake mice

• Consequences for neuronal signaling and alterations of these signals in transgenic mouse models of neurodegenerative and neurobehavioral disease

​

Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

• Computational Modeling

• Self-Assembly in Soft Matter

• Statistical Thermodynamics

• Collective Phenomena in Networks

Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

• Cell-based therapies for orthopaedic injuries

• Tissue engineering strategies for improving tissue perfusion

• Bioreactor technology development for skeletal muscle injuries/diseases

Assistant Professor Chemical Engineering Program, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

• Macromolecular Bio-Interfaces for cell manipulation

• Biologically inspired drug delivery systems

• Soft biomedical materials

• Stimuli-responsive macromolecules

Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, UTSA

Areas of Research Interests:

• Neuroscience

• Patch-Clamp Electrophysiology

• Synaptic Plasticity

• Synaptic Transmission

Professor of Biochemistry and Structural Biology, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

• Translational Applications: Tumor-Directed Drug Delivery Vehicles and Neurodegenerative Disease

• Improved procedures for isolating environmental phages

• Isolation and characterization of capsids that have the characteristics needed for bypassing all limitations of current drug delivery vehicles

Associate Professor/Clinical and Faculty Physician

Adjunct Assistant Professor, UTSA & UTHSCSA

Areas of Research Interest:

•  Peri-operative fluid resuscitation
  strategies in free flap breast reconstruction

• Effect of internal mammary vessels radiation dose on outcomes of
  free flap breast reconstruction

• Issues affecting womens’ success in
  academic and private practice and in organized medicine

Professor, Department of Radiology, UTSA & UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

• Vascular biology with particular emphasis on endothelial biology

• Exploring the influence of specific flow environments on the endothelial cellular and molecular mechanisms mediating key elements related to atherogenesis and restenosis at sites of stent revascularization

Professor of Biochemistry & Structural Biology

Robert A Welch Distinguished Chair in Chemistry, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

• DNA damage response

• DNA Repair Genes and Proteins of the RAD52 Group

• Chromosome Damage Repair via the BRCA1/2 Axis

• Tumor suppression

Graduate Admissions Chair, Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

• Nanomaterials and nanomedicine

• Nano-biotechnology, nanosensor, nano-photonics

• Microfluidics

​

Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

• Colloids and surface science

• Processing and design of “green” nanoparticles

• Sustainable chemical processes

• Underground sequestration of CO2

• Nanocomposites

Professor, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Program Director, Plastic Surgery Residency Program

Areas of Research Interest:

• Cosmetic and reconstructive surgery

•  Regulation of adipose estrogen output by mechanical stress.

• Genome-wide DNA methylation profiling reveals parity-associated hypermethylation of FOXA1

•  Development and Evaluations of a Simulation Model for Microvascular Anastomosis Training Journal of Reconstructive Microsurgery.

Professor, ASME and AIMBE Fellow, Department of Mechanical Engineering, UTSA

Areas of Research Interest:

• Ultrastructure of hard tissues

• Micro/nanomechanics of bone

• Role of collagen in determining bone quality

• Prediction/prevention of age-related bone fractures

Professor, Biochemistry, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

• Selective Labeling and Identification of the Tumor Cell Proteome of Pancreatic Cancer In Vivo

•  GDF6-CD99 Signaling Regulates Src and Ewing Sarcoma Growth

•  Blueprinting of the human proteome

•  Extracellular vesicles from human iPSC-derived neural stem cells: miRNA and protein signatures, and anti-inflammatory and neurogenic properties

Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular Medicine, UT Health

Areas of Research Interests:

• The interaction between tissue-specific transcription factors and epigenetic regulators in transcriptional control

• The crosstalk among distinct types of epigenetic modifications in shaping the physical structure of genome

• The response of epigenetic tags to the external and internal stimuli

​

​

​

Professor, Department of Cell Systems and Anatomy, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

• Understand the cellular/molecular mechanisms underlying ASXL1 alteration-mediated myeloid malignancies

• Identify novel therapeutic targets and to develop rational therapies to treat myeloid malignancies and to test if read-through compounds are capable of inducing full-length/functional ASXL1 expression in hematopoietic system 

Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Structural Biology, UT Health

Areas of Research Interest:

• Mutations in the BRCA1 (breast cancer 1) and BARD1(BRCA1-associatedRING domain protein 

• Cancer risk assessment

• Identify critical targets for the development of novel cancer therapeutics

• Neuroblastoma