OUR FACULTY
Leading researchers. Passionate about biomedicine.
Making an impact on the future through the integration of engineering & biology.

Program Director, Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering, UTSA
Areas of Research Interest:
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Label-free optical biosensing for biomolecular and cellular assays
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Photoacoustic Tomography for traumatic brain injury and cancer research
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Controlled drug delivery with nano-carriers based on metal-organic frameworks
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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:
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To investigate the functional significance of gap junctions, hemichannels and integrins in signaling transmission.
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Structural and cellular biology

Edward E. Whitacre Endowed Chair,
Department of Biomedical Engineering, UTSA
Areas of Research Interest
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Regenerative medicine
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Vascular tissue engineering
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Biomaterials
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Imaging

Past Program Director, Associate Professor,
Department of Biomedical Engineering, UTSA
Research Thrust Lead, MATRIX AI Consortium
Areas of Research Interest:
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Systems biology
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Neurovasculature regeneration
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Computational modeling & AI

Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering, UTSA
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Articular cartilage tissue engineering
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Cellular-surface interactions from the nanoscale to macroscale
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Bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation for environmental and medical applications
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Why women are minorities in engineering in the US

Professor, Trauma Service/ Chief of Trauma Division, Orthopedic Surgery
Areas of Research Interest:
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Diabetes and its effects on the musculoskeletal system
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Fracture healing
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Biomechanism of cartilage and bone
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Retrograde femoral nailing
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Knee dislocations and cruciate injuries
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Bone graft/filler substitutes
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Wound VAC applications.

Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs, Biomedical Engineering, UTSA
Areas of Research Interest:
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Protein signaling of mechanotransduction in bone cells
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Bone reconstruction following osteosarcoma and severe trauma
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Investigation of angiogenesis applied to tissue engineering strategies
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Experimental and theoretical mechanical behavior of orthopedic implants and tissue-material hybrids

Lutcher Brown Endowed Chair Professor, Biomedical Engineering, UTSA
Areas of Research Interest:
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Cellular and Tissue Engineering
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Tissue regeneration
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Biomaterials (including nanostructured ones)
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Mechanisms of cellular responses to stimuli (chemical, mechanical, magnetic, electrical)
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Biocompatibility (specifically, cell/biomaterial interactions)

Assistant Professor, Cellular and Integrative Physiology, UT Health
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Investigate the role of mitochondria in cardioprotective effect of hormones against ischemia/reperfusion injury and heart failure.
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Cardiovascular Pharmacology
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Mitochondrial signaling
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Pharmacological and genetic approaches

Assistant Professor, Cell Systems and Anatomy, UT Health
Areas of Research Interest:
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Breast cancer and malignancies of the brain and spinal cord
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Medical and Experimental Oncology
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Role of obesity in promoting breast tumorigenesis
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Effect of hypoxia on chemokines and escape from antiangiogenics

Associate Professor, Cellular and Integrative Physiology, UT Health
Areas of Research Interest:
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Large conductance (BK-type) calcium-activated potassium channels
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Potassium Channel Biophysical Studies
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Potassium Channel Regulation of Smooth Muscle Function
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Potassium Channel Regulation of Neuronal Action Potentials

Professor, Cell Systems and Anatomy, UT Health
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Epigenetics of energy homeostasis, bioenergetics and obesity
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Regulation of Mitochondrial Respiratory Complex I Dynamics
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Mechanisms cy which CU/ZNSOD overexpression improves metabolic health in rats
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Regulation and Function of Adiponectin Oligomerization
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Enhancement of Sustainable Research

Professor, Developmental Dentistry, UT Health
Areas of Research Interest:
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Molecular mechanisms of the tissue-specific dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP) during tooth development
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Role of bone morphogenetic protein 2 (Bmp2) during tooth development
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Biological functions of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) in vitro and in vivo during tooth formation

Professor, Comprehensive Dentistry, UT Health
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Reconstitute tissue-specific stem cell niche in vitro to control stem cell fate for tissue regenerative purposes
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Young Extracellular Matrix Rejuvenating Old Mesenchymal Stem Cells
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Bone Biology and Mineral Research

Chief, MRI Division/ Professor, Radiology, UT Health
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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.
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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
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Vancomycin Powder for Acute Long-Bone, Open-Fracture Infection Prophylaxis: a Multicenter, Randomized, Controlled Trial
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Airway Intubation Assistance Devices with Haptic and Physiologic Feedback
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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:
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Examining how osteoblasts interact with titanium implant surfaces and the role of arachidonic acid metabolites in regulating osteoblast response
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Isolating and characterizing wear debris particles from resin, wear machine fluids, and tissues
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Developing tissue engineering scaffolds for bone repair

Professor, Computational and Experimental Mechanics, Mechanical Engineering, UTSA
Areas of Research Interest:
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Vascular biomechanics
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Abdominal aortic aneurysms
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Pulmonary hypertension
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Non-destructive tissue mechanics

Director, Research Imaging Institute
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Clinical Neurobiology
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Cognitive Neurobiology
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Computational Neurobiology
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Imaging Methodology
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Neuromodulation Methods
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Research Mentoring

Senior Lecturer, Biomedical Engineering, UTSA
Areas of Research Interest:
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Spatio-temporal delivery of growth factors for vascularized bone tissue regeneration
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Drug delivery and microencapsulation
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Synthetic biomaterials for bone regeneration
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Vascular regeneration in bone healing

Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, UTSA
Areas of Research Interest:
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Rotator Cuff Tears
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Vertebral Fractures and Prediction
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Spine Metastasis
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Rehabilitation

Professor, Ophthalmology, UT Health
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Laser bioeffects and medical applications
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Photosensitized free-radical reactions in the eye
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Light damage and repair mechanisms in the eye
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Retinal information processing, photodynamic therapy
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Optical tissue diagnostic spectroscopy
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Ocular pharmacology

Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, UTSA
Areas of Research Interest:
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Bioreactors for musculoskeletal tissues
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Bone tissue engineering
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Interplay of biophysical and biochemical stimuli
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Cell and drug delivery for orthopedic regeneration
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Mechanical modeling of biological architectures

Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Structural Biology, UT Health
Areas of Research Interest:
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X-ray crystallography
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NMR spectroscopy
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small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS)
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Other solution biophysics methods

Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, UTSA
Areas of Research Interest:
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Injury biomechanics
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Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
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Finite Element Modeling
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Biomarkers of TBI
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Preclinical-Clinical Translation in TBI

Professor and Zachry Mechanical Engineering Department Endowed Chair, UTSA
Areas of Research Interest:
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Cardiovascular Biomechanics
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Left ventricular remodeling post-myocardial infarction or due to aging
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Vascular remodeling in response to mechanical stress
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Mechanism of artery buckling and tortuosity

Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, UTSA
Areas of Research Interest:
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Medical Device Design
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Controlled Drug Delivery
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MEMS/NEMS
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Microneedles
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Photothermal Therapies
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Implant Development
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Minimally-Invasive Interventions

Professor and Director of the Brain Health Consortium, UTSA
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Epilepsy-in-a-dish
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3D cerebral organoids
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Patient recruitment
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Mechanisms of adult neurogenesis.

Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, UTSA
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Catalyst Characterization
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Hydrogen Production Catalysis
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Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis
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Dehydrocyclization of paraffins
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Solid superacid catalysts
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Model catalysts

Professor, Molecular Medicine, UT Health
Areas of Research Interest:
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Developing computational and genomics approaches for the identification of genomic regulatory elements at 1D and 3D manners
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Functionally and mechanistically characterizing the computational predictions
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Developing computational pipelines to aid molecular biomarker discovery

Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, UTSA
Areas of Research Interest:
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Synchronization and parameter estimation of chaotic systems
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Vision-based control for mobile robots
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Robust adaptive control design for nonlinear systems
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Observer design for nonlinear systems

Associate Professor, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, UT Health
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Identifying novel plasticity mechanisms underlying the transition from acute to chronic pain
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Examining the mechanism of Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD)
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Determining the mechanism of ongoing and evoked pain

Professor, Biology, UTSA
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Cell Adhesion; Cell Biology
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Disorders of the Temporomandibular Joint
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Extracellular Matrix Molecules in Cancers and in Diabetes Complications
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Regenerative Medicine; Tissue Regeneration

Assistant Professor, Cellular and Integrative Physiology, UT Health
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Identifying the molecular mechanisms responsible for the pathophysiology of autism and related disorders, and using these mechanisms to rescue behavioral dysfunction in mouse models
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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
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Understanding the assembly and functional interactions of low-complexity RNA-binding proteins involved in cancer and neurodegenerative processes
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Oncogenic fusion protein EWS-Fli1 and the structural implications of its role as the sole driver of Ewing's sarcoma
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characterizing, at atomic resolution, structural features of proteins and their its macromolecular interactions

Assistant Professor, Molecular Medicine, UT Health
Areas of Research Interest:
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Explore the roles and regulation mechanisms of signaling-dependent gene regulation programs in normal development and disease conditions
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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
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Pediatric Medicine
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Contact Pathway Activation in Vascular Devices
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Platelet-derived microparticles generated by pediatric cardiopulmonary bypass As a novel biomarker of post-operative patient outcomes
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Define optimal operating parameters for extracorporeal support in a clinically relevant in vitro ECMO model using human blood

Assistant Professor of Surgery, UT Health
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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:
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Tissue Engineering
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Surface Modification
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Implants
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Materials Characterization
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In vitro cell culture studies
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In vivo animal studies

Assistant Professor, Cellular and Integrative Physiology, UT Health
Areas of Research Interest:
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Astroglia-Neuron interplay
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Understanding molecular events and behavioral context leading to astroglia Ca2+ dynamics in awake mice
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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:
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Computational Modeling
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Self-Assembly in Soft Matter
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Statistical Thermodynamics
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Collective Phenomena in Networks

Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, UTSA
Areas of Research Interest:
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Cell-based therapies for orthopaedic injuries
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Tissue engineering strategies for improving tissue perfusion
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Bioreactor technology development for skeletal muscle injuries/diseases

Assistant Professor Chemical Engineering Program, UTSA
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Macromolecular Bio-Interfaces for cell manipulation
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Biologically inspired drug delivery systems
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Soft biomedical materials
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Stimuli-responsive macromolecules

Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, UTSA
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Neuroscience
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Patch-Clamp Electrophysiology
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Synaptic Plasticity
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Synaptic Transmission

Professor of Biochemistry and Structural Biology, UT Health
Areas of Research Interest:
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Translational Applications: Tumor-Directed Drug Delivery Vehicles and Neurodegenerative Disease
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Improved procedures for isolating environmental phages
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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:
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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:
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Vascular biology with particular emphasis on endothelial biology
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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
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DNA damage response
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DNA Repair Genes and Proteins of the RAD52 Group
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Chromosome Damage Repair via the BRCA1/2 Axis
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Tumor suppression

Graduate Admissions Chair, Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, UTSA
Areas of Research Interest:
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Nanomaterials and nanomedicine
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Nano-biotechnology, nanosensor, nano-photonics
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Microfluidics

Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, UTSA
Areas of Research Interest:
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Colloids and surface science
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Processing and design of “green” nanoparticles
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Sustainable chemical processes
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Underground sequestration of CO2
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Nanocomposites

Professor, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Program Director, Plastic Surgery Residency Program
Areas of Research Interest:
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Cosmetic and reconstructive surgery
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Regulation of adipose estrogen output by mechanical stress.
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Genome-wide DNA methylation profiling reveals parity-associated hypermethylation of FOXA1
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Development and Evaluations of a Simulation Model for Microvascular Anastomosis Training Journal of Reconstructive Microsurgery.
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Professor, ASME and AIMBE Fellow, Department of Mechanical Engineering, UTSA
Areas of Research Interest:
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Ultrastructure of hard tissues
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Micro/nanomechanics of bone
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Role of collagen in determining bone quality
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Prediction/prevention of age-related bone fractures

Professor, Biochemistry, UT Health
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Selective Labeling and Identification of the Tumor Cell Proteome of Pancreatic Cancer In Vivo
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GDF6-CD99 Signaling Regulates Src and Ewing Sarcoma Growth
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Blueprinting of the human proteome
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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
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The interaction between tissue-specific transcription factors and epigenetic regulators in transcriptional control
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The crosstalk among distinct types of epigenetic modifications in shaping the physical structure of genome
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The response of epigenetic tags to the external and internal stimuli

Professor, Department of Cell Systems and Anatomy, UT Health
Areas of Research Interest:
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Understand the cellular/molecular mechanisms underlying ASXL1 alteration-mediated myeloid malignancies
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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:
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Mutations in the BRCA1 (breast cancer 1) and BARD1(BRCA1-associatedRING domain protein
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Cancer risk assessment
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Identify critical targets for the development of novel cancer therapeutics
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Neuroblastoma