Roles
Professor of Surgery
Director, Vascular Biology Institute
Research Health Scientist at the V.A. Medical Center of Miami
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Biography
I am a Tenured Professor of Surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Senior Research Scientist at the Miami VA. My research goal is to make a highly significant scientific contribution to the field of vascular biology that will accelerate the discovery of effective therapies to treat and prevent proliferative vascular diseases. Early in my career, I dedicated my efforts to plant biotechnology. I created GM crops with improved pest resistance. After four years of training in molecular biology and biotechnology, I entered the Ph.D. program in Molecular Immunology and Biology at the University of Havana, Cuba. Using animal models, protein engineering and chemistry, and state-of-the-art immunological techniques, I demonstrated the feasibility of utilizing human-safe Cry endotoxins from Bacillus thuringiensis to enhance the mucosal and systemic immune response against the Hepatitis B Surface Antigen. I graduated in 1999 and was fortunate to be selected as one of the Latin-American Talent Young Investigators by the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Brazilian Society. I also received multiple National Awards from the Cuban Academy of Sciences.
In 2000, I emigrated to the United States and searched for opportunities to enhance my scientific career with clinical research and interdisciplinary postdoctoral training. I was highly motivated by the challenge of finding cures and better treatments for cardiovascular diseases, the number one killer in America. I joined the Cardiothoracic Research Laboratory of the Department of Surgery and the Vascular Biology Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. I studied the molecular mechanisms of age-related vascular diseases, and demonstrated the hyperproliferative response of aged vascular smooth muscle cells to post-injury growth factors. This postdoctoral experience was essential for developing skills in basic vascular biology and helped me establish an invaluable network of collaborators with renowned leaders in the field. Following four years of postdoctoral training, I became a Research Assistant Professor. In 2005, using the resources from the American Heart Association Scientific Development Award, I put together a multidisciplinary laboratory equipped with microsurgery, molecular, and cell biology facilities. Since then, I have published >70 original articles (out of 102), and I am frequently an invited speaker in national and international forums. I have obtained significant awards from the National Institutes of Health, the Veterans Affairs Health System, and the Florida Department of Health. I have been actively involved in the scientific community as peer reviewer, meeting organizer, and mentor, and frequently serve on career development, promotion, and multidisciplinary scientific committees. My current research focuses on the translation of novel anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic mechanisms to pave the way for future therapies to prevent and treat vascular diseases. -
Education & Training
Education
Post Graduate Training
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Honors & Awards
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Teaching Interests
One of my main career goals is to help young, underrepresented scientists like myself reach their full scientific potential and career goals. I have put together a multidisciplinary laboratory equipped with microsurgery, molecular, and cell biology facilities for these purposes. I have successfully trained young faculty members (three current K-awardees), graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and medical residents. They have benefited from an intense laboratory training plan in state-of-art molecular and cellular biology techniques and valuable opportunities to develop grant writing, verbal, and written communications skills. I teach Cardiovascular Diseases and Inflammation (MCP 632), and Cellular and Tissue Engineering (BME 565), as part of the Biomedical Engineering graduate program. In addition, I am an active member in the recruitment process, student mentoring, thesis, and dissertation committees. I have been on the organizing committee of Surgical Research Day since 2019. I am currently the co-director of the UM Kidney Innovative and Interdisciplinary Medical Education in Research Activities (UM-KIIMERA) T35 training programunder the leadership of Dr. Alessia Fornoni to produce outstanding academic nephrologists. In 2021, I was awarded the 2021 Dean’s Faculty Mentorship Award. -
Research Interests
I study obstructive vascular diseases like restenosis, atherosclerosis, and hemodialysis vascular access failure. Therefore, my goal is to identify potential therapeutic targets capable of reducing or inhibiting the inward remodeling associated with narrowing of arteries and veins (stenosis). I work with the support of multiple federal grants and with the help of an excellent network of national and international collaborators. In 2011, I funded the UM Vascular Tissue Biobank, which currently contains > 800 specimens. Using this invaluable resource, I have established a retro-translational program (from clinical science to basic research) based on high-throughput omics that has contributed to paradigm-shifting discoveries and reformulated our view of the causes of venous stenosis following arteriovenous fistula creation. -
Publications
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Professional Activities
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