When Dr. Renato Aguilera was young he thought he would be a marine biologist. A summer research job turned into a career for him…. He was interested in how antibodies, a complex molecule, are formed to help you survive disease. He continues to work on his enzyme to cure disease. He has been conducting research on HIV in migrant workers.
Dr. Aguilera has extensive experience in immunology, cancer research, molecular and cell biology, and drug screening. As the director of the Research Infrastructure Core and the Cellular Characterization and Biorepository Facility of the Border Biomedical Research Center (BBRC), he oversees the research facilities that provide support to over 200 faculty, staff, and students. His research group has developed high-throughput assays for screening chemical libraries on human cancer cells and pathogens. The research group is attempting to establish Hispanic-derived cancer cell lines from various tissues to determine if new and commercial anti-cancer drugs have the same effect on cancer cell lines derived from Hispanics. Additionally, in collaboration with local MD at TTUHSC, the group determined that Hispanic patients with Triple Negative Breast Cancer have distinct genetic mutations from those seen among other ethnicities.
Additional Links:
- To learn more about Ahmad M. Itani visit: https://expertise.utep.edu/node/26038
This interview originally aired on October 14, 2023.
