Mentoring Activities
Faculty mentees:
1. Dr. Oralia Loza-Assistant Professor, College of Health Sciences, UTEP (1-1-2011 to present). Mentor through the Collaborative Faculty Mentoring Program.
2. Dr. Nick Gilpin-Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Louisiana State University (11-1-2011 to present). External mentor on his tenure and promotion committee. Dr. Gilpin was awarded tenure.
3. Dr. Sergio Iñiguez-Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, California State San Bernadino (1-12-2015 to present). External faculty mentor as part of the Early Career Institute in Neuroscience. Dr. Iñiguez is a faculty member in Department of Psychology at UTEP.
4. Dr. Akiko Shimamoto - Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Meharry Medical College (3-8-2016 to present). External faculty mentor for tenure and promotion committee.
5. Dr. Fatima Alshbool - Assistant Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences, UTEP (3-17-17 to present). External faculty mentor for tenure and promotion committee.
Post-doctoral trainees:
1. Dr. James Orfila- Post-Doctoral Trainee (6-2008 to 1-2012). Funded through the Minority Supplement in Diversity program at NIDA. Dr. Orfila is a Research Assistant Professor at The University of Colorado Medical School.
2. Dr. Luis Carcoba-Post-Doctoral Trainee (10-2012 to present). In May 2015, Dr. Carcoba was promoted to Research Assistant Professor at UTEP.
3. Dr. Annie Whitaker-External Mentor in a National Hispanic Science Network training program (7-2014 to present). Dr. Whitaker is a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Physiology at Louisiana State University.
4. Dr. Victor Correa - Post-Doctoral Primary Mentor (10-2015 to present).
5. Dr. Felix Matos - Post-Doctoral Primary Mentor in the BUILDing Scholars Program (6-2017 to present).
Graduate student committees:
UTEP Psychology Department
1. Dr. Luis Natividad-Primary Mentor (1-2005 to 5-2012). Master’s thesis title, “Characterization of the behavioral and neurochemical effects of nicotine withdrawal in adolescent and adult rats” was completed on 4-30-09. Dissertation title, “Examination of the neurochemical mechanisms that mediate nicotine withdrawal in adolescent and adult rats” was completed on 4-30-12. Awarded the Diversity in Neuroscience Fellowship from the American Psychological Association and recipient of a NIH Ruth Kirschstein Pre-Doctoral Fellowship. Awarded the National Hispanic Science Network Outstanding Student Award and the Diana Natalicio Graduate School Fellowship. Dr. Natividad is a post-doctoral trainee at the Scripps Research Institute.
2. Dr. Oscar Torres-Primary Mentor (6-2005 to 4-2013). Master’s thesis title, “Developmental differences to the rewarding effects of nicotine” was completed on 11-1-07. Dissertation title, “Characterization of the behavioral, biochemical, and molecular indices of stress produced by nicotine exposure and withdrawal in male and female rats” was completed on 12-7-2012. Awarded the Dodson Graduate School Fellowship and the Outstanding Dissertation Thesis in Psychology. Dr. Torres was a post-doctoral fellow at NIDA and he is currently a tenure-track professor at Mesa Community College in San Diego, CA.
3. Alice Hernandez, M.A. -Master’s Thesis Committee Member (6-2014 to 5-2015). Thesis title, “Electrical stimulation evokes exocytosis-like dopamine release and rotational behavior in vivo” was successfully defended on 5-13-2015.
4. Mabel Terminel, M.A. -Master’s Thesis Committee Member (7-2014 to 6-2015). Thesis title, “Dopamine regulation of disengagement at the basal ganglia circuitry” was proposed on 12-10-2014 and successfully defended on 6-11-2015.
5. Zachary Steele-Primary mentor (8-2013 to 8-2014). Zachary left our program to pursue his MBA degree at St. Edwards University.
6. Mayra Flores-Doctoral Committee Member (12-2012 to present). Thesis title, “Behavioral markers of chronic low-level lead exposure in young mice” was proposed on 5-14-2013.
7. Dr. Joseph Pipkin-Primary Mentor (8-2012 to present). Dissertation proposal title, “Examination of the mechanisms that promote nicotine reward in diabetic animals” was presented on 12-10-14.
8. Rodolfo Flores, M.A. -Primary Mentor (8-2014 to present).
9. Bryan Cruz-Primary Mentor (8-2015 to present).
10. Kevin Uribe, M.A. -Primary Mentor (8-2015 to present).
11. Jeremiah Ramos, M.A. - Master’s Thesis Committee Member (8-2016 to 4-2017). Thesis title, “The impact of dopaminergic lesions on cognition: Insights of non-motor Parkinson’s disease symptomotology” was successfully defended on 4-9-2017.
UTEP Biological Sciences Department
1. Oscar Sanchez M.A. -Master’s Thesis Committee Chair, Thesis title, “Differential effects of in utero exposure to methanesulfonyl floride (MSF) on two different spatial memory tasks” was completed on 5-28-2005.
2. Jose Lozano, M.A. -Master’s Thesis Committee Member, Thesis title, “Neocortical proteome comparison of socially conditioned rats with various odors” was completed on 8-2-2005.
3. Dr. Shuwen Liang-Dissertation Committee Member, Thesis title, “Effect of diet and sex on changes in gene expression and behavioral responses to chronic stress” was completed on 4-9-2007.
4. Samantha Chagra, M.A. -Master’s Thesis Committee Member, Thesis title, “Effects of chronic stress on neuronal pathways involved in feeding” was completed on 12-4-2007.
5. Christine Delgado, M.A.-Master’s Thesis Committee Member, Thesis title, “The effect of exogenous leptin on murine dendritic cells’ morphology and function” was completed on 8-3-2009.
6. Lorena De Santos, M.A.- Master’s Thesis Committee Member, Thesis title, “Altered leptin signaling on dendritic cells as a potential mechanism for cancer immunotherapy” was completed on 9-18-2010.
7. Dr. Jaidee Zavala- Dissertation Committee Member, Dissertation title, “Gender differences in the processing of acute and chronic stress” was completed on 4-22-2011.
8. Joe Luevano, M.A.- Master’s Thesis Committee Member, Thesis title, “The role of stress in escalation of methamphetamine self-administration” was completed on 5-11-2012.
9. Dr. Yenni Garcia-Dissertation Committee Member, Dissertation title, “A regulatory role for SGTa in the maturation and activation of steroid hormone receptors” was completed on 11-18-2011.
10. Dr. Susana Barrera-Dissertation Defense Committee Member, Thesis proposal title, “Regulation of the glycine transporter1 by PKC-alpha dependent ubiquitination” was completed on 11-1-2013.
11. Dr. Jorge Sierra- Dissertation Defense Committee Member, Dissertation title, “G-microtubule mediated mechanism of neuronal differentiation” was completed on 2-26-2014.
12. Sarah Chenausky, M.A. -Master’s Thesis Committee Member, Thesis title, “Structural and functional organization of hindbrain regions that receive vagal sensory input and that respond to glycemic challenge” was proposed on 6-19-2014 and successfully defended on 12-8-2014.
13. Anais Martinez-Dissertation Committee Member, Dissertation proposal title, Chemoarchitecture and connections of the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus in the adult male rat” was proposed on 12-8-2015.
14. Dr. Chris Darcy-Dissertation Defense Committee Co-Chair, Dissertation title, “Stress modulation of methamphetamine escalation in rats” was successfully defended on 7-27-2015.
15. Sebastian Pace - Master’s Thesis Committee Member, Thesis title, “Characterization of a medial prefrontal cortex-caudal pontine reticular nucleus connection relevant to sensorimortor gating” was completed on 12-8-2016.
16. Jameel Hamdan - Dissertation Committee Member, Thesis proposal title, “Effects of Early Life Stress on Addiction Mechanisms and Behaviors in Adulthood” was presented on 11-29-2016.
17. Ashley Payan - Master’s Thesis Committee Member, Thesis title, “Development and characterization of FKBP52-specific inhibitors for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer” was proposed on 5-18-2017.
The Scripps Research Institute
1. Jenny Treweek- Dissertation Defense Committee Member, Dissertation title, “The effects of anti-addiction vaccines on methamphetamine self-administration in rats” was completed on 2-11-2011.
2. Amira Moreno- Dissertation Defense Committee Member, Dissertation title, “Immuno-pharmacotherapy: Towards the creation of effective vaccines against drugs of abuse” was completed on 3-22-2012.
Texas Tech University
1. Ismael Segura- Dissertation Defense Committee Member, Proposal title, “The role of alpha-synuclein on inhibition of histone deacetylases” was presented on 6-30-2014.
Interdisciplinary Research Training Institute (IRTI)
1. Erika Perez, Ph.D.- External Mentor in the IRTI training program (2012-2014). Dr. Perez is a post-doctoral trainee at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Perez and I organized a panel on effective mentoring strategies at the culmination of the training institute on 6-7-2014.
University of Texas Medical Branch
1. Elizabeth Crofton, Ph.D- External Dissertation Committee Member, Proposal title, “Cocaine addiction: Role of glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta” was presented on 4-27-2015.
UTEP Undergraduate laboratory members:
1. Hugo Tejeda, Ph.D. - (5-2006 to 9-2008) Career Opportunities in Research Fellow and was awarded a Pre-doctoral Ford Foundation Fellow to conduct graduate studies at UTEP. He was also awarded a Faculty Undergraduate Neuroscience Travel Award to from the Society for Neuroscience in 2007. Hugo completed his undergraduate honors thesis in my laboratory. Hugo was awarded his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from The University of Maryland in 2013. He is now a post-doctoral fellow at NIDA and received a K99 grant award.
2. Sofia Blanca Beas, Ph.D. - (5-2007 to 8-2009) Minority Access to Research Careers Fellow and was awarded a NIDA training fellowship in 2009. Sofia completed her undergraduate honors thesis in my laboratory. She was awarded her Ph.D. from the University of Florida in Neuroscience in 2015. She is now a post-doctoral fellow at NIMH.
3. Isabelle Villalobos - (8-2006 to 4-2007) Undergraduate student volunteer.
4. Cecilia Brooke Chokla - (6-2007-9-2007) Undergraduate student volunteer.
5. Paloma Alvarez - (2-2007 to 8-2007) Undergraduate student volunteer.
6. Francisco Roman - (3-2008 to 8-2009) Undergraduate Research Technician who was originally part of the NIDA summer training program. Paco completed his Pharmacy degree from The University of Texas at Austin in 5-2013.
7. Evelyn Escalante - (4-2009 to 3-2011) Undergraduate student that worked in my laboratory as part of the Biology Undergraduate Research Scholars Program.
8. Ivan Torres - (7-2009 to 8-2012) Undergraduate student volunteer and research technician. Ivan is currently in the Nursing program at UTEP.
9. Vanessa Valenzuela - (6-2010 to 1-2013) Undergraduate student volunteer who was a part of the Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program.
10. Jonathan Jackson - (8-2010 to 8-2012) Undergraduate student who was part of the Minority Access to Research Careers Program.
11. Adrian Muniz - (6-2008 to 8-2012) Undergraduate student volunteer who began working in the laboratory as part of the Bridges Program and then as part of the Biology Undergraduate Research Scholar program. Adrian is a medical student at UT Southwestern.
12. Julio Chaparro - (5-2012 to 7-2012) Undergraduate student who worked in my laboratory as part of the summer training program in Neuroscience.
13. Nicole Kimura - (5-2012 to 7-2012) Undergraduate student who worked in my laboratory as part of our summer training program in Neuroscience. Nicole is currently a graduate student in the Department of Psychology at UTEP.
14. Jesus Jurado - (1-2012 to 9-2013) Undergraduate student volunteer who was part of the RISE program in Biological Sciences. Received a Minority Undergraduate Internship Award from the American Diabetes Association (2-2013).
15. Arturo Orona - (1-2006 to present) Graduate student volunteer.
16. Patrick Ferree - (1-2013 to 8-2014) Research Technician. Patrick is a graduate student in the Molecular and Cell Biology Department at Duke University.
17. Rodolfo Flores - (6-2013 to 8-2013) Undergraduate student who was a part of our summer training program in neuroscience. He won Best Poster award at the final poster symposium of the summer programs. Rodolfo is currently a graduate student in my laboratory.
18. Christian Tejeda - (6-2013 to 6-2015) Research Technician. Chris began working in my laboratory as an undergraduate student as part of our summer training program in Neuroscience. Chris was a NIDA summer fellow at UTEP in 2015.
19. Cecilia Hinojosa - (6-2013 to 8-2016) Research Technician. Cecilia began as an undergraduate student as a NIDA summer fellow. In Fall 2013, she was awarded an Undergraduate Fellowship through the UTEP College of Undergraduate Research Initiatives (COURI). She won 2 best poster awards at the UTEP COURI symposium and the VIDA conference. She is a graduate student at Tufts University in the Experimental Psychology graduate program.
20. Sarah Woldermariam - (6-2014 to 8-2014) Undergraduate student who was a part of our summer training program in neuroscience. Sarah is an undergraduate student at University of Massachusetts Amherst.
21. Emily Withrow - (6-2014 to 8-2014) Undergraduate student who was part of our summer training program in neuroscience. Emily is an undergraduate student at St. Edwards University.
22. Ibette Valle - (6-2013 to 8-2014) Undergraduate student who worked in my laboratory as a NIDA summer fellow. Ibette is a graduate student at the University of Washington.
23. Victoria Edwards - (6-2014 to 4-1-2016) Undergraduate student volunteer. She was a NIDA summer internship in 2015 at University of North Carolina and in 2016 at UT Austin.
24. Rosa Garcia-Hernandez - (6-2015 to 8-2015) Undergraduate student who was a part of our summer training program in neuroscience. She is an undergraduate at University of Michigan.
25. Keegan Loveless - (6-2015 to 8-2015) Undergraduate student who was a part of our summer training program in neuroscience. He is an undergraduate at Virginia Commonwealth University.
26. Adriana Perez - (6-2014 to 8-2016) Undergraduate student volunteer and research technician. She completed her undergraduate Honor’s Thesis in my laboratory.
27. Tiahna Ontiveros - (1-2015 to 8-2016) Undergraduate student volunteer. She was awarded a NIDA summer training fellowship in 2015 at CUNY in their Department of Neuroscience. She is a post-baccalaureate fellow at The University of New Mexico.
28. Robert Martinez - (6-2015 to present) Undergraduate student volunteer and NIDA summer Fellow in 2016 at University of Arkansas Medical School.
29. Evangelina Espinosa - (6-2016 to present) Undergraduate student volunteer as part of the RISE program.
30. Candy Ramirez - (6-2016 to 8-2016) Undergraduate student who was a part of our summer training program in neuroscience. She is an undergraduate in the Department of Neuroscience at Smith College.
31. Israel Garcia - (6-2016 to 8-2016) Undergraduate student who was a part of our summer training program in neuroscience. He is an undergraduate student at California State San Bernardino.
33. Alex Lopez - (8-2016 to 7-2017) High school student who was a part of our summer training program in neuroscience. She served as our laboratory manager.
33. Melissa Ibarra - (6-2015 to present) Undergraduate student who was a part of our summer training program in neuroscience. She serves as our laboratory manager.
34. Grace Hendricks - (6-2017 to present) Undergraduate student who is a part of the BUILD program.
35. Clarissa Rosa - (6-2017 to present) High School Teacher who is a part of our summer training program in neuroscience.
1. Dr. Oralia Loza-Assistant Professor, College of Health Sciences, UTEP (1-1-2011 to present). Mentor through the Collaborative Faculty Mentoring Program.
2. Dr. Nick Gilpin-Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Louisiana State University (11-1-2011 to present). External mentor on his tenure and promotion committee. Dr. Gilpin was awarded tenure.
3. Dr. Sergio Iñiguez-Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, California State San Bernadino (1-12-2015 to present). External faculty mentor as part of the Early Career Institute in Neuroscience. Dr. Iñiguez is a faculty member in Department of Psychology at UTEP.
4. Dr. Akiko Shimamoto - Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Meharry Medical College (3-8-2016 to present). External faculty mentor for tenure and promotion committee.
5. Dr. Fatima Alshbool - Assistant Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences, UTEP (3-17-17 to present). External faculty mentor for tenure and promotion committee.
Post-doctoral trainees:
1. Dr. James Orfila- Post-Doctoral Trainee (6-2008 to 1-2012). Funded through the Minority Supplement in Diversity program at NIDA. Dr. Orfila is a Research Assistant Professor at The University of Colorado Medical School.
2. Dr. Luis Carcoba-Post-Doctoral Trainee (10-2012 to present). In May 2015, Dr. Carcoba was promoted to Research Assistant Professor at UTEP.
3. Dr. Annie Whitaker-External Mentor in a National Hispanic Science Network training program (7-2014 to present). Dr. Whitaker is a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Physiology at Louisiana State University.
4. Dr. Victor Correa - Post-Doctoral Primary Mentor (10-2015 to present).
5. Dr. Felix Matos - Post-Doctoral Primary Mentor in the BUILDing Scholars Program (6-2017 to present).
Graduate student committees:
UTEP Psychology Department
1. Dr. Luis Natividad-Primary Mentor (1-2005 to 5-2012). Master’s thesis title, “Characterization of the behavioral and neurochemical effects of nicotine withdrawal in adolescent and adult rats” was completed on 4-30-09. Dissertation title, “Examination of the neurochemical mechanisms that mediate nicotine withdrawal in adolescent and adult rats” was completed on 4-30-12. Awarded the Diversity in Neuroscience Fellowship from the American Psychological Association and recipient of a NIH Ruth Kirschstein Pre-Doctoral Fellowship. Awarded the National Hispanic Science Network Outstanding Student Award and the Diana Natalicio Graduate School Fellowship. Dr. Natividad is a post-doctoral trainee at the Scripps Research Institute.
2. Dr. Oscar Torres-Primary Mentor (6-2005 to 4-2013). Master’s thesis title, “Developmental differences to the rewarding effects of nicotine” was completed on 11-1-07. Dissertation title, “Characterization of the behavioral, biochemical, and molecular indices of stress produced by nicotine exposure and withdrawal in male and female rats” was completed on 12-7-2012. Awarded the Dodson Graduate School Fellowship and the Outstanding Dissertation Thesis in Psychology. Dr. Torres was a post-doctoral fellow at NIDA and he is currently a tenure-track professor at Mesa Community College in San Diego, CA.
3. Alice Hernandez, M.A. -Master’s Thesis Committee Member (6-2014 to 5-2015). Thesis title, “Electrical stimulation evokes exocytosis-like dopamine release and rotational behavior in vivo” was successfully defended on 5-13-2015.
4. Mabel Terminel, M.A. -Master’s Thesis Committee Member (7-2014 to 6-2015). Thesis title, “Dopamine regulation of disengagement at the basal ganglia circuitry” was proposed on 12-10-2014 and successfully defended on 6-11-2015.
5. Zachary Steele-Primary mentor (8-2013 to 8-2014). Zachary left our program to pursue his MBA degree at St. Edwards University.
6. Mayra Flores-Doctoral Committee Member (12-2012 to present). Thesis title, “Behavioral markers of chronic low-level lead exposure in young mice” was proposed on 5-14-2013.
7. Dr. Joseph Pipkin-Primary Mentor (8-2012 to present). Dissertation proposal title, “Examination of the mechanisms that promote nicotine reward in diabetic animals” was presented on 12-10-14.
8. Rodolfo Flores, M.A. -Primary Mentor (8-2014 to present).
9. Bryan Cruz-Primary Mentor (8-2015 to present).
10. Kevin Uribe, M.A. -Primary Mentor (8-2015 to present).
11. Jeremiah Ramos, M.A. - Master’s Thesis Committee Member (8-2016 to 4-2017). Thesis title, “The impact of dopaminergic lesions on cognition: Insights of non-motor Parkinson’s disease symptomotology” was successfully defended on 4-9-2017.
UTEP Biological Sciences Department
1. Oscar Sanchez M.A. -Master’s Thesis Committee Chair, Thesis title, “Differential effects of in utero exposure to methanesulfonyl floride (MSF) on two different spatial memory tasks” was completed on 5-28-2005.
2. Jose Lozano, M.A. -Master’s Thesis Committee Member, Thesis title, “Neocortical proteome comparison of socially conditioned rats with various odors” was completed on 8-2-2005.
3. Dr. Shuwen Liang-Dissertation Committee Member, Thesis title, “Effect of diet and sex on changes in gene expression and behavioral responses to chronic stress” was completed on 4-9-2007.
4. Samantha Chagra, M.A. -Master’s Thesis Committee Member, Thesis title, “Effects of chronic stress on neuronal pathways involved in feeding” was completed on 12-4-2007.
5. Christine Delgado, M.A.-Master’s Thesis Committee Member, Thesis title, “The effect of exogenous leptin on murine dendritic cells’ morphology and function” was completed on 8-3-2009.
6. Lorena De Santos, M.A.- Master’s Thesis Committee Member, Thesis title, “Altered leptin signaling on dendritic cells as a potential mechanism for cancer immunotherapy” was completed on 9-18-2010.
7. Dr. Jaidee Zavala- Dissertation Committee Member, Dissertation title, “Gender differences in the processing of acute and chronic stress” was completed on 4-22-2011.
8. Joe Luevano, M.A.- Master’s Thesis Committee Member, Thesis title, “The role of stress in escalation of methamphetamine self-administration” was completed on 5-11-2012.
9. Dr. Yenni Garcia-Dissertation Committee Member, Dissertation title, “A regulatory role for SGTa in the maturation and activation of steroid hormone receptors” was completed on 11-18-2011.
10. Dr. Susana Barrera-Dissertation Defense Committee Member, Thesis proposal title, “Regulation of the glycine transporter1 by PKC-alpha dependent ubiquitination” was completed on 11-1-2013.
11. Dr. Jorge Sierra- Dissertation Defense Committee Member, Dissertation title, “G-microtubule mediated mechanism of neuronal differentiation” was completed on 2-26-2014.
12. Sarah Chenausky, M.A. -Master’s Thesis Committee Member, Thesis title, “Structural and functional organization of hindbrain regions that receive vagal sensory input and that respond to glycemic challenge” was proposed on 6-19-2014 and successfully defended on 12-8-2014.
13. Anais Martinez-Dissertation Committee Member, Dissertation proposal title, Chemoarchitecture and connections of the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus in the adult male rat” was proposed on 12-8-2015.
14. Dr. Chris Darcy-Dissertation Defense Committee Co-Chair, Dissertation title, “Stress modulation of methamphetamine escalation in rats” was successfully defended on 7-27-2015.
15. Sebastian Pace - Master’s Thesis Committee Member, Thesis title, “Characterization of a medial prefrontal cortex-caudal pontine reticular nucleus connection relevant to sensorimortor gating” was completed on 12-8-2016.
16. Jameel Hamdan - Dissertation Committee Member, Thesis proposal title, “Effects of Early Life Stress on Addiction Mechanisms and Behaviors in Adulthood” was presented on 11-29-2016.
17. Ashley Payan - Master’s Thesis Committee Member, Thesis title, “Development and characterization of FKBP52-specific inhibitors for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer” was proposed on 5-18-2017.
The Scripps Research Institute
1. Jenny Treweek- Dissertation Defense Committee Member, Dissertation title, “The effects of anti-addiction vaccines on methamphetamine self-administration in rats” was completed on 2-11-2011.
2. Amira Moreno- Dissertation Defense Committee Member, Dissertation title, “Immuno-pharmacotherapy: Towards the creation of effective vaccines against drugs of abuse” was completed on 3-22-2012.
Texas Tech University
1. Ismael Segura- Dissertation Defense Committee Member, Proposal title, “The role of alpha-synuclein on inhibition of histone deacetylases” was presented on 6-30-2014.
Interdisciplinary Research Training Institute (IRTI)
1. Erika Perez, Ph.D.- External Mentor in the IRTI training program (2012-2014). Dr. Perez is a post-doctoral trainee at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Perez and I organized a panel on effective mentoring strategies at the culmination of the training institute on 6-7-2014.
University of Texas Medical Branch
1. Elizabeth Crofton, Ph.D- External Dissertation Committee Member, Proposal title, “Cocaine addiction: Role of glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta” was presented on 4-27-2015.
UTEP Undergraduate laboratory members:
1. Hugo Tejeda, Ph.D. - (5-2006 to 9-2008) Career Opportunities in Research Fellow and was awarded a Pre-doctoral Ford Foundation Fellow to conduct graduate studies at UTEP. He was also awarded a Faculty Undergraduate Neuroscience Travel Award to from the Society for Neuroscience in 2007. Hugo completed his undergraduate honors thesis in my laboratory. Hugo was awarded his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from The University of Maryland in 2013. He is now a post-doctoral fellow at NIDA and received a K99 grant award.
2. Sofia Blanca Beas, Ph.D. - (5-2007 to 8-2009) Minority Access to Research Careers Fellow and was awarded a NIDA training fellowship in 2009. Sofia completed her undergraduate honors thesis in my laboratory. She was awarded her Ph.D. from the University of Florida in Neuroscience in 2015. She is now a post-doctoral fellow at NIMH.
3. Isabelle Villalobos - (8-2006 to 4-2007) Undergraduate student volunteer.
4. Cecilia Brooke Chokla - (6-2007-9-2007) Undergraduate student volunteer.
5. Paloma Alvarez - (2-2007 to 8-2007) Undergraduate student volunteer.
6. Francisco Roman - (3-2008 to 8-2009) Undergraduate Research Technician who was originally part of the NIDA summer training program. Paco completed his Pharmacy degree from The University of Texas at Austin in 5-2013.
7. Evelyn Escalante - (4-2009 to 3-2011) Undergraduate student that worked in my laboratory as part of the Biology Undergraduate Research Scholars Program.
8. Ivan Torres - (7-2009 to 8-2012) Undergraduate student volunteer and research technician. Ivan is currently in the Nursing program at UTEP.
9. Vanessa Valenzuela - (6-2010 to 1-2013) Undergraduate student volunteer who was a part of the Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program.
10. Jonathan Jackson - (8-2010 to 8-2012) Undergraduate student who was part of the Minority Access to Research Careers Program.
11. Adrian Muniz - (6-2008 to 8-2012) Undergraduate student volunteer who began working in the laboratory as part of the Bridges Program and then as part of the Biology Undergraduate Research Scholar program. Adrian is a medical student at UT Southwestern.
12. Julio Chaparro - (5-2012 to 7-2012) Undergraduate student who worked in my laboratory as part of the summer training program in Neuroscience.
13. Nicole Kimura - (5-2012 to 7-2012) Undergraduate student who worked in my laboratory as part of our summer training program in Neuroscience. Nicole is currently a graduate student in the Department of Psychology at UTEP.
14. Jesus Jurado - (1-2012 to 9-2013) Undergraduate student volunteer who was part of the RISE program in Biological Sciences. Received a Minority Undergraduate Internship Award from the American Diabetes Association (2-2013).
15. Arturo Orona - (1-2006 to present) Graduate student volunteer.
16. Patrick Ferree - (1-2013 to 8-2014) Research Technician. Patrick is a graduate student in the Molecular and Cell Biology Department at Duke University.
17. Rodolfo Flores - (6-2013 to 8-2013) Undergraduate student who was a part of our summer training program in neuroscience. He won Best Poster award at the final poster symposium of the summer programs. Rodolfo is currently a graduate student in my laboratory.
18. Christian Tejeda - (6-2013 to 6-2015) Research Technician. Chris began working in my laboratory as an undergraduate student as part of our summer training program in Neuroscience. Chris was a NIDA summer fellow at UTEP in 2015.
19. Cecilia Hinojosa - (6-2013 to 8-2016) Research Technician. Cecilia began as an undergraduate student as a NIDA summer fellow. In Fall 2013, she was awarded an Undergraduate Fellowship through the UTEP College of Undergraduate Research Initiatives (COURI). She won 2 best poster awards at the UTEP COURI symposium and the VIDA conference. She is a graduate student at Tufts University in the Experimental Psychology graduate program.
20. Sarah Woldermariam - (6-2014 to 8-2014) Undergraduate student who was a part of our summer training program in neuroscience. Sarah is an undergraduate student at University of Massachusetts Amherst.
21. Emily Withrow - (6-2014 to 8-2014) Undergraduate student who was part of our summer training program in neuroscience. Emily is an undergraduate student at St. Edwards University.
22. Ibette Valle - (6-2013 to 8-2014) Undergraduate student who worked in my laboratory as a NIDA summer fellow. Ibette is a graduate student at the University of Washington.
23. Victoria Edwards - (6-2014 to 4-1-2016) Undergraduate student volunteer. She was a NIDA summer internship in 2015 at University of North Carolina and in 2016 at UT Austin.
24. Rosa Garcia-Hernandez - (6-2015 to 8-2015) Undergraduate student who was a part of our summer training program in neuroscience. She is an undergraduate at University of Michigan.
25. Keegan Loveless - (6-2015 to 8-2015) Undergraduate student who was a part of our summer training program in neuroscience. He is an undergraduate at Virginia Commonwealth University.
26. Adriana Perez - (6-2014 to 8-2016) Undergraduate student volunteer and research technician. She completed her undergraduate Honor’s Thesis in my laboratory.
27. Tiahna Ontiveros - (1-2015 to 8-2016) Undergraduate student volunteer. She was awarded a NIDA summer training fellowship in 2015 at CUNY in their Department of Neuroscience. She is a post-baccalaureate fellow at The University of New Mexico.
28. Robert Martinez - (6-2015 to present) Undergraduate student volunteer and NIDA summer Fellow in 2016 at University of Arkansas Medical School.
29. Evangelina Espinosa - (6-2016 to present) Undergraduate student volunteer as part of the RISE program.
30. Candy Ramirez - (6-2016 to 8-2016) Undergraduate student who was a part of our summer training program in neuroscience. She is an undergraduate in the Department of Neuroscience at Smith College.
31. Israel Garcia - (6-2016 to 8-2016) Undergraduate student who was a part of our summer training program in neuroscience. He is an undergraduate student at California State San Bernardino.
33. Alex Lopez - (8-2016 to 7-2017) High school student who was a part of our summer training program in neuroscience. She served as our laboratory manager.
33. Melissa Ibarra - (6-2015 to present) Undergraduate student who was a part of our summer training program in neuroscience. She serves as our laboratory manager.
34. Grace Hendricks - (6-2017 to present) Undergraduate student who is a part of the BUILD program.
35. Clarissa Rosa - (6-2017 to present) High School Teacher who is a part of our summer training program in neuroscience.