Dean’s Message – Fall 2026 Newsletter

Welcome back, and thank you for reading our Fall 2026 newsletter!

It’s been a busy semester so far, with alumni and students gathering at Homecoming celebrations and colleagues and experts meeting at UTEP for the Fifth Annual Viva La Salud Conference. We also introduced our students to potential future employers like El Paso Children’s Hospital and UT MD Anderson at the UTEP Engage Pick Your Future event in the Health Sciences and Nursing Lobby.

We were in that same lobby during this Saturday’s Orange and Blue Day, when hundreds of prospective students visited our campus to learn what UTEP has to offer. We shared information about our world-class programs, community-based learning and extraordinary faculty and staff. We hope to see some of those students again next fall!

Outstanding Alumnus

During September’s Homecoming celebrations, we had the privilege of honoring our College of Health Sciences Gold Nugget Christian Salas, LMSW, who has the distinction of having earned two degrees from our college, a Bachelor of Social Work in 2014 and a Master of Social Work in 2016, in addition to a bachelor’s degree from the College of Liberal Arts.

He currently serves as an associate professor of social work at El Paso Community College, where he leads efforts surrounding student mental health and community outreach. We are proud of Christian and all our alumni who utilize their knowledge and expertise to holistically improve the health and wellbeing of our community. Picks up!

New Microcredential

We’re happy to see participation and interest in HealthReady+, a new, free UTEP microcredential badge that helps College of Health Sciences students stand out for jobs, internships, and grad programs. All Health Sciences students of any major and classification are eligible to participate.

In an ever-competitive job market, this credential can help differentiate our students by building valuable skills, including collaborative problem-solving, patient- and client-centered communication, conflict resolution, and professional time management.

Students can register by signing into MineTracker, where they can access upcoming workshops that academic year. Workshops are offered every semester and facilitated by practicing professionals, CHS faculty, and UTEP alumni.

New Faces, New Roles

We're excited to announce new hires and new promotions, including new faculty who are part of the prestigious Regents Research Excellence Program: Kinesiology Professor Ahmad Alkhatib and Physical Therapy and Movement Sciences Professor Anirban Dutta.

Dr. Alkhatib is an internationally recognized scholar in public health, exercise science, and health nutrition who joins us from Birmingham City University in the United Kingdom.

Dr. Dutta joins us from University of Birmingham, also in the United Kingdom, and brings strong international experience paired with research that focuses on needs-driven approaches to patient care.

These researchers are part of a multimillion-dollar effort launched in 2024 by The University of Texas System Board of Regents to advance discovery in a wide range of fields at UTEP. The addition of these faculty demonstrates the increased emphasis on research in our college, and we’re proud to welcome them.

Additionally, we want to congratulate the following colleagues who have joined the college this semester, and others who have been recently promoted. Congratulations!

New Hires

Lailani Chehedeh - Clinical Instructor, Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences

Cesar Augusto Melo Silva - Associate Professor, Physical Therapy

Jessica Nakos - Clinical Assistant Professor, Occupational Therapy

Karla Armendariz - Assistant Professor, Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences

Nicholas A. Buoncristiani - Assistant Professor, Kinesiology

Asghar Abbasi - Assistant Professor of Research, Kinesiology

Naomi Fertman - Visiting Assistant Professor, Public Health Sciences

Magda Alvarado - Clinical Instructor, Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences

Ahmad Alkhatib - RREP Professor, Kinesiology

Patrick Cereceres - Clinical Assistant Professor, Kinesiology

Rita Ruelas - Clinical Assistant Professor, Social Work

Anthony Thornton - Visiting Assistant Professor, Social Work

Promotions

Kisuk Min - Associate Professor with Tenure, Kinesiology

Gregory Schober - Associate Professor, Rehabilitation Sciences

Michelle Gutierrez - Clinical Professor, Physical Therapy

Stephanie Capshaw - Clinical Professor, Occupational Therapy

Camila Torriani Pasin - Associate Professor, Physical Therapy

Rosario Olivera - Clinical Assistant Professor, Social Work

Research Impact

In exciting news, we learned that associate dean for research Emre Umucu, Ph.D., was named among Stanford University’s list of the World's Top 2% of Scientists for 2026. I’m humbled to be included in this group as well. The list, compiled annually by Stanford University and Elsevier, features over 200,000 researchers worldwide across 22 scientific fields and 174 sub-fields.

We’re honored to be listed in this group, along with other researchers at UTEP. This distinction underscores UTEP’s position as an R1 research leader, illustrates our robust interdisciplinary and cross-border research, and bodes well for an exciting future for our college. It’s an exciting time to be a Miner!

Thank you for reading, and make sure to keep up with news from the College of Health Sciences on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Go Miners!

Clemens Scott Kruse, Ph.D.