Student Accomplishments
Summer 2018
Juan Aguilera, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program: Juan was appointed to the editorial board for Health Promotion Practice journal, a bi-monthly peer-reviewed publication which focuses on the practical application of health promotion and education. Juan is also a research associate with the Institute for Healthy Living and a graduate of the UTEP Masters of Public Health program.
Spring 2018
Amy Nava, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program: Amy and co-authors Dr. Hemen Sarma (Saikia College, India); Dr. Angela Manriquez (UTEP Chemistry and Biochemistry); Dr. Delfina Domingez (UTEP Clinical Laboratory Sciences Program) and Dr. Wen Yee Lee (UTEP Chemistry and Biochemistry) were notified that their abstract, "Biodegradation of bisphenol A by novel bacterial consortium - isolated from river sediments," was accepted for an oral presentation at the 2018 American Society of Microbiology tri-branch meeting.
Fabricio Saucedo, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program: Fabricio and co-authors Dr. Feng Yang (Georgia State University) and Dr. Mu Qiao (UNC Chapel Hill) were notified that their manuscript, "Effects of a Single-Session Stance-Slip Perturbation Training Program on Reducing Risk of Slip-Related Falls," was accepted for publication in the Journal of Biomechanics.
Fabricio was also selected to receive a $1,500 student research development award from the American College of Sports Medicine and will be presented with the check at this year's meeting in Austin, Texas. The award will support his dissertation project, which focuses on the effects of vibration training in reducing fall risk among Mexican-American patients with chronic stroke conditions.
Armando Gonzalez, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program: Armando was notified that three articles for which he served as a peer reviewer were recently published, including "Phytotherapy in the Management of Diabetes: A Review" (Molecules, 2018, Volume 23, Issue 10); "From Plant Pathways Toward Dietary Supplements: The Botanicals and other Emerging Related Classes" (Plants, 2017, Volume 6); and "Bauerenol Acetate, the Pentacyclic Triterpenoid from Tabernaemontana longipes, is an Antitrypanosomal Agent" (Molecules, 2018, Volume 23, Issue 2).
Fall 2017
Juan Aguilera, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program: Juan was invited to give a poster presentation at the 2017 Obesity Week conference, held in Washington, D.C. Presentation title: "Evaluation of Diabetes Remission in Patients that Undergo Jejunoileal Bypass with Internal Fistula in Juarez, MX." The poster was accepted by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
Juan also gave a podium presentation at the Healthier Texas Summit in Austin, TX. His talk was entitled "Evidence-Based Screenings for Obesity and Cardiorespiratory Disease in Low-Income El Paso Households."
Daniel Conde, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program: Daniel was invited to give a podium presentation at the 6th Annual World Conference of the Society for Industrial and Systems Engineering in Herndon, VA. Presentation title: “Identification of Inflammatory Biomarkers for the Prevention of Tendonitis Caused by Repetitive Manual Assembly Tasks."
Julissa Corona, Master of Social Work Program: Julissa received first place in the student poster competition at the National Association for Social Work's 2017 Texas conference. Poster title: "Culturally Grounded Social Work: Multicultural and Multi-Linguistic Practice in the Border Region"
Michelle Del Rio, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program: Michelle, an MPH program graduate and first year student in the PhD program, was first author in a paper accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed Biomed Central journal “Public Health.” Article title: “A comparison of arsenic exposure in young children and home water arsenic in two rural West Texas communities.” Michelle Del Rio, B.S., MPH; Juan Alvarez, B.S., MPH; Tania Mayorga, B.S., MPH; Salvador Dominguez, B.S., MPH; Christina Sobin, PhD.
Karen also gave a podium presentation at the Healthier Texas Summit in Austin, TX. Her talk was entitled "Evidence-Based Screenings for Cardiovascular Disease in Low-Income El Paso Households."
Maria Fuentes, Master of Public Health Program: Maria was invited to give a poster presentation at the Society of Environmental and Toxicology and Chemistry’s 38 th North American Annual Meeting. Poster title: "A Study of the Environmental and Genetic Factors Affecting Antibiotic Resistance of Bacteria from Rio Grande River in El Paso, TX-Cd. Juarez, Mexico."
Samantha Meza, Master of Public Health Program: Samantha was invited to give a poster presentation at the American Society of Microbiology Microbe Scientific Conference, held in New Orleans, LA. Presentation title: "Genetic Characterization of Efflux Systems in Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Clinical Isolates Obtained at the U.S./Mexico Border Region of El Paso, Texas-Cd. Juárez, México." Her work was also recently published in the El Paso Physician magazine.
Amy Nava, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program: Amy was invited to give a poster presentation at the international meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, held in New Orleans, LA. Presentation title: "Calcium Ions Modulate Efflux of Ethidium Bromide in MRSA Clinical Isolates."
Amy was also notified in December 2017 that a paper she was second author on has been accepted for publication by the journal Botany. The title of the paper is "Evidence of a non-pathogenic relationship of Alternaria section Undifilum endophytes within three host locoweed plant species." Authors: Aziza Noor, Amy Nava, Peter Cooke, Daniel Cook, Rebecca Creamer.
Armando Stuart, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program: Armando and his advisor, Dr. Jose Rivera, were notified that their article, “Yellow oleander seed / Codo de fraile (Thevetia spp.): A Review of its Potential Toxicity as a Purported Weight Loss Supplement,” was published in the Journal of Dietary Supplements. Their article "Toxicity of Candlenut Seed, a Purported Weight Loss Supplement” will also be published in a future issue of the journal Pharmacologia.
Irma Torres-Catanach, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program: Irma was invited to give a podium presentation at the Zero to Three Annual Conference in San Diego, CA. Presentation title: "No Tengo Ganas: Explorando Diversas Descripciones de la Depresion Perinatal entre Latinas."