MinerAlert
MinerAlert
Ahmad M. Itani Ph.D.
Vice President for Research & Innovation
University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas at El Paso is home to experts who are leaders in their fields and creators of new research thrusts. From Computing to the Arts, our faculty, students, and staff are shaping the future, finding practical answers to complex problems. Supported by state-of-the-art research facilities, we have demonstrated a long-term commitment to preparing students to thrive in a time of fusion of the digital, physical, and biological worlds. Our researchers are creating technologies that will change the world.
With more than $146 million in research activity, UTEP is ranked among the top public research universities nationwide. The Research & Innovation division supports this world-class research enterprise by advancing transformative research excellence across campus and nurturing an innovative, cross-disciplinary culture. In all our work, we maintain a constant focus on our public mission of increasing access to excellent higher education and advancing discovery that positively impacts the health, culture, education, and economy of our region, the State of Texas, the nation, and the world. We do so by enabling the research success of our faculty and students through supporting the university research mission by providing research development, stewardship, compliance and safety services, and securing strategic external partnerships.
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Twenty of UTEP’s researchers have been ranked among the top 2% most cited researchers in the world! In addition, our faculty have earned distinctions such as the prestigious NSF Early Career award, CUSA Faculty of the Year award, Fulbright, and topping the Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings – and more. Their research has been shared in publications like Scientific American, The Guardian, The Independent, and The New York Times.
UTEP is home to numerous high-quality research centers advancing discovery in aerospace, additive manufacturing, Hispanic health disparities, and more. UTEP’s unique programs have supported research endeavors at the intersections of law and psychology, borderlands history, counseling through play, and a wide range of health, science, and engineering topics.
UTEP’s unique location on the border of Cd. Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico allows for highly targeted research, from migration and safety to inter-border trade, pharmaceutical disparities, and more. Plus, UTEP is close to major National Laboratories, such as Sandia National Labs and White Sands Missile Range, allowing for further collaboration.
UTEP’s research impact goes beyond the borderland. From the snow and ice of Antarctica and Alaska to the jungles of Africa, you can find UTEP researchers – both faculty and students alike – on every continent.
As the only open-access R1 institution in the nation and a Hispanic-Serving Institution, UTEP is paving the way to inclusive research opportunities. UTEP is also one of only a few universities that provides a wealth of research opportunities to undergraduate students, increasing our faculty’s impact as educators.
Can a drug that’s used to treat malaria be repurposed to fight cancer? Researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso have secured a patent for the anti-malarial drug pyronaridine to do just that. Pyronaridine has been used to treat the mosquito-borne infectious disease for over 30 years.
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The University of Texas at El Paso has once again earned R1 status in the latest Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, confirming the University’s position among top research universities nationwide. R1 is the highest research classification a university can attain and stands for “Research 1: Very High Spending and Doctorate Production.”
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Katja Michael, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at The University of Texas at El Paso, has been named a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Michael is the first female member of the UTEP faculty to earn this honor, joining 162 emerging academic inventors in the 2025 class of Senior Members.
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Running out of gas in a remote area far from a gas station is every driver’s worst nightmare. A similar stressor, known as “range anxiety,” exists for owners of electric vehicles who worry about how far their EV’s can drive without running out of battery.
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Health sciences researcher Emre Umucu, Ph.D., associate professor and associate dean for research at The University of Texas at El Paso, has been awarded the Roger G. Barker Distinguished Research Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association (APA).
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Researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso have been awarded a $2.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to explore the neurobiological mechanisms behind drug-taking behaviors and addiction.
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The University of Texas at El Paso has named Salamah Salamah, Ph.D., as its new Associate Vice President for Scientific Computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI). A prominent leader in computing and cybersecurity, Salamah will play a pivotal role in advancing UTEP’s strategic research initiatives and developing its computing infrastructure to support innovation.
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The Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Research Universities (HSRU) will lead a project to increase the number of doctoral graduates in technical fields from its 22 institutions from across the nation. The initiative is supported by a new $9.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).
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Consuming addictive substances often involves an unpleasant experience, like using a needle, ingesting a bitter substance or inhaling smoke. These distasteful experiences — known as aversive cues — and our initial reactions to them are pivotal to understanding who will become an addict, said University of Texas at El Paso biologist Travis Moschak, Ph.D.
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