MinerAlert
MinerAlert
Research & Innovation (R&I) does more than recognize achievement. We honor the people whose work changes what is possible. These awards celebrate faculty across every career stage whose ideas create public value, expand opportunity, strengthen community, and elevate UTEP’s research profile. Each recognition tells a different story, but they share one truth: when faculty thrive, society advances.
Research Development is located in Kelly Hall, 7th floor, West Wing
2101 Sun Bowl Drive
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El Paso, TX 79968
researchdev@utep.edu (General Inbox)
Professor
Metallurgical, Materials, and Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
Some researchers imagine the future. Dr. Thomas Boland builds it. His pioneering work in biofabrication and bioprinting has advanced tissue engineering, drug delivery, and diagnostics while connecting discovery to real-world applications. Supported by more than $45 million in competitive funding from agencies such as ARPA H, NSF, and NIH, his career has generated in 196 publications, nine patents, and two biomedical startups. “I am focused on how we can transition bioprinting from a passive assembly tool into a closed loop, self correcting system for human health,” he explains. Through patient specific brain models and next-generation therapies, Dr. Boland is redefining what modern medicine can become.
Assistant Professor
Physics
College of Science
Every star, planet, and solar system begins in motion. Within swirling clouds of gas and dust, new worlds take shape long before they can be seen. Dr. Kedron Silsbee studies these earliest moments of creation, seeking to understand the forces that sculpt new worlds. He has earned distinction for combining theoretical insight with unconventional approaches that have advanced modern astrophysics. His work does more than answer scientific questions. It expands humanity's understanding of its origins and future in the universe. Dr. Silsbee believes that exploring star and planet formation can spark public imagination and renew curiosity about life beyond Earth. With nearly $689,000 in external funding, much of it as sole principal investigator, and collaborations that include the Max Planck Institute, he is creating opportunities for students while pushing the boundaries of discovery. Through his scholarship, mentorship, and growing national visibility, Dr. Silsbee is spotlighting UTEP’s emerging force in astronomy and space science.
Associate Professor
Creative Writing
College of Liberal Arts
Some of the most important truths enter quietly. They live in what has been overlooked, silenced, or left unnamed. Sasha Pimentel has built a distinguished career listening to those spaces and giving them language. As an acclaimed poet, educator, and mentor, she explores the invisible and the unheard, transforming absences into presence through the power of words. Her work shows that poetry is not ornamental. It is a witness, memory, resistance, and care. “Poetry is a place of refuge, and of narrative,” she explains, a space where difficult truths can be carried toward possibility. With two nationally celebrated books and a legacy of guiding students whose voices now travel beyond the classroom, Sasha Pimentel’s influence moves through literature, learning, and the lives of those she has guided. Through creative excellence and human insight, Sasha Pimental advances UTEP’s mission while reminding us that being heard can be transformative.
Professor
Social Work
College of Health Sciences
Real progress begins when research listens before it speaks. Dr. Eva M. Moya has built a remarkable career grounded in that principle, proving that scholarship can be both rigorous and deeply human. As a pioneering social work scholar, Dr. Moya has advanced health equity and social justice along the U.S.–Mexico border. Her research examines how migration, poverty, stigma, and structural barriers shape the health of marginalized communities, including migrants, women, and individuals experiencing homelessness. “My work is driven by understanding how social and structural forces shape health inequities in border communities,” she explains. What distinguishes her work is proximity to people and places she serves. Through direct community partnership, she transforms lived realities into evidence that informs policy, strengthens systems, and expands access to care. Supported by over $8.27 million in funding, over 100 publications, and a legacy of mentorship and international reach, Dr. Moya has improved public health working to position UTEP as a national model for community centered research.
Assistant Professor
Computer Science
College of Engineering
Most cybersecurity systems are built to defend against machines. Dr. Palvi Aggarwal’s research begins with a different reality. People are at the center of every cyber ecosystem. As an interdisciplinary scholar, she brings together cybersecurity, human factors, and cognitive modeling to understand how people think, decide, trust, and make mistakes in digital environments. Her work reveals that many vulnerabilities are not purely technical. They emerge through behavior, perception, and human interaction. Systems designed with that insight can outperform those built solely on technology. “Humans are at the center of the cyber ecosystem, yet human behavior is often overlooked when designing cybersecurity solutions,” she explains. That perspective has already produced significant impact. With $1.8 million in competitive funding, sixty publications, and multiple best-paper awards, Dr. Aggarwal has established herself as an influential early-career researcher in the field critical to national security and economic resilience. By placing human understanding at the core of cyber defense. Dr. Aggarwal is helping shape smarter protections while advancing UTEP’s leadership in one of the nation's most urgent research priorities.
Assistant Professor
Earth, Environmental, and Resource Science
College of Science
The mountains that frame El Paso are more than landscape. They are evidence of forces that have shaped the Earth over millions of years. Dr. James Chapman studies those forces, uncovering how tectonic systems build mountains and transform regions over time. His work brings new understanding to the geology of the Borderland while revealing how the planet’s deep history influences present-day natural resources, land use, and environmental decision-making. He describes his work as a quest to understand how “tectonic systems create mountains, including the mountains in El Paso that form the backdrop for our lives.” Dr. Chapman’s scholarly reach is substantial. With fifty publications, more than 3,500 citations, nearly $1.5 million in research funding, and an h-index of 30, his work has influenced both the scientific community and practical applications tied to regional growth and sustainability. His impact also extends beyond his own scholarship. By founding a laser ablation mass spectrometry facility at UTEP, Dr. Chapman has expanded research capacity, opened new training opportunities, and fostered national collaboration. Through discovery and institution-building, he is elevating UTEP’s leadership in geoscience.
Assistant Professor
Physical Therapy and Movement Sciences
College of Health Sciences
After a stroke, time matters. So do access, precision, and quality of care that follows. Dr. Shashwati Geed is helping redefine what recovery can look like for patients and families facing one of life’s most difficult moments. Her research focuses on neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to adapt and reorganize after injury. Through this work, she uncovered the first clinical evidence of a critical window when neuroplasticity peaks during human stroke recovery, offering new insight into when rehabilitation may be most effective. That discovery has the potential to reshape treatment strategies and improve patient outcomes. “My work is driven by the question of how to better understand and shape neuroplasticity, so recovery is stronger and more complete,” she notes. Her mission is clear: rehabilitation should be timely, evidence-based, and accessible, so that no one loses recovery potential because support arrives too late. Supported by nearly $1 million in competitive funding, a strong record of collaborative publications, and leadership, Dr. Geed is advancing science while improving lives through more hopeful and effective pathways to recovery.
Assistant Professor
Teacher Education
College of Education
Strong schools are built by strong teachers. Dr. Cynthia Wiltshire’s research begins with that conviction and challenges systems that ask educators to give endlessly without the support they need to thrive. Honored with the Rising Researcher Award, she explores how teachers’ emotional well-being shapes students’ academic progress, social development, and long-term success. Her work makes a clear case that when educators are supported, classrooms become healthier, more effective places for learning. Driven by a vision to transform education at its foundation, Dr. Wiltshire asks how schools can better sustain the people who guide students every day. Her groundbreaking $587,000 Institute of Education Sciences grant, the first of its kind in her college, reflects both the originality and national relevance of that work. An expanding publication record and active collaboration further show her growing leadership. Through national service, cross-disciplinary partnerships, and her leadership at the Wiltshire Center, she is advancing evidence-based reforms that strengthen teachers, empower students, and create lasting changes in education.
Assistant Professor
Accounting and Information Systems
College of Business
Great ideas create value only when organizations know how to develop, share, and bring them to life. Dr. Jie Yan’s research focuses on that challenge, examining innovation moves from concept to meaningful impact. As an emerging scholar in open innovation and digital platforms, he explores how technologies, such as artificial intelligence, are reshaping collaboration, responsible innovation, and employee well-being. His work asks how organizations can remain creative, adaptive, and human-centered in a rapidly changing economy. “One question that drives my work is how organizations can leverage open innovation to generate creative ideas and advance technological and organizational innovation,” he explains. With seventeen publications, distinguished research awards, and strong collaborations with senior faculty, Dr. Yan has already established a record of growing scholarly influence. His research offers practical insight into how institutions and industries can build smarter, more connected ecosystems for innovation. By advancing the future of organizational strategy and digital collaboration, Dr. Yan is strengthening UTEP’s reputation as a university where new ideas become real-world progress.