Yunfeng Chen, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Pathology

Research Areas: Mechanobiology, Vascular biology, Hemostasis, thrombosis, Protein dynamics

Mentor: Vineet D. Menachery, PhD

Dr. Yunfeng Chen received his PhD degree in Bioengineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and received postdoctoral training at Scripps Research Institute. His research is mainly focused on molecular and cellular mechanobiology and its association with human physiology and disease pathology, especially in the vascular system. His previous studies unraveled the molecular mechanisms of platelet mechano-activation, discovered novel mechanobiological strategies for treating arterial thrombosis and auto-immune diseases, and provided single-molecule level characterization of force-regulated protein binding and conformational changes. Dr. Chen’s current research uses molecular biology and mechanobiology approaches to study how aging and diabetes affect the glycosylation of proteins in the vascular system, and how that contributes to the increased risk of arterial thrombosis in the elderly population. He will also explore a new strategy for preventing arterial thrombosis abiding by the emerging concept of ‘mechano-medicine’. Dr. Chen has received many (inter)national awards including Mary Rodes Gibson Memorial Award, Yuan-Cheng Fung Best Paper Award, and ICBME Young Scholars Award.

Erin Hommel, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatrics

Research Areas: Implementation science; Hip Fracture; Osteoporosis; Malnutrition; eHealth

Mentors:  James S. Goodwin, MD, Peter Cram, MD, MBA, and Gulshan Sharma, MD, MPH

Stemming from a background as a geriatrician and quality improvement director/educator, Dr. Hommel’s aim as a clinical scholar is to develop a foundation in implementation science to guide improvement in care for geriatric syndromes. Specifically, she desires to utilize dataset analysis alongside patient encounters to identify care gaps in geriatric syndromes and to design electronic health resources to close those care gaps. Her first clinical research project is entitled “Usability and Feasibility Testing of the My-Hip Fracture Web Application”. The My-Hip Fracture web application is designed to assist clinicians with providing personalized prognostic information to patients and their surrogates after hip fracture. Under the direction of mentors Dr. Peter Cram and Dr. Monique Pappadis, she will be analyzing, through mixed-methods techniques, the ability of the web application to improve shared decision making with these vulnerable patients.

Dr. Hommel's UTMB Research Expert Profile

Huiwen Xu, PhD, MHA, Assistant Professor, Population Health & Health Disparities, School of Public and Population Health

Research Areas: Aging; cancer rehabilitation; long-term care

Mentor: James Goodwin, MD

Dr. Xu is a health services researcher with strong interest in aging, cancer rehabilitation, and long-term care. His past research has examined the hospitalization and emergency department (ED) visits of nursing home residents using national Medicare claims and Minimum Data Set data. His long-term career goal is to become a policy-relevant cancer rehabilitation researcher using large observational data.

Dr. Xu’s Pepper Center appointment focuses on improving physical function among older patients with cancer admitting to nursing homes. Functional impairments affect over 40% of hospitalized patients with cancer. After hospital discharge, about 20% of patients received rehabilitation in nursing homes to maintain functional independence. But existing literature did not examine the patterns, predictors, and potential disparities in the rehabilitation therapy received by patients with cancer admitted to nursing homes. More importantly, the benefits of excess rehabilitation on patient-oriented outcomes including physical function remains unknown. As an RL5 scholar, Dr. Xu will evaluate the effects of rehabilitation therapy on physical function, symptoms, survival, community discharge, and healthcare utilization among older patients with cancer admitted to nursing homes. He will leverage multiple data sources including the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER), Medicare claims (inpatient, outpatient, SNF, carrier), Minimum Data Set 3.0, etc.

Prior to joining UTMB, Dr. Xu worked as a Research Assistant Professor for two years at the University of Rochester NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) Research Base to design and analyze nationwide Phase III clinical trials in cancer survivorship and geriatric oncology. Dr. Xu has published extensively in leading medical journals including Lancet, JAMA Oncology, JAMDA, and Medical Care. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the AcademyHealth Methods and Data Council and Analytics Core of the Cancer and Aging Research Group.

Myrna Katalina Serna, MD, Assistant Professor, Division of General Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine

Research Areas: optimizing end-of-life care in the inpatient setting

Mentor:

Dr. Serna is an Assistant Professor and one of our Physician Research Scientists in the Division of General Medicine . She completed medical school at Baylor College of Medicine in 2016 followed by Internal Medicine residency and a chief year at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital in 2020. Dr. Serna went on to complete the Harvard-Brigham Research Fellowship in Hospital Medicine and earn a master’s in public health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2022. Her research is focused on advance care planning and better understanding and optimizing end-of-life care in the inpatient setting.

Letitia Graves, PhD, MSN, RN, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing

Research Areas: brain health

Mentor:

Letitia Y. Graves, PhD, MSN, RN, is an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing's Graduate Studies and PhD Program at UTMB. She earned her PhD in Nursing from the University of Pittsburgh, an MSN in Nursing Education from Capella University, and a BSN from Grambling State University. Dr. Graves is a fellow in the Sealy Center on Aging and holds a certificate in Personalized and Genomic Medicine from the University of Colorado. Her accolades include the 2024 Excellence in Nursing Bronze Medal, the 2023 RWJF FNS Travel Award, and multiple honors recognizing her contributions to nursing. She is an active member of professional organizations such as Sigma Theta Tau, the International Society of Nurses in Genetics, and the Wound Healing Society.

Alberto Aparicio, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Bioethics and Health Humanities, School of Public and Population Health

Research Areas: governance of emerging biotechnology, technoscience

Mentor:

Phil Cantu, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatrics

Research Areas:

Mentor:

Dr. Cantu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatrics. He is responsible for administration, data preparation, data analysis, manuscript preparation, submitting research papers for publication, and presenting results at professional conferences for a pilot project to identify classes of informant reported cognitive and functional decline in a representative study of older US adults. These classes could be used as evidence for tailored approaches to caregiving interventions.

Elizabeth Lorenzo, RN, PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing

Research Areas:

Mentor:

Dr. Lorenzo is an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at UTMB. She has experience in secondary analysis of physical activity data, correlational methodologies, studying adult Hispanic women, physical activity, and cardiometabolic health, and assessing physical activity levels.