Spring 2024
Wednesdays, 12:00 -1:00 PM
105 Stanley Hall
Next seminar: Spring 2024 Student-Led Seminar
Wednesday April 24, 12 noon – 1:00 pm
Stanley Hall, Room 105
Dr. Ana Porras
A Biomedical Engineer’s Journey Exploring Microbe-Extracellular Matrix Interactions
As a young aspiring biomedical engineer, Dr. Porras has dreamt of engineering an artificial kidney for my cousin, who was a kidney transplant patient. In this talk, you will hear how that dream shifted over time from tissue engineering to studying microbes. Dr. Ana Maria Porras is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida, where she leads the Tissue-Microbe Interactions lab. Her group engineers models of disease to study human-microbe interactions mediated by the extracellular matrix. The TMI lab applies these models in the contexts of the gut microbiome, neglected tropical diseases, and cardiovascular health. Her lab is also interested in understanding and broadening global participation in microbiome and biomaterials science. Additionally, she is a science artist and an expert on inclusive bilingual science communication. Dr. Porras is the co-founder and Senior Advisor of the Latinx in Biomedical Engineering community. She is the recipient of the NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, the AAAS Early Career Award for Public Engagement with Science, and the Society for Biomaterials Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award. Prior to arriving in Florida, Dr. Porras was a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell University. She holds a B.S. in biomedical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Masters and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she was an American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellow. When she isn’t doing all that, she loves to read, dance, travel, do puzzles, and, above all, eat ice cream.
Upcoming seminars:
4/24:
Dr. Ana Porras, University of Florida
Don’t miss our annual Distinguished Lecture in Bioengineering and Rising Star Lecture, coming up later this year.
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