ENGINEERING BIOMATERIALS FOR PRECISION MEDICINE
The Aguado iBiomaterials Research Group
WELCOME!
The long-term vision of the future Aguado iBiomaterials Research Group will be to develop personalized biomaterials as tools to evaluate a patient’s unique biology to treat disease based on sex, age, and/or ancestry. We will first focus on sex as a biological variable and investigate mechanisms governing sex differences in cardiovascular diseases.
THE AGUADO IBIOMATERIALS LAB OPENS TODAY!
July 1, 2021
Super excited to announce the Aguado iBiomaterials Lab is officially open! We are a part of the Bioengineering department at UC San Diego and the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine.
REVIEW ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR CARDIOLOGY
June 21, 2021
Cierra, Megan, and Brian worked together to write a comprehensive review on the current knowledge of sex differences in the cells of the heart. Check it out!
PAPER PUBLISHED IN NATURE BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
April 19, 2021
Congratulations to Cierra Walker and co-authors! Together, we explored the nuclear mechanosensing mechanisms that drive persistent myofibroblast activation.
PAPER PUBLISHED IN NATURE REVIEWS MATERIALS
October 20, 2020
LatinXinBME Co-founders Brian and Ana Maria Porras published a Comment entitled "Building a virtual community to support and celebrate the success of Latinx scientists" in Nature Reviews Materials! Please contact us for an invitation to join our vibrant LatinXinBME community!
BRIAN SELECTED FOR THE OUTSTANDING POSTDOC AWARD AT CU BOULDER!
September 17, 2020
Brian is honored to be recognized with the Outstanding Postdoc Award at CU Boulder. Thank you to Kristi Anseth for your nomination!
PAPER PUBLISHED IN ARTERIOSCLEROSIS, THROMBOSIS, AND VASCULAR BIOLOGY
September 17, 2020
Check out our latest Research Article on "Secreted Factors From Proinflammatory Macrophages Promote an Osteoblast-Like Phenotype in Valvular Interstitial Cells!"
BRIAN NAMED ONE OF 100 MOST INSPIRING HISPANIC/LATINX SCIENTISTS IN AMERICA BY CELL PRESS!
September 15, 2020
Brian is honored to have been named one of the 100 most inspiring Latinx scientists by Cell Press! He will continue his leadership efforts with LatinXinBME and build community among Latinx biomedical engineers and scientists. Be sure to check out the full list of inspiring scholars at the link below!
BRIAN JOINS SANFORD CONSORTIUM FOR REGENERATIVE MEDICINE!
September 15, 2020
Brian has joined the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine faculty! "The mission of Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine is to advance stem cell research through collaborative, multi-disciplinary interactions. This “collaboratory” enables scientists from the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, Scripps Research, and the University of California, San Diego to work side by side in a facility specifically designed to achieve breakthrough discoveries."
BRIAN ACCEPTS FACULTY POSITION AT UC SAN DIEGO!
April 22, 2020
Brian will join the Department of Bioengineering as an Assistant Professor in the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego! Brian will start his position in July of 2021.
PAPER PUBLISHED IN ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
December 17, 2019
Check out our latest review on "Designing Microgels for Cell Culture and Controlled Assmebly of Tissue Microenvironments"
BRIAN PRESENTS AT SACNAS 2019
October 31, 2019
Brian gave an invited talk as part of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Special Session entitled "Increasing Understanding of Diverse Scientific Approaches in Designing Therapeutic Solutions" at the SACNAS Annual Meeting in Honolulu, HI.
LATINXINBME MEET UP AT BMES
October 17, 2019
Come join LatinXinBME at El Rey restaurant on Thursday, October 17 for a casual meet-up during the conference! Dr. Ana Maria Porras and I will be at the BMES registration table at 6:30 pm.
BRIAN PRESENTING AT BMES 2019
October 14, 2019
Brian will be attending the annual BMES meeting in Philadelphia, PA this week! Check out his talk info below:
(1) Meet the Faculty Candidates Poster Session
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
3:30pm - 5:30pm in the Exhibit Hall
(2) Talk: Sex-specific Valvular Myofibroblast Activation on Engineered Hydrogel Substrates
Thursday, October 17, 2019
1:30 PM - 1:45 PM Room 118A
(3) Talk: Sex-specific Valvular Myofibroblast Activation in Response to Nano-scale Stiffness Cues
Thursday, October 17, 2019
3:45 PM - 4:00 PM Room 115A
(4) Talk: TAVR Alters Circulating Serum Factors to Mediate Valve and Cardiac Myofibroblast De-activation
Saturday, October 19, 2019
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM Room 120A
PAPER PUBLISHED IN SCIENCE TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
September 11, 2019
CU Boulder engineers and faculty from the Consortium for Fibrosis Research & Translation (CFReT) at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus have teamed up to develop biomaterial-based “mimics” of heart tissues to measure patients’ responses to an aortic valve replacement procedure, offering new insight into the ways that cardiac tissue re-shapes itself post-surgery.
BRIAN VISITS UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - SANTA BARBARA
August 14, 2019
Brian presented his "Effective Science Communication" lecture as part of the NSF MRSEC Pathways to the Workforce program.
BRIAN VISITS UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOR DYSS
August 12, 2019
Brian presented his work on developing precision biomaterials for probing valvular fibroblast activation as part of the Disntinguished Young Seminar Series at the University of Washington.
BRIAN RECEIVES NIH K99/R00 CAREER TRANSITION AWARD
August 1, 2019
Brian's proposal entitled "Investigating sex differences in persistent valvular myofibroblast activation
using hydrogel culture substrates" was awarded funding from the NIH NHLBI!
BRIAN CHAIRS GORDON RESEARCH SEMINAR IN BIOMATERIALS
July 27, 2019
The Gordon Research Seminar and Conference in Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering took place on July 27 to August 2 in Castelldefels, Spain.