Trauma Immunopathology Research Laboratory
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Personnel
Martin G. Schwacha, Principal Investigator
Martin G. Schwacha is a Professor of Surgery at UTHSCSA in the Division
of Trauma and Emergency Surgery. He also holds the position of Research
Scientist at the US Army Institute of Surgical Research. He has
serves/served on the editorial boards of Shock and International Journal
of Clinical and Experimental Medicine as well as an ad hoc reviewer for
numerous other scientific journal. Martin has also served as a review
committee member for the NIH, Shriner's Hospital and DoD Congressionally
Directed Medical Research Programs and is an active member of a number
of scientific societies focused on trauma, infection and/or immunology.
He has obtained research funding from both the NIH and DoD. Martin
received his BS from the University of Rhode Island in 1981. After
working for the Veterans Administration in Providence RI as a research
assistant he entered graduate school and obtained a PhD from Albany
Medical College, Albany NY in 1992. Postdoctoral studies in immunology
were completed at the Gamble Institute, Cincinnati, OH and Temple
University, Philadelphia, PA. In 1997 he joined the Surgery faculty at
Brown University, Providence RI and subsequently joined the faculty at
University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2000. In 2008 he joined the
faculty at UTHSCSA. During his off-hours Martin enjoys time with his
family and playing jazz saxophone.
Meenakshi Rani, PhD, Research Scientist
Meenakshi Rani is a research scientist in our laboratory. Meenakshi completed
her PhD in 2006 in the laboratory of Prof. Ulrich F. Schade from the University
of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. Her studies demonstrated the activation of
monocyte, macrophages and dendritic cells by GM-CSF after hemorrhagic shock and
during polymicrobial sepsis. Dr. Rani completed her post-doctoral work with
Dr. Michael T. Berton in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at
UTHSCSA where she examined signaling pathways critical in the inflammatory
response (i.e., ERK1/2 and P38 MAPK) in a Francisella tularensis infection
model. Dr Rani works closely with Dr. Schwacha on his project on gd T-cells
after burn and is developing a project to examine the role of this unique T-cell
subset after hemorrhagic shock.
Qiong Zhang, Research Associate
Qiong Zhang is a Research Associate in our laboratory. She received her
BS from the Beijing University School of Medicine where she received the
1992 Presidential Research Excellence Award. She has worked at UTHSCSA
since 2001 and is well-accomplished in a wide range of laboratory
techniques that include cell culture, molecular biology, flow cytometry
and immunohistochemistry.
Teresa Craig, Research Associate
Ms. Craig is the most recent addition to our laboratory staff. Teresa is a
longtime employee of UTHSCSA and has been with the Surgery department since
2008. She is experienced in a wide range of laboratory skills including small
animal surgery, ELISA, RIAs, histology and gas chromatography.
Research Resident
The Department of Surgery offers its residents a two-year research training program option. One of the unique aspects of this training program is its commitment to translational research. Each research fellow will spend a two year time period following their second (or conceivably third) year of surgical residency conducting research under the mentorship of both a basic scientist and clinical scientist. In addition, each research fellow will complete a Master's in Clinical Investigation at UTHSCSA. This process creates an ideal environment for the translation of important research developments from the bench to the bedside while assuring a broad education in biostatistics and epidemiology, investigational methods of cellular and molecular biology, and research ethics. Our expectation is that graduates of this program will gain the intellectual tools needed to be contributing clinician surgeon-scientists and have the ability to initiate and contribute to more effective trauma treatment in the U.S. and the world.
Richard Oppeltz, MD
General Surgery Resident
Email
| Resident Profile
Research mentor: Martin Schwacha, PhD, Professor,
Division of Trauma and Emergency Surgery, UT School of Medicine at San Antonio Department of Surgery.
Research project: Immunoinflammatory response to burn injury
Biosketch: Dr. Oppeltz received his medical degree from the Universidad Central de Venezuela supported by the
Estimulo al Talento Scholarhip of the Fudayacucho Foundation. He worked for 1 year in an underserved
area of his country helping rural population.
He has completed his first two years of General Surgery residency with the Department of Surgery at the
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Currently, he is a research fellow in the
UTHSCSA Department of Surgery focusing on burn immunopathology.
Travis Holloway, MD
General Surgery Resident
Email
| Resident Profile
Research mentor: Martin Schwacha, PhD, Professor,
Division of Trauma and Emergency Surgery, UT School of Medicine at San Antonio Department of Surgery.
Research project: Immunoinflammatory response to burn injury
Biosketch: Dr. Holloway graduated from the University of Texas Health
Science Center in San Antonio in 2009. He was nominated by his classmates and
elected to the Gold Humanism Honor Society for the constant compassion he showed
to patients and peers alike. He was married over the summer to Kathryn Swann,
who will be starting her OB/GYN residency this year, also at UTHSCSA. During his
free time Travis enjoys watching and playing sports, crossword puzzles, and live
music.
Collaborators
US Army Institute of Surgical Research, Fort Sam Houston, TX
Charles E. Wade, PhD, UT Health Science Center, Houston, TX
Joseph L. Messina, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
Ping Wang, MD, Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset NY
Xiaowu Wu, MD, UT Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX
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Thank you to the US Department of Energy Human Genome Project for their generous permission to use the caduceus/DNA image included in our logo.
