I have extensive experience in immunology, cancer research, molecular and cell biology, and drug screening. As the director of the Research Infrastructure Core and the Cellular Characterization and Biorepository Facility of the Border Biomedical Research Center (BBRC), I oversee the biomedical research facilities that provide support to over 200 faculty, staff and students. I also served as our RCMI (BBRC) program Deputy Director since 2002 and have been in charge of organizing pilot project reviews. I have performed pilot project reviews for our campus as well as other RCMI institutions. Over the past decade, my research group has developed high-throughput assays for screening of chemical libraries on a variety of human cancer cells and pathogens. The recent screening of >20,000 compounds on a human triple-negative breast cancer cell line resulted in the detection of novel lead compounds with potent anti-cancer activity. Secondary screens revealed that the most promising compound, a pyrazole-3-carbohydrazide compound (named P3C) induces apoptosis and is cytotoxic to the majority of breast cancer cell lines at sub-micromolar concentrations (a provisional patent has been recently submitted). Our research has also focused on the effects of repurposed drugs with potential anticancer activities. One such drug is Pyronaridine that is a potent anti-malarial drug that we determined has significant anticancer activity (patent approved). In particular, my group is attempting to establish Hispanic-derived cancer cell lines from various tissues to determine if new and commercial anti-cancer drugs have the same effect on cancer cell lines derived from Hispanics. In addition, in collaboration with local MDs, we recently determined that Hispanic patients with Triple Negative Breast Cancer have distinct genetic mutations from those seen among other ethnicities. As certain cancers are more prevalent and aggressive in Hispanics, it is important to not only find the causes for these disparities but also the therapies that may be most effective in Hispanics. I have attached a recent CV with my recent publications and awarded and pending grants.