Dr. Aguilera has extensive experience in immunology, molecular biology, cell culture, and drug screening. As director of the Screening and Imaging Core of the Border Biomedical Research Center, his group has recently developed assays for screening of chemical libraries on a variety of human cancer cells. The ultimate goal of these assays is to discover compounds that kill specific cancer cells but not others. In recent months, the simultaneous screening of compounds of various human cancer cell lines has resulted in the detection of novel class compounds with potent anti-lymphoma and anti-breast cancer activities. His group is currently establishing human cancer cell lines and they are in the process of characterizing their phenotype and genotype. These Hispanic cell lines will be used to determine the anti-cancer efficacy of known and novel drugs. This research involves the participation and training of several underrepresented minority undergraduates and graduate students.