Faculty

Dr. Chacon is an Assistant Professor of Immunology and Microbiology at TTUHSC Foster School 
of Medicine, with a secondary appointment as Clinical Assistant Professor at the TTUHSC Woody L. 
Hunt School of Dental Medicine. She has over 15 years of experience in immunology and 
immunotherapy, with a focus on translational cancer research. Before joining TTUHSC El Paso, she 
was Senior Scientist at EMD Serono, leading teams in drug discovery and development, Inc. Dr. 
Chacon received her Ph.D. in Immunology from MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School and 
conducted her postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was an Institutional 
Research and Academic Career Development Awards (IRACDA) fellow.   
Dr Chacon is actively engaged in medical education, immunology/cancer immunotherapy and 
community-based participatory research, and is founder and program director of the El Paso-Health 
Education and Awareness Team (EP-HEAT®), promoting health equity and community outreach. 
She has authored 45 peer-reviewed publications, including 10 first-author manuscripts, 17 senior 
author manuscripts, and 2 first-author book chapters and 1 children's book. Her work has also 
centered on T-cell co-stimulation and the isolation and expansion of human primary Tumor
Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TIL) and tumor cells from cancer patient samples. Dr. Chacon is a co
inventor on a licensed patent describing a novel co-stimulatory approach for TIL expansion, 
contributing to advances in adoptive cell therapy for cancer patients.  

Research Interests
T-cell co-stimulation and activation; tumor immunology and cancer immunotherapy; tumor
infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) biology; adoptive cell therapy; translational immunology; medical 
education; community-based participatory research; health equity and community engagement. 

Medical Education Research:
1. Raynor M, Hock R, Godinich B, Maharaj S, Ayoubieh H, Perry C, Chacon J. Implementation and 
evaluation of a cancer immunotherapy elective for medical students: a mixed-methods descriptive 
study. JMIR Med Educ. 2025 Dec 3; doi:10.2196/71628.

2. Godinich BM, Holland N, Garcia G, Chacon J. From classroom to community: an online elective 
on border health and community-based research. Med Sci Educ. 2025 Dec. 

3. Bauer ME, Samina A, Bauler TJ, Chacon J, McClelland EE, Staudaher S, Zhao Y. Exploration of 
the integration of microbiology and immunology emerging topics into undergraduate medical education. Med Educ Online. 2024 Dec 31;29(1):2336331. doi:10.1080/10872981.2024.2336331. 

Immunology/Cancer Immunotherapy Research:
4. Trejo J, Koegeboehn H, Faizuddin F, Logan R, Toutoungy M, Sheikh A, Fandy TE, Saucedo S, Vasquez VM Jr, Nguyen T, Grier JT, Mayer G, Chacon J. Microbial modulation: unraveling the 
influence of gut microbiota on macrophage polarization in tumor microenvironments. Cells. 2026;15(2):136.

5. Vasquez VM Jr, McCabe M, McKee JC, Siby S, Hussain U, Faizuddin F, Sheikh A, Nguyen T, 
Mayer G, Grier J, Dhandayuthapani S, Gadad SS, Chacon J. Transforming cancer care: a narrative 
review on leveraging artificial intelligence to advance immunotherapy in underserved 
communities. J Clin Med. 2025 Jul 29;14(15):5346. doi:10.3390/jcm14155346. 

Community-Based Participatory Research:
6. Lovasz D, Kan B, Martin EA, Riva H, Oke A, Guevara A, Jimenez C, Box N, Terzian T,  Rodriguez R, Kichena S, Ramirez F, Shaffer W, Hogg T, Chacon J. Beyond the surface: a collaborative effort for free skin cancer screenings in an underserved community. BMC Public Health. In press.

7. Mansour S, Holland N, Saucedo S, Ramirez A, Lane M, Salisbury J, Marwaha K, Fernandez L, 
Allen J, Garikiparthy V, Rodriguez P, Renovato L, Land M, Belmares R, Chacon J. Developing a 
bilingual health education program to identify and address healthcare misinformation in a border 
community. J Prim Care Doi:10.1177/21501319241311145.

8. Johnson S, Allen J, Fernandez L, Garikiparthy V, Renovato L, Land M, Favela L, Becerra K, 
Belmares R, Holland N, Chacon J. Closing the digital divide: developing a platform to conduct  training,  outreach, and education for employment 2023;9:20552076231154383. doi:10.1177/20552076231154383. 

Dr. Fandy is a pharmaceutical scientist who obtained his Master and PhD degrees in pharmaceutical 
sciences from the University of Southern California and the University of Maryland, respectively. He 
started his academic career as an Assistant Professor at Albany College of Pharmacy and then joined  the school of pharmacy at the University of Charleston where he served as professor & chair of the 
department of pharmaceutical & administrative sciences. He joined the Paul Foster School of 
Medicine in 2024 as Professor of Pharmacology. Dr. Fandy is a fellow of the American College of  Clinical Pharmacology (ACCP) and Board-Certified Geriatric Pharmacist (BCGP). 

Research Interests
My research areas of interest: 

• Epigenetics and epigenetic therapy 
• Experimental therapeutics in oncology 
• Oncology translational research 

Recent Publications

1. Malkaram SA, Sawesi S, Peng B, Rashrash B, Cox H, Fandy TE (2025). Curcuminoids Activate TET Enzymes and Increase DNA Hydroxymethylation and Active Demethylation in Leukemia Cells. Int J Mol Sci, 27, 310. doi: 10.3390/ijms27010310.
2. Kumala C, Vu L, Fandy TE (2025). Current status of molecularly targeted therapeutics in blood cancers. Int J Mol Sci, 26, 10512. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms262110512
3. Sawesi S, Malkaram S, Abd Elmageed Z, Fandy TE (2022). Modulation of the activity of histone lysine methyltransferases and demethylases by curcumin analog in leukemia cells. J Cell Mol Med. 2022 Nov;26(22):5624-5633. PMID: 36300880
4. Malkaram S, Shatnawi A, Fan J, Carraway H, Denvir J, Primerano D, Abd Elmageed Z, Fandy TE (2022). Differential histone posttranslational modifications induced by DNA hypomethylating agents. Cancer Control. Jan-Dec;29:10732748221074051. doi: 10.1177/10732748221074051. 
5. Carraway HE, Malkaram SA, Cen Y, Shatnawi A, Fan J, Ali HEA, Abd Elmageed ZY, Buttolph T, Denvir J, Primerano DA, Fandy TE (2020). Activation of SIRT6 by DNA hypomethylating agents and clinical consequences on combination therapy in leukemia. Sci Rep. Jun 25;10(1):10325.

Gilberto Garcia is a Mexican-American scholar and professor. He was born in El Paso, Texas, and raised in Ciudad Juárez, México. He holds three bachelor’s degrees, one in Linguistics and one Spanish with a focus on Border Studies from the University of Texas at El Paso, and another in Education from the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional in México. He earned his master’s degree in Spanish from 
the University of Texas at El Paso, and later completed a Master’s in Education in Teaching and 
Learning Processes (2013) from Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey in México.

Dr. Garcia earned his Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics in 2021, with a focus in Second Language Acquisition and Heritage Language Education and a minor in Educational Psychology. During the final year of his doctoral studies, he received the Excellence in Teaching Award from Texas Tech University. More recently, he completed an MBA with a concentration in Human Resources and  Talent Acquisition. 

Currently, Dr. Garcia directs and teaches in the newly developed Spanish Language Program at Texas 
Tech Health El Paso. He serves as Course Director for both the Medical Spanish (PSPA) and Dental 
Spanish (DSPA) courses.

Research Interests

Dr. Garcia has presented at numerous conferences and published research aligned with his teaching 
and scholarly interests, including heritage language education, heritage speaker identity, heritage  speakers in monolingual settings, border studies and transculturation, second language instruction, Spanish dialectology, and Spanish for the professions.

Recent Publications

1. Herber-Valdez, C.,Harindranathan, P., Garcia, G. & Navarro J. (2025). Preparing Medical Students for Language-Concordant Healthcare: Efficacy of a Medical Spanish Course. Medical Science Educator.
2. Chacon, J., Holland, N., Garcia, G., & Godinich, B. (2025). From Classroom to Community: An Online Elective on Border Health and Community-Based Research. Medical Science Educator.
3. García, G. (2024). Los retornados en México: La inserción del hablante de herencia en contextos monolingües. Dissertation Summary. Spanish as a Heritage Language Journal.
4. Cervantes, J., Francis, M., Nigro, K., Sanchez-Llorente, L., Garcia, G., Rios-Lopera, D., Munoz, A. & Delarosa, M. (2023). A Historical view of medical Spanish instruction in a medical school at the U.S. Mexico border region. Journal of Investigative Medicine 2023.

Thomas M. Greiner is an anatomist and biological anthropologist with expertise in biomechanics 
and paleoanthropology. He earned his Ph.D. in biological anthropology, specializing in comparative 
primate anatomy, biomechanics and the evolution of human bipedal locomotion. In his early career, he did 
fieldwork in archaeology and paleontology. He worked for four years as a research anthropologist for the 
U.S. Army, conducting studies in anthropometric changes over time, body size and shape differences 
associated with different occupation groups, and developed a large database on the size and shape of the 
human hand. 

Dr. Greiner’s work focuses on the evolution and mechanical function of the human body, 
particularly the lower limbs. His research interests include:

• Comparative Biomechanics: Studying locomotor specializations within the primate order and transitional evolutionary forms.
• Foot and Ankle Anatomy and Biomechanics: Investigating the kinematics of the intrinsic foot joints, employing a novel perspective that focuses on the 3D orientation of each joint’s rotational axes and the experimentally controlled movement that occurs about each of them.
• Anatomical Variability: Researching variations in human musculature.
• Anatomical and Biomechanical Terminology: Documenting how inconsistent definitions create confusion in both research and clinical care, drawing attention to a problem long recognized but often insufficiently addressed.

Publications List on PubMed and Google Scholar.

Dr. Nathan A. Holland has been an assistant professor of medical education at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso Foster School of Medicine since 2022. He earned his Ph.D. in physiology at East Carolina University and completed postdoctoral training in cardiovascular and renal physiology at East Carolina University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research background focuses on cardiovascular pathophysiology, vascular biology, and inflammatory mechanisms of disease.

Before entering academia, Dr. Holland worked as a paramedic, an experience that continues to shape his teaching by linking physiology to real-world clinical decision-making. He teaches across the pre-clerkship medical curriculum with emphasis on cardiovascular and renal physiology, focusing on integrating foundational physiology with clinical reasoning through active learning, case-based instruction, and rigorous assessment design. He contributes to curriculum development, assessment strategy, and student research training, with scholarly interests in formative assessment, clinical reasoning, and community-engaged medical education.

Reasearch Interests

• Cardiovascular and renal physiology
• Vascular smooth muscle biology and hypertension
• Cardiac ischemia and reperfusion injury
• Inflammation and environmental cardiovascular toxicology
• Medical education and assessment design
• Community-engaged and border health research

Representative Publications (AMA format)

Marwaha K, Mody B, Holland NA, Lane M, Shoemake BD, Singh N, Vaghaiwalla Mody F. Genetic diversity and molecular mechanisms in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: toward personalized therapy. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2026;330(4):H1073-H1091.

Godinich BM, Holland NA, Garcia G, Chacon J. From classroom to community: an online elective on border health and community-based research. Med Sci Educ. 2025.

Green CE, Chacon J, Godinich BM, Hock R, Kiesewetter M, Raynor M, Marwaha K, Maharaj S, Holland NA. The heart of the matter: immune checkpoint inhibitors and immune-related adverse events on the cardiovascular system. Cancers. 2023;15:5707.

Vendrov A, Stevenson M, Lozhkin A, Hayami T, Holland NA, Yang X, Moss N, Pan H, Wickline S, Stockand J, Runge M, Madamanchi N, Arendshorst W. Renal NOXA1/NOX1 signaling regulates epithelial cell ENaC and sodium retention in angiotensin II-induced hypertension. Antioxid Redox Signal. 2021.

Holland NA, Fraiser C, Sloan R III, Devlin R, Brown D, Wingard CJ. Ultrafine particulate matter increases cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury via mitochondrial permeability transition pore. Cardiovasc Toxicol. 2017.

Dr. Khanjani is an Environmental Epidemiologist, acquainted with both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Her main field of interest is the effect of Environmental and Occupational Exposures on Human Health including the effects of Air pollution, Climate, Heavy metals, Pesticides, Microplastics, Noise, Electromagnetic fields, and radiation. She has also conducted studies in Health Education and Medical Education.

Research and Teaching Interests
Her main fields of interest are the effect of Environmental and Occupational Exposures on Human Health including the effects of Air pollution, Climate change, Heavy metals, Pesticides, Microplastics, Noise, Electromagnetic fields and radiation. She has also conducted studies in Health Education and Medical Education.

Recent Publications
See Google Scholar. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=WnZFRZ4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

Dr. Mariela Lane is an Internal Medicine physician and Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical 
Education at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine in El Paso, 
Texas.

She earned her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from Rice University and her M.D. 
from Baylor College of Medicine, graduating with High Honor. She completed her Internal Medicine 
residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital, where she received the Harvard Medical School Principal 
Clinical Experience Teaching Award for excellence in teaching. Dr. Lane is board certified by the American 
Board of Internal Medicine, a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a member of Alpha 
Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. She was honored with the Suskind Medical Faculty Award for 
Educational Excellence at TTUHSC El Paso in 2024.

Prior to joining TTUHSC in 2022, Dr. Lane served as a Clinical Assistant Professor at Dell Medical School 
and as Director of Adult Medicine at the People’s Community Clinic, a federally qualified health center in 
Austin, Texas, where she focused on caring for underserved populations.

At PLFSOM, she serves as Co-Director of the Medical Skills course, a College Mentor, an attending 
physician supervising Internal Medicine residents and students, and as a Medical Director of the student
run Mobile Care Unit. Her academic interests include simulation-based medical education, 
interprofessional education, medical ethics, student wellness, and health equity. She is deeply committed 
to compassionate, patient-centered care and to mentoring the next generation of physicians.

Publications:

Contreras S, Calderón-Mora J, Dwivedi AK, Li G, Lane M. Impact of social drivers of health on 
mammogram screening adherence among women of different Hispanic subgroups in the United States. 
Hisp Health Care Int. Published online July 13, 2025. doi:10.1177/1540415325135060

Marwaha K, Mody B, Holland N, Lane M, Shoemake BD, Singh N, Mody FV. Genetic diversity and 
molecular mechanisms in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: toward personalized therapy. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2026;330(4):H1073-H1091. doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00500.2025

Htay T, Lane M, Khanjani N, Arabi Mianroodi A, Ream-Winnick S. Is intensive blood pressure control 
indicated in older patients with hypertension? Curr Cardiol Rep. 2024;26(8):783-787. doi:10.1007/s11886
024-02080-z

Mansour S, Holland N, Saucedo S, Ramirez A, Lane M, Salisbury J, Marwaha K, Fernandez L, Allen J, Garikiparthy V, Rodriguez P, Renovato L, Land M, Belmares R, Chacon J. Developing a bilingual health 
education program to identify and address healthcare misinformation in a border community. J Prim Care Community Health. 2024;15:21501319241311145. doi:10.1177/21501319241311145

Aung K, Ream-Winnick S, Lane M, Akinlusi I, Shi T, Htay T. Sodium homeostasis and hypertension. Curr 
Cardiol Rep. 2023;25(10):1123-1129. doi:10.1007/s11886-023-01931-5

Dr. Angelica Padilla is a board certified anatomical and clinical pathologist at Texas Tech Paul Foster School of Medicine. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Chemistry at the University of Texas at El Paso. She then obtained her medical degree from UT Houston Mc Govern School of Medicine in Houston, TX and continued her medical training as a pathology resident at UT Houston Mc Govern School of Medicine. Upon completing her residency, Dr. Padilla completed two fellowships in Surgical Pathology and Breast/Gynecological Pathology at Houston Methodist Hospital.

Biff Franklin Palmer, M.D., is currently a professor in the Departments of Education and Internal Medicine at Texas Tech Health El Paso. He was a tenured professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas for 35 years. He remains an adjunct professor with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and continues to serve as the course director of the kidney-genital urinary block. He is board certified in internal medicine and nephrology.

Dr. Palmer received his medical degree from UT Southwestern Medical School and completed his residency in internal medicine at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He then went on to complete a research fellowship in the Department of Nephrology at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and a clinical fellowship in the Division of Nephrology at UT Southwestern Medical Center-Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Palmer has authored more than 310 articles and chapters. He has a h-index of 71 as reported in Google Scholar. In addition to his work as an author, Dr. Palmer has served as the program director for the renal fellowship program and as an associate program director for the internal medicine residency program at UT Southwestern. He is an associate editor for the American Journal of Nephrology and is on the editorial board of Clinical Nephrology, Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, and the American Journal of Kidney Disease. He served six years on the nephrology subspecialty board for the American Board of Internal Medicine.

A fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American Society of Nephrology, Dr. Palmer is also a member of the Texas Medical Association, the International Society of Nephrology, the American Society of Nephrology, and the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. He has received numerous teaching awards to include the Parkland Memorial Hospital Internal Medicine Housestaff Outstanding Teacher Award. He received the Regents Outstanding Teaching award by the University of Texas and in 2020 was awarded the Piper Professorship. He is a member of the Southwestern Academy of Teachers and the University of Texas Kenneth I. Shine Academy of Health Science Education. He is designated as a distinguished teaching professor by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He has been listed in the top 2% of the world’s researchers published by Stanford University from 2024-2026. He was awarded the Burton Rose Endowed lectureship and received the Robert G. Narins Award, which honors individuals who have made substantial and meritorious contributions in education and teaching.

Research interests:
Fluid and electrolyte disorders and epithelial transport

Recent Publications:

1. Palmer BF, Tumlin JA, Radhakrishnan J, Rehaume L, Cross J, Huizinga R. The kidney injury biomarker profile of patients with lupus nephritis remains unchanged with the second-generation calcineurin inhibitor voclosporin. Front. Nephrol 2025 Mar 17;5:1540471. doi: 10.3389/fneph.2025.1540471.
2. Baker C, Palmer BF, Clegg DJ. Novel Hypothesis for the 'Obesity Paradox' in End Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD) Subjects on Dialysis. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2025 Dec 1;20(12):1807-1809. doi: 10.2215/CJN.0000000734.
3. Palmer BF, Clegg DJ. Mixed Acid-Base Disturbances: Core Curriculum 2025. Am J Kidney Dis. 2025 Sep;86(3):372-382. doi: 10.1053/j.ajkd.2025.04.014.
4. ASN Kidney Health Guidance on Potassium and Phosphorus Food Additives. Biruete A, Anderson C, Bernier-Jean A, Clase CM, Clegg D, Crews DC, Denburg M, Hill Gallant KM, Gutierrez OM, Ix JH, Kienholz M, Lambert K, Lee SY, Liebman SE, Nelms CL, Palmer BF, Perwad F, Picard K, St-Jules DE, Terker AS, Uribarri J, Kovesdy CP; ASN Kidney Health Guidance Workgroup on Food Additives. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2025;36(11):2244-2258. doi: 10.1681/ASN.0000000873.
5. Chen R, Kumala C, Vu L, Palmer BF. Systemic effects of metabolic acidosis. Clin Nephrol; 2026 Feb 24. doi: 10.5414/CN111953.

E. Lee Rosenthal, Ph.D. M.S. M.P.H. (Lee) is a public health educator and researcher, based in the U.S. southwest.

• In her research and advocacy, Lee focusses on the growth and development of the Community Health Worker (CHW) workforce. A key part of that has been ongoing work with CHWs since the 1990s to develop the APHA CHW Section. As a part of that and other work in the field, lee has strived to promote CHW leadership and self determination locally, regionally, and nationally.
• Locally, Lee worked for many years while at UTEP with a National Institutes of Health HEART grant with focused on improving cardiovascular health in the lower valley; as a part of this grant, partners, including the Teas A M Colonia’s Project and Centro San Vicente formed an El Paso CHW coalition to support CHW workforce development. More recently, she has been active in the Border CHW Stakeholder Alliance which has been well supported by the UTHealth School of Public Health and Project Vida. In her teaching role at Texas Tech, Dr. Rosenthal has also been fortunate to partner with CHWs from Project Vida to help teach new medical and dental students about the Paso del Norte Region and about the potential of CHWs to support clinical care.
• In the region, Lee was instrumental in supporting the growth of the CHW workforce in both Arizona and New Mexico through work in the early 90s with the newly developing Arizona CHW Outreach Worker Network and through work at the New Mexico Prenatal Care Network as it supported the develop of a NM CHW network with Foundation support.
• Key project leadership nationally includes the National Community Health Advisor Study, the Community Health Worker Evaluation Toolkit, the Community Health Worker National Education Collaborative, the CommunityHealth Worker Workforce Study, and the HEART Project promoting cardiovascular health and the sustainability of Promoters de Salud in El Paso’s lower valley.
• Most recently Lee directed the national Community Health Worker Core Consensus (C3) Project (2014- 2019).The C3 Project, now known as the National Council for Core Consensus Standards, is ramping up to undertake the next consensus-driven national review of CHW roles and competencies and to promote continued adoption of the standards by states and organizations. Lee continues to serve as a member of the C3 core leadership team.
• Lee is as an Associate Professor at Texas Tech Health El Paso in both the Foster School of Medicine and the Hunt School of Dental Medicine in the Society, Community, and the Individual Course team.
• Lee is also the Co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Ambulatory Care Management.
• Dr. Rosenthal has Master Degree in Public Health from the University of California at Berkley and a doctorate in Public Policy studies from the University of Massachusetts at Boston.

Christiane Herber-Valdez earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in 1993. She received her Master of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology in 1998, and a Doctor of Education degree in Educational Leadership and Administration in 2008, both from UTEP.

Dr. Herber-Valdez currently holds a faculty appointment as assistant professor in the Department of Medical Education, and an administrative appointment as Director of Institutional Planning and Effectiveness for the TTU Health Science Center. Prior to joining Texas Tech in March 2014, she held professional positions at institutions of higher education in the areas of student services (UTEP, 1995-2001), and in the management and evaluation of federally funded programs (New Mexico State University, 2002-2014). In the area of program evaluation she was directly involved in the design, development, and implementation of large scale evaluations of federally funded grant programs, including initiatives by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Between 2002 and 2014, she directed the evaluation and program operations of a multi-million dollar NIH P20 faculty and student development grant (New Mexico-IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence, NM-INBRE), which spans six New Mexico institutions of higher education (New Mexico State University, University of New Mexico, Eastern New Mexico University, New Mexico Highlands University, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, and San Juan College). Between 2010 and 2014, she also directed the annual evaluation of the University of New Mexico (UNM) Undergraduate Pipeline Network (UPN), a summer research experience program hosted by the UNM Clinical Translational Science Center (CTSC) Biomedical Research Education Program (BREP). Other recent external evaluation projects include the evaluation of the NSF funded Research in Disabilities Education (RDE) STEM-STARS program at New Mexico Highlands University, and the NSF funded Transforming Undergraduate Education in Sciences (TUES) program at UNM. Dr. Herber-Valdez currently serves as evaluation consultant to the NIH funded Maine IDeA Network’s for Biomedical Research Excellence (ME-INBRE), which serves eleven institutions in Maine, including The Jackson Laboratory and Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory. Between 2008 and 2012, Dr. Herber-
Valdez also held an appointment as College Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Management at New Mexico State University, where she taught masters and doctoral level graduate courses in higher education on an adjunct basis.

Throughout her career, Dr. Herber-Valdez has presented her work at regional and national meetings and conferences. Organizations include the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA), the National Council for Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA), the Texas Association of Colleges and University Student Personnel Administrators (TACUSPA), the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), the New Mexico Alliance for Minority Participation (NM AMP), the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), the American Evaluation Association (AEA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Dr. Herber-Valdez’ current interests include social science research methods, program evaluation, evaluation/strategic planning for quality improvement, and innovations in STEM/medical education.

Arturo Ramírez is a Mexican scholar and professor. He was born in Chihuahua, México. Arturo holds a bachelor degree in English from Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua. Simultaneously, he studied law at Universidad Mexicana de Educación a Distancia, so he is at the stage of candidate in that degree as well. In the pursuit of graduate school experience, he moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where he completed his M.A. in Spanish (linguistics). This teaching and research exposure allowed him to gain cultural and linguistic knowledge in a border setting.

Dr. Ramírez attained his Ph.D. in Hispanic literature, with a minor in Portuguese, at Texas Tech University. He was twice assigned as an instructor for the Seville Study Abroad Program (Summer 2016 and Fall 2017), which made him aware of the vital role immersion plays when learning a language. In 2019, he was awarded with the Helen Devitt Jones Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award at TTU.

After spending two years in his hometown, where he taught English at both the School of Agricultural Sciences in Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, and the mechatronics division at Universidad Tecnológica de Chihuahua, he is back in the Borderplex. Apart from his main area of research, Afro-Cuban Literature, Dr. Ramírez has been constantly in touch with Portuguese and linguistic disciplines. He has presented in a variety of conferences in the fields of semantics, pragmatics, discourse analysis and the Lusophone diaspora. 

Judith is a proud El Pasoan who has always called the Borderplex home and is constantly in awe of its beauty, culture, people and the language. Raised in both in El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, at a young age, she developed a passion for languages especially bilingualism and the border community. Thus, her educational background is in Spanish and Chicano/Latino Studies. She holds a Masters of Spanish in Literature.  
Before joining the Texas Tech Health El Paso family and the Spanish Program team, she dedicated herself to closing the language gap and barrier international students face as an full-time ESOL Instructor at University of Texas at El Paso. Since 2011, Judith worked with the institutional collaboration between UTEP and Texas Tech Health El Paso to teach Medical Spanish. Since then, she has been an integral component to the continuous growth of the Spanish curriculum for medical students, one that is relevant and authentic to the border community. She enjoys developing creative, authentic, and innovative practices and resources for all of her students to inspire the passion for learning a language and hopes to bring that to the table as the newest member of the Spanish Program team. 

Natalia Minjarez Oppenheimer earned her Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics in 2021 and her Master of Arts in Linguistics, with a concentration in Applied Linguistics, in 2024, both from The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). Her research and academic work during that time focused 
on bilingualism, second language acquisition, sociolinguistics, and phonetics and phonology. 
Currently, Natalia serves as a teacher in the Spanish Program at Texas Tech Health El Paso, where she teaches Medical and Dental Spanish to first- and second-year students.

Research Interests
Natalia’s current research interests include second language acquisition, medical Spanish, second language instruction, and bilingualism. She has presented at various conferences, including the 
Hawaii International Conference on Education in Honolulu, Hawaii (2024; 2025), the National 
Association of Medical Spanish conference in San Antonio, Texas (2024), and the Language 
Symposium on Romance Languages in Paris, France (2023).

Recent Publications
Minjarez Oppenheimer, N., & Tremblay, A. (2024). Investigating the Production and Perception 
of Lexical Stress in Spanish-English Bilinguals: An Acoustic Cue-Weighting Approach. Graduate 
Thesis Project (The University of Texas at El Paso). 

Mazzaro, N., Minjarez Oppenheimer, N., & Gonzalez De Anda, R. (2024). Spanish Loyalty and 
English Prestige in the Linguistic Landscape of Ciudad Juárez, México. Languages, 9(41), 
https://doi.org/10.3390/ languages9020041.

Contemori, C., & Minjarez Oppenheimer, N. (2022). Changing pronoun interpretations across
languages: Discourse priming in Spanish–English bilingual speakers. Bilingualism: Language and 
Cognition, 1-9. doi:10.1017/S1366728922000566

Ariana Gonzalez is a bilingual educator specializing in language instruction, with a focus on Spanish 
for healthcare and professional contexts. She designs and facilitates interactive language classes, labs, 
and learning experiences that support the development of practical communication skills in Spanish. 
Her work emphasizes cultural competence and real-world application, particularly in medical and 
clinical settings. Ariana is passionate about creating inclusive learning environments that build 
confidence and empower students to use language effectively in their careers. 

Currently, Ariana serves as a Senior Teacher in the Spanish Program at Texas Tech Health El Paso, 
where she teaches Medical and Dental Spanish to first-and second-year students. She has presented 
in various conferences at the regional, national, and international levels. Her current research 
interests include, Spanish for healthcare professionals, bilingual education and pedagogy, medical 
Spanish, second language instruction, communicative and task-based language, and cultural 
competence in medical education.