Faculty Profiles
Brian Aguado
Assistant Professor, BENG
Biomaterials, tissue engineering, precision medicine, sex differences, cardiovascular disease, immunoengineering
The mission of the Aguado iBiomaterials Research Group is to develop "precision biomaterials" that enable the evaluation of a patient’s unique biology to diagnose and treat a variety of health disorders as a function of sex, age, and/or ancestry. Our multidisciplinary team is currently focused on using precision biomaterials as in vitro and in vivo tools to understand sex as a biological variable in cardiovascular disorders, including aortic valve disease and heart failure. We operate at multiple length scales to understand how sex hormones, sex chromosomes, cardiac cells, biochemical/mechanical cues from the tissue microenvironment, and inflammation all contribute to sex differences in cardiovascular diseases. Our efforts will improve our understanding of sexual dimorphisms in health and disease, which represents the next step toward developing more effective sex-specific therapies.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-aguado-ph-d-1a73242b/
Lab Website: Aguado iBiomaterials Research Group
(https://aguado.eng.ucsd.edu/)
Capsule Bio:
Dr. Brian Aguado completed his BS degree in Biomechanical Engineering from Stanford University and his MS and PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University. He also obtained his certificate in Management for Scientists and Engineers from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship in Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Dr. Aguado has received numerous grants to support his research program, including the NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, the American Heart Association Career Development Award, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Science Diversity Leadership Award, the NIH DP2 New Innovator Award, the NSF CAREER Award, and the Women’s Health Access Matters (WHAM) Edge Award. Dr. Aguado is also the recipient of the Society for Biomaterials Young Investigator Award, the American Society of Matrix Biology Young Investigator Award, the Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering (CMBE) Rising Star Award, the CMBE Young Innovator Award, the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) Young Investigator Award, and the Great Minds in STEM Most Promising Engineer HENAAC Award. Dr. Aguado also co-founded the non-profit organization LatinXinBME, a grassroots virtual mentoring group of Latinx biomedical engineers dedicated to building a community that supports each other personally and professionally through their careers. For his mentoring and teaching efforts, he was named one of the 100 Most Inspiring Latinx Scientists in America by Cell Press and received the Society for Biomaterials Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award, the BMES Diversity Award, the ASEE Constituent DEI Award, the ISSCR Public Service Award, the Teacher of the Year Award from the Jacobs School of Engineering, and the GEMINI Faculty Mentor Award from the UCSD Institute for Engineering in Medicine.
