Honored Peer

Tier One Advancement: National Academies inductee moves goal forward

Professor Rena Bizios has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest honors for medical sciences, health care, and public health professionals. Bizios is the first full-time, tenure-track UTSA faculty member to be elected to the National Academies.

Bizios, a Peter T. Flawn Professor in biomedical engineering, studies cellular and tissue engineering, tissue regeneration, biomaterials, and biocompatibility. She is recognized for making seminal contributions to the understanding of cell-material interactions, protein-cell interactions with nanostructured biomaterials, and for identifying the effects of pressure and electric current on cell functions during new tissue formation. Her research has applications in the tissue engineering and tissue regeneration fields

“Rena Bizios is a wonderful example of the tremendous faculty that top-tier universities are known for,” says UTSA President Ricardo Romo. “Through her teaching, research, and mentoring at UTSA, Dr. Bizios has made significant contributions that have shaped, and will continue to shape, biomedical engineering. I am so pleased to see her work recognized by her peers.”

The National Academy of Medicine is an independent organization of eminent professionals from the fields of health and medicine as well as the natural, social, and behavioral sciences. This accomplishment for Bizios moves UTSA one step closer to Tier One, a designation that includes the number of faculty at a university with memberships in the National Academies.