Research Centers & Institutes at UTSA

An important means of fulfilling the mission of UTSA's Research Initiatives is through partnerships with organizations such as private and corporate sponsorships, educational institutions, and federal and state agencies. Effective partnerships involving UTSA institutions have been developed with the following Research Centers and Institutes.

Bank of America Child and Adolescent Policy Research Institute
    (Director: Harriet Romo, Ph.D.)

The Bank of America Child and Adolescent Policy Research Institute (Bank of America CAPRI) is a university wide institute that supports the study of topics such as pediatric obesity prevention, infant cognition and language development, school readiness and dropouts, early literacy, juvenile justice and child abuse prevention. The Institute fosters cross-disciplinary collaborations within the University and with research partners from the community, and will translate research results into policy recommendations. The Institute is directed by Dr. Harriett Romo, Department of Sociology. Other faculty are affiliated with the Institute as Faculty Associates. A $500,000 endowment from Bank of America funds graduate fellowships and undergraduate scholarships for students participating in the San Antonio Independent School District/UTSA Child Development Center at the Navarro Academy in downtown San Antonio. The Navarro Center is a collaborative project of the San Antonio Independent School District and UTSA and is funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to Dr. Harriett Romo. The Child Development Center serves as a research/demonstration site to determine and model the best practices for working with children in both English and Spanish. The Bank of America CAPRI also serves as a resource for research services and professional development training for professionals in child and adolescent development and related careers.

Cajal Neuroscience Research Center (RCMI)
    (Director: Edwin Barea-Rodriguez, Ph.D.)

The mission of the Cajal Neuroscience Institute (CNI) is to facilitate neuroscience research at The University of Texas at San Antonio by strengthening the research environment. With collaborative efforts at nearby institutions, the CNI will become the focal point of neuroscience research in South Texas. In addition, the CNI will have a positive impact on the number and role of minority scientists in the technological advances of the 21st century and beyond.
Website: http://bio.utsa.edu/Cajal

Center for Advanced Computing and Network Research
    (Director: Kleanthis Psarris, Ph.D.)

The Center for Advanced Computing and Network Research is devoted to advancing the state of the art in parallel and distributed computing techniques for applications in real-world multidisciplinary studies and applied research. Affiliated faculty and advanced computational and networking facilities within the Center provide the key resources needed to meet these multidisciplinary research goals. Educational grants are sought and administered to provide competitive research sponsored scholarships and academic fellowships for students interested in computer science, engineering, and other science career disciplines affiliated with the Center's research program.
Website: http://www.cs.utsa.edu/research/areas.shtml

Center for Advanced Manufacturing & Lean Systems (CAMLS)
    (Director: Frank Chen, Ph.D.)

An interdisciplinary, Industry-University collaborative research center that conducts research and development, as well as provides education and training in lean manufacturing and six-sigma, enterprise process engineering, supply chain and logistics engineering, warehouse systems, automation technologies, integrated and web-based manufacturing systems, RFID applications, and advanced sensors and robotics.
Website: http://camls.utsa.edu

Center for Archaeological Research (CAR)
    (Director: Steve Tomka, Ph.D.)

The Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) has administered over 500 contracts and grants to date. These research activities have focused on numerous prehistoric sites and historic archaeology at Spanish Colonial missions, the Alamo, historic churches and forts, and early Texas settlements. The staff has also conducted archaeological investigations in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Mexico, Belize, Africa, Turkey, Europe and South America. Results of these investigations are published in more than 300 volumes in 10 separate publication series.
Website: http://car.utsa.edu/

Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS)
    (Director: Greg White, Ph.D.)

The Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS) is designed to leverage San Antonio's infrastructure assurance and security (IAS) strengths as part of the solution to the nation's homeland defense needs and deficit of IAS talent and resources. CIAS was established in 2001 and is a component of the Institute for Cyber Security which was founded in 2007.
Website: http://www.utsa.edu/cias/

Center for Research and Training in the Sciences (CRTS)
    (Director: Andrew Tsin, Ph.D.)

The Center for the Advancements of the Life Sciences (CAS) at UTSA was established to maximize resource sharing of extramural programs with similar or complimentary goals in scientific research and training. General charge of this Center is the responsibility of all institutional grants designed to strengthen the capacity of UTSA in the broad area of Life Sciences. Currently, there are six research/training programs included in CAS: MBRS-SCORE, MBRS-RISE, MARC, RCMI, SNRP and Sloan Foundation Scholarship Program. CAS is directed by Dr. Andrew Tsin, Professor of Biology. CAS reports to the Dean of the College of Sciences and to the Vice President of Research.
Website: http://www.utsa.edu/CAS/index.htm

Center for Water Research
    (Director: Weldon Hammond, Ph.D.)

The Center for Water Research was established as the Center for Groundwater Research and Technology in 1987 by a grant from the National Science Foundation. The Center, a research component of the College of Sciences and Engineering at The University of Texas at San Antonio, is funded by a variety of public and private research funds. The name was changed in 1991 to reflect expanding research activities, staff capabilities and interdisciplinary character of the Center.
Website: http://www.utsa.edu/water/

Culture and Policy Institute (CPI)
    (Interim Director: David Pillow, Ph.D.)

The Culture and Policy Institute (CPI) uses multidisciplinary approaches to conduct research on culture and community and public policy issues. The institute fosters relationships among researchers, community practitioners, analysts, governmental units and other organizations to conduct research that facilitates public awareness and understanding of community and societal problems and solutions.
Website: http://www.utsa.edu/cpi/

Institute for Aging Research
    (Director: Edwin Barea-Rodriguez, Ph.D.)

The UTSA Institute for Aging Research will study the social and political implications of diverse aging populations as well as the biology of the aging process. This cross-disciplinary Institute is designed to complement aging research at UTHSC and to foster collaborations between the two institutions. Research undertaken by faculty will lead to new strategies for enhancing and maintaining societal support for the elderly, and for promoting healthy lifestyles in the aged from diverse populations.

Institute for Bioengineering and Translational Research (IBTR)
    (Director: Mauli Agrawal, Ph.D.)

The Institute for Biomedical and Translational Research (IBTR) supports the cross disciplinary Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and related research. Basic research on health issues such as heart disease and diabetes will be translated into new products and processes. Institute faculty members are from UTSA’s College of Engineering, College of Sciences, and UTHSC.

Institute for Cyber Security
    (Director: Ravi Sandhu, Ph.D.)

The Institute for Cyber Security was founded in 2007 with the mission to pursue world-class cyber-security research, education, commercialization and service with high impact in synergy with all relevant components of UTSA, and with world-class partners. Prof. Ravi Sandhu joined UTSA as the founding Executive Director. He holds the Lutcher Brown Endowed Chair in Cyber Security and has joint appointments in Computer Science (College of Science), Electrical and Computer Engineering (College of Engineering) and Information Systems and Technology Management (College of Business). The previously existing Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS) has become a component of the Institute. The two big questions in cyber security are: what does it mean to be secure, and how do we achieve the desired security? Modern cyber systems involve numerous stake holders with different, and typically conflicting, security priorities. Reconciliation of these multiple priorities and determining who will pay the costs is at best an art today. One of the Institute's priorities is to make this process more of a science. Another Institute priority is study of how to achieve the desired security by use of existing security technology where appropriate and invention of new security technologies where needed. These two priority questions require collaboration with researchers and practitioners in various application domains and security technologies. The Institute's goal is to develop effective techniques for addressing these two questions in a large variety of application domains, and to transition the results into real-world practice.
Website: http://www.ics.utsa.edu

Institute for Demographic and Socioeconomic Research (IDSER)
    (Director: Karl Eschbach, Ph.D.)

UTSA's Institute for Demographic and Socioeconomic Research provides information to a network of 45 university, state, regional and municipal agencies. The institute's Texas State Data Center, led by state demographer Steve Murdock, provides state population estimates used by state agencies and other organizations for planning purposes.
Website: http://txsdc.utsa.edu/

Institute for Music Research
    (Director: Stacey Davis, Ph.D.)

The Institute for Music Research (IMR) was established to promote research in the areas of music psychology and music technology. Current activities are divided into six categories: online services, conferences, research, publications, presentations and a Ph.D. proposal.
Website: http://imr.utsa.edu/

San Antonio Institute for Cellular and Molecular Primatology (SAICMP)
    (Director: John McCarrey, Ph.D.)

The SAICMP was established in 2004 as a partnership between the University of Texas at San Antonio and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, with the additional involvement of the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, which houses the Southwest National Primate Research Center. The mission of this institute is to facilitate research on aspects of cell and molecular biology in nonhuman primates, with a particular emphasis on research relating to stem cell research and regenerative medicine. Stem cells demonstrate a number of basic biological processes that are central to the development, differentiation and function of normal organs and tissues. In addition, stem cells and the potential they hold for novel approaches to treating complex, debilitating diseases in humans have sparked unprecedented interest among scientists and the lay public alike. Research with clinically relevant species of nonhuman primates offers a unique opportunity to study basic mechanisms regulating cell fate in primates, and to assess the efficacy, safety, and ethical applications of approaches of stem-cell based regenerative medicine, before applying these methods to humans. The SAICMP is designed to provide a core infrastructure that will interact with existing interests and expertise at UTSA, UTHSCSA, the Southwest National Primate Research Center, the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, and related institutions in San Antonio, South Texas and elsewhere.

San Antonio Life Sciences Institute (SALSI)
    (Directors: Brian Herman, Ph.D. and Robert Gracy, Ph.D.)

Established in 2003, the San Antonio Life Sciences Institute (SALSI) is designed to strengthen collaborations between The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and The University of Texas at San Antonio by enhancing research, teaching and service missions. SALSI is expected to increase research funding for both institutions and provide new education and advanced degree opportunities for students. Funded with $4.5 million dollars from UT System, UTSA and UTHSC, SALSI will provide an educated workforce to support San Antonio’s $11 billion bioscience and health care industry.
Website: http://research.uthscsa.edu/salsi.shtml

South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases (STCEID)
    (Director: Karl Klose, Ph.D.)

The South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases (STCEID) was established to focus state and national attention on UTSA in the fields of molecular microbiology, immunology, medical mycology, virology and microbial genomics. One of the major areas of emphasis at STCEID is on the pathogenic mechanisms of emerging infectious diseases. Some examples of emerging infectious diseases include cholera, AIDS, SARS, Legionnaire.s disease, Lyme disease, most food-borne diseases, etc. Also, under this description fall the potential biothreat microorganisms that can be used for illicit purposes. Emerging infectious and bioweapon-related diseases are currently some of the greatest threats to human health.
Website: http://www.stceid.utsa.edu