Meet Alexandra Arteaga, convergence grant recipient

Alexandra Arteaga is a fourth year PhD student who works in the Biomaterials for Osseointegration and Novel Engineering (BONE) Lab at The University of Texas at Dallas, where she is working on creating a coating to help make orthopedic implants more successful for diabetic patients decided to pursue this area of research after taking Dr. Danieli Rodrigues’ class on biomaterials. “She had such an impact as a teacher and now as a mentor,” Arteaga said. “I also wanted to get into an area of research that would help people. I feel that if successful, this research can potentially help diabetics needing orthopedic implants have a better quality of life.”

Rodrigues and Dr. Claudia Biguetti, a postdoctoral researcher at the BONE Lab, have inspired Alexandra during her journey at UT Dallas. She said, “Both of them have always encouraged me and brought the absolute best in me!” Along with Rodrigues and Biguetti, Alexandra’s husband and son have been there every step of the way, cheering her on.

“I’m super grateful that I received this grant,” Arteaga said. “With this money, I will be able to do additional testing on my collected samples to further understand the impact of this coating over time.”

Congratulations! We are proud of you, and we can’t wait to see where your research takes you.