Gabriel P. Lopez

Gabriel P. López is Vice President for Research and Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of New Mexico. He is also Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science at Duke University. His current research interests include biointerfacial phenomena, biomaterials, self-assembly and bioanalytical microsystems to address problems in medicine, biotechnology and environmental quality. His current technology transfer and translational activities include development of an anti-infection, soft robotic catheter, serving on the Scientific Advisory Board of Eta Diagnostic Inc. (Albuquerque NM) and collaboration with several industrial partners. Prof. López’ professional service activities include outreach to, advancement of, groups under-represented in research, participation in several scientific societies, consultation on research directions for NIH, NSF and DTRA programs, and serving on the NIH College of CSR Reviewers.

López has published ≈200 peer reviewed scientific papers and book chapters and is inventor on 32 issued U.S. patents. He has served as research advisor to 54 graduate students, 39 postdoctoral fellows and 77 undergraduate students; 16 of his former research protégés have gone on to professional academic positions. He has served as PI or coPI on grants totaling ≈$46 million and his research has been supported by several sources including the NSF, NIH, DOE, NASA, DOD, industry and nonprofit foundations. He has been granted many awards and honors for his research, including being named a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering, receiving an Outstanding University Inventor Award from the Semiconductor Research Corporation and earning the NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award. He was named one of the 100 most important Hispanics in technology and business for 2006 by the editors of Hispanic Engineer and Information Technology.

López earned a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Colorado in 1985. In 1991, he completed Ph.D. studies in chemical engineering at the University of Washington where he worked under the mentorship of Prof. Buddy D. Ratner as a Kaiser Aluminum Co. Graduate Fellow. From 1991-1993, he was an NIH and Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow under the mentorship of Prof. George M. Whitesides in the Dept. of Chemistry at Harvard University. He was appointed Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry at the University of New Mexico in 1993, promoted to Associate Professor in 1999, and promoted to the rank of Professor in 2004. He was the founding Director of the UNM Center for Biomedical Engineering (2005) and the UNM Biomedical Engineering Graduate Programs (2008). He moved to Duke University in 2010 and became the founding Director of the NSF’s Research Triangle Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (RT-MRSEC), which is focused on the programmable self-assembly of soft matter in 2011. He returned to UNM as Vice President for Research in 2016.