Humberto Hernandez , Ph.D.

Biography

Dr. Humberto Hernandez Joined A&M-Victoria in September of 2019 and serves as the Biosafety Coordinator for the College of Natural and Applied Sciences. He teaches in the Biology Undergraduate Program and the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program in the College of Natural and Applied Science. He also teaches in the College of Education and Health Professions.

Dr. Humberto Hernandez’s research program is on understanding the contribution of aging, the microbiome, inflammation, and fibrosis to the pathogenesis of ocular diseases, particularly Keratoconjunctivitis sicca (Dry-eye), Keratoconus, and Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma (POAG). Dr. Hernandez uses in-vitro cell culture techniques to evaluate the pathogenic molecular mechanisms of these diseases. His lab mission is to discover and develop therapeutic targets for ocular diseases. His research has been previously funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH), National Eye Institute (NEI), and internal grants from A&M-Victoria.  

Former students of Dr. Hernandez are actively completing their Doctoral and Medical programs, teaching in the Victoria Independent School District and Victoria College, and working in Biotechnology and various Industries. Dr. Humberto Hernandez actively recruits students interested in working with his vibrant research team.

Education

Postdoc – Ocular Surface Center, Department of Ophthalmology, Baylor College of Medicine (2019)

Ph.D. – Biomedical Sciences: Visual Sciences, University of North Texas Health Science Center (2017)

Post-Baccalaureate – Immunology and Microbiology, University of Texas Medical Branch (2013)

Baccalaureate of Science, Biology, Lamar University (2012)

Publications

Philip Mzyk, Humberto Hernandez, Thanh Le, Jose Ricardo Ramirez, and Colleen McDowell. Toll-like Receptor 4 signaling in the Trabecular Meshwork in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. In Review.

Claudia M. Trujillo-Vargas, Kelsey E. Mauk, Humberto Hernandez, Rodrigo G. de Souza, Zhiyuan Yu, Jeremias G. Galletti, Jana Dietrich, Friedrich Paulsen, Cintia S. de Paiva. Immune phenotype of the CD4+ T cells in the aged lymphoid organs and lacrimal glands in GeroScience, Springer International Publishing, 3/12/2022.

Laura Schaefer, Humberto Hernandez, Rosalind A. Coats, Zhiyuan Yu, Stephen C. Pflugfelder, Robert A. Britton, Cintia de Paiva. Gut-derived Butyrate Suppresses Ocular Surface Inflammation in Scientific Reports, Nature. 12 (4512). 3/16/2022

Colleen M McDowell, Krishnakumar Kizhatil, Michael H Elliott, Darryl R Overby…., Humberto Hernandez, … Michael P Fautsch, Ernst R Tamm, Abbot F Clark, C Ross Ethier, W Daniel Stamer. Consensus Recommendation for Mouse Models of Ocular Hypertension to study aqueous humor outflow and its mechanisms in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science Journal. 63 2(12-12). 2/01/2022

Rodrigo G de Souza, Zhiyuan Yu, Humberto Hernandez, Claudia M Trujillo-Vargas, Andrea Lee, Kelsey E Mauk, Jiyang Cai, Milton R Alves, Cintia S de Paiva. Modulation of Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in the Aged Lacrimal Gland in The American Journal of Pathology. 191 2(194-308). 02/01/2021

Cintia De Paiva, Claudia Trujillo-Vargas, Humberto Hernandez, Rodrigo de Souza, Zhiyuan Yu, Jeremias Gaston Galletti. Loss of Ocular Mucosal Tolerance with Aging is Accompanied by Changes in T Regulatory Transcriptome in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. 61 7(1962-1962). 06/10/2020

Claudia M Trujillo-Vargas, Shallu Kutlehria, Humberto Hernandez, Rodrigo G de Souza, Andrea Lee, Zhiyuan Yu, Stephen C Pflugfelder, Mandip Singh, Cintia S de Paiva. Rapamycin Eyedrops Increased CD4+Foxp3+ Cells and Prevented Goblet Cell Loss in the Aged Ocular Surface in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 21 23(8890). 11/24/2020

Hernandez H, Roberts AL, McDowell CM. Nuclear factor-kappa beta signaling is required for transforming growth factor Beta-2 induced ocular hypertension in Experimental Eye Research. 191(107920). 02/01/2020 Bian F, Xiao Y, Barbosa F. L., de Souza RG, Hernandez H, Yu Z, Pflugfelder S.C, de Paiva C.S. Age-associated Antigen-Presenting Cell Alterations Promote Dry-Eye Inducing Th1 Cells in Nature, Mucosal Immunology. 12(897-908). 01/29/2019

Zaheer M, Wang C, Bian F, Yu Z, Hernandez H, de Souza RG, Simmons KT, Schady D, Swennes AG, Pflugfelder SC, Britton RA, de Paiva CS. Protective role of commensal bacteria in Sjögren Syndrome in the Journal of Autoimmunity. 93 (45-56). 09-01-2018

Hernandez H, Millar JC, Curry SM, Clark AF, McDowell CM. BMP and Activin Membrane-Bound Inhibitor Regulates the Extracellular Matrix in the Trabecular Meshwork in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. 59(5):2154-2166. 04/01/2018

Hernandez H, Medina-Ortiz WE, Luan T, Clark AF, McDowell CM. Crosstalk Between Transforming Growth Factor Beta-2 and Toll-Like Receptor 4 in the Trabecular Meshwork in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. 58 3(1811-1823). 03/14/2017

McDowell CM, Hernandez H, Mao W, Clark AF. Gremlin Induces Ocular Hypertension in Mice Through Smad3-Dependent Signaling in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. 56 9(5485-5492). 08/01/2015

Hernandez H, Marceau C, Halliday H, Callison J, Borisevich V, Escaffre O, Creech J, Feldmann H, Rockx B. Development and Characterization of Broadly Cross-reactive Monoclonal Antibodies Against All Known Ebolavirus Species in Journal of Infectious Diseases. 2(S410-3). 10/01/2015

Marceau CD, Negs SS, Hernandez H, Callision J, Marzi A, Borisevich V, Braun W, Berry J, Feldmann H, Rockx B. Novel neutralizing monoclonal antibodies protect rodents against lethal filovirus challenges in Trials in Vaccinology. 3 1(89-94) 04/14/2014

Additional Research

Dr. Teixeira has interests in both pure and applied Mathematics, as well as in Mathematics Education. In pure Mathematics, his main work is in the Functional Analysis field. He received his PhD from The University of Texas at Austin, advised by Dr. Edward Odell, in the spring of 2010. Dr. Teixeira solved the problem of whether the set of S_α-Singular operators form an ideal. Currently, he studies structure of infinite-dimensional Banach Spaces.

In applied Mathematics, Dr. Teixeira has worked in developing tools to predict the results of future events. His tool can be successfully applied to predicting the outcome of sports events. Under this research line, Dr. Teixeira has advised two graduate students in projects. As future projects, he is trying to expand the use of predictions to marketing and other applications.

Dr. Teixeira has also been actively working in developing rigorous mathematical explanation for magic tricks and other recreational activities. So far, he has published and worked in relating topics such as Probability, Theory of Cyclic Groups, Linear Algebra, Coding Theory, Algorithms for Data Transmission, and more, with magic tricks. To this date, over 2,000 students have witnessed Dr. Teixeira perform and explain his “mathemagics” tricks.

In Mathematics Education, Dr. Teixeira has contributed to researches regarding how college students may mature quantitative reasoning abilities. He has also worked with Dana Center in developing textbooks for an innovative approach to developmental/freshman level mathematics. The project is called New Mathways Project, already implemented in most Community Colleges in Texas and in several other institutions across the US, uses the most modern ideas (learning episodes, inquiry-based techniques, real-data problems, etc.) to present mathematics in an interesting and engaging way.

Dr. Teixeira’s role as Director of Core Curriculum has exposed him to great amount of student data. Together with other A&M-Victoria faculty members and librarians, he mathematically analyzes the results to draw conclusions regarding best practices. This work forms a line of research with great potential to help shape future alternatives for developmental mathematics.