Dr. Aguilera earned his BS and MS degrees in Microbiology at the University of Texas at El Paso and obtained a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley (1987). Prior to returning to UTEP, he served as an Assistant and Associate Professor in the Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology at the University of California at Los Angeles, during which time he was a mentor of the university's Minority Biomedical Research Support and Director of the Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) Program. His quality teaching at UCLA was recognized by his department with the conferring of the Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award. At UTEP, he increased the number of PhD students in biological sciences and he brought in major funding from National Institutes of Health programs that promote minority education and research in bioscience. These include a National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Research Initiatives for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) grant for undergraduate and graduate students and a Support of Competitive Research (SCORE) grant for faculty research at minority serving institutions. Dr. Aguilera has been the director of the Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) Scholars training program since 2003 and will continue to direct this program until 2022. The RISE program will train 25 undergraduates and 12 graduate students from underrepresented minority groups. For his long-standing commitment to student training and mentorship, he received the prestigious American Society for Microbiology William A. Hinton Research Training Award in 2010, the SACNAS Distinguished Research Mentor Award in 2013 and the SACNAS Distinguished Scientist Award in 2019. Most recently he received the 2022 EE Just Award from the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) in recognition of his contributions to science and education. Dr. Aguilera is also a life fellow of the ASCB. He previously served as the chair of the Minority Affairs Committee of from 2010-2016. In addition, he has served on the Board of Scientific Councilor’s of the NIEHS, on the Committee of Visitors of NSF, and on several NIH grant review panels. In 2023, he was appointed to the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director’s Working Group on Diversity. In 2024, he has inducted into the California Academy of Sciences.

• California Academy of Science - California Academy of Science (10/15/2024)
• 2022 EE Just Award and Lecturship - American Society for Cell Biology (12/06/2022)
• 2022 Premio Anciano -Hispanic Elder Award - Vanderbilt University, School of Medicine, Basic Sciences (10/12/2022)
• 2019 SACNAS Distinguished Scientists Award - Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (10/01/2019-10/31/2019)
• Marquis Who’s Who in the World - Marquis Who is Who (10/01/2017-10/31/2017)
• Elected as Fellow of the American Society for Cell Biology - American Society for Cell Biology (10/01/2017)
• 2013 SACNAS Distinguished Mentor Award - Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans inScience (10/01/2013-10/31/2013)
• 2013 Hispanos Triunfadores Award - Sponsored by McDonnald's Corporation in Celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. (10/06/2013)
• Outstanding Performance in Securing Extramural Funding Award - Office of Research and Sponsored Projects (09/30/2013)
• Marshal of UTEP's Spring Commencement Ceremony - UTEP (05/01/2013-05/31/2013)
• Millionaire Research Award - Office of Research and Sponsored Projects (09/30/2012)
• Outstanding Service Award - Office of Research and Sponsored Projects (09/30/2011)
• Biomedical Faces of Science - Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) -NCRR NIH (10/01/2010)
• William A. Hinton Research Training Award - American Society for Microbiology (01/25/2010)
• Nomiation for the ASM William A. Hinton Research Training Award - ASM William A. Hinton Research Training Award (01/01/2008-12/31/2008)
• Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award - College of Science, University of Texas at El Paso (01/01/2007-12/31/2007)
• Nomination to Minnie Stevens Piper Professorship - Minnie Stevens Piper Professorship (01/01/2007-12/31/2007)
• Recipient of UT STARS Award - UT STARS Award (01/01/2006-12/31/2006)
• Who's Who Among Executives and Professionals - Who's Who Among Executives and Professionals (01/01/2005-12/31/2005)
• Who's Who in Science Higher Education - Who's Who in Science Higher Education (01/01/2004-12/31/2004)
• Hispanic Power Hitter - Hispanic Engineer magazine (01/01/2002-12/31/2002)
• Who's Who in Science and Engineering - Who's Who in Science and Engineering (01/01/2000-12/31/2000)
• Faculty profile published - NIGMS Minority Programs Update (01/01/1999-12/31/1999)
• Who's Who in America - Who's Who in America (01/01/1999-12/31/1999)
• Who's Who in Science and Engineering - Who's Who in Science and Engineering (01/01/1997-12/31/1997)
• Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award - Mol. Cell and Dev. Biology Department, University of California Los Angeles (01/01/1995-12/31/1995)
• Who's Who Among American Universities and Colleges - Who's Who Among American Universities and Colleges (01/01/1995-12/31/1995)
• Who's Who Among Hispanic Americans - Who's Who Among Hispanic Americans (01/01/1994-12/31/1994)
• Who's Who in Technology - Who's Who in Technology (01/01/1994-12/31/1994)
• Two Thousand Notable American Men - Two Thousand Notable American Men (01/01/1993-12/31/1993)
• President's Postdoctoral Fellowship - University of California (01/01/1987-12/31/1987)
• Disseration Fellowship - Ford Foundation (01/01/1986-12/31/1986)
• Pre-Doctoral Fellowship - National Science Foundation (01/01/1982-12/31/1982)
• Who's Who Among American Universities and Colleges - Who's Who Among American Universities and Colleges (01/01/1982-12/31/1982)

• Immunology, University of California at Berkeley (1989)
• Ph D in Immunology, University of California at Berkeley (1987)
• MS in Biology, University of Texas at El Paso (1982)
• BS in Microbiology, University of Texas at El Paso (1981)

• Nitrogen doped carbon quantum dots: a multifaceted carbon nanomaterial that interferes in an amyloid-forming trajectory Journal of Materials Chemistry B (2024), Sherin M. ElMorsy, Denisse A. Gutierrez, Salvador Valdez, Jyotish Kumar, Renato Aguilera, Mohamed Noufal, Sampath Chinnam, Hemen Sarma, Mahesh Narayan.
• Graphene acid quantum dots: A highly active multifunctional carbon nano material that intervene in the trajectory towards neurodegeneration. Journal of colloid and interface science 670 (2024), S M. ElMorsy, D A. Gutierrez, S Valdez, J Kumar, Renato Aguilera, M Noufal, H Sarma, S Chinnam, Mahesh Narayan.
• A Novel Pyrazole Exhibits Potent Anticancer Cytotoxicity via Apoptosis, Cell Cycle Arrest, and the Inhibition of Tubulin Polymerization in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells. Cells 13 14 (2024), E A. Borrego, C D. Guerena, A Y. Schiaffino Bustamante, D A. Gutierrez, C A. Valenzuela, A P. Betancourt, A Varela-Ramirez, Renato Aguilera.
• A photothermal driven chemotherapy for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. Journal of controlled release : official journal of the Controlled Release Society 361 (2023), H N. Bhatt, R Diwan, Edgar A. Borrego Puerta, Pérez CAM, Armando Varela, R Kumar, Renato Aguilera, Md Nurunnabi.
• Synthesis of Novel Pyrazole-Oxindole Conjugates with Cytotoxicity in Human Cancer Cells via Apoptosis Chemistry and Biodiversity 20(9):e202300843. (2023), Pravesh M. Jain, Denisse Gutierrez, Sujeet kumar, Renato AGUILERA, Subhas Karki.

• From the Study of DNases to Cancer Research: an Unexpected Scientific Journey (2022), Volume Washington, DC, Renato Aguilera.
• From the Study of DNases to Cancer Research: an Unexpected Scientific Journey (2022), Volume Nashville, TN, Renato Aguilera.

• Border Biomedical Research Center-Research Infrastructure Core