Opening Plenary Session

Second Annual St. Mary’s Research Week

April 11-14, 2022

Celebrate our events by tagging on social media – #URW2022

Opening Session – AA&CC Movement Studio

Join our kick-off event as we hear from faculty, deans, and alumni about the importance of research. Dr. Juan Ocampo, Associate Professor of Engineering, will share his professional journey and how research has impacted his students. The Deans’ Panel discussion moderated by Dr. Carolyn Tubbs will be discussing “Reviving Research Connections – Post-Pandemic Reflections and Moving Forward”. Lastly, the alumni panel will discuss the importance of research in their professional life. Food and beverages will be provided.

Opening Remarks – Dr. Juan Ocampo

Juan D. Ocampo, Ph.D

St. Mary’s University

Juan Ocampo, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the St. Mary’s University Engineering Department. He joined St. Mary’s in August 2016.

Ocampo received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) in 2013. He also received his M.S in Mechanical Engineering from UTSA in 2009. He came to the United States from Medellin, Colombia, where he received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from EAFIT University.

Ocampo’s main research area is Holistic Structural Integrity Process (HOLSIP) with an emphasis on structural integrity (probabilistic fatigue and damage tolerance analysis). He has active research grants with the Federal Aviation Administration in structural integrity and with the National Nuclear Security Administration Minority Serving Institution Partnership Program (NNSA MSIPP) to build a pipeline between the Department of Energy’s sites and labs and minority-serving institutions in STEM disciplines and bring a heightened awareness of NNSA plants and laboratories to institutions with a common interest in STEM research fields.

“Reviving Research Connections – Post-Pandemic Reflections and Moving Forward– a Discussion with our Deans”

Interim Dean Ian Martines, SET

St. Mary’s University

Ian Martines, Ph.D., joined the Department of Mathematics at St. Mary’s University in 2009 and served as Chair from 2014 to 2018, as Associate Dean from 2019 to 2021, and now as Interim Dean. As a Professor of Mathematics, Martines has served on several University committees including the Tenure and Promotion Revision Committee, the Core Curriculum Review Committee and the Marianist Educational Associates. Departmentally, he currently serves as Engineering Mathematics Coordinator and teaches courses in both the Mathematics and Engineering departments.

Interim Dean Leona Pallansch, CAHSS

St. Mary’s University

Leona Pallansch, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Political Science and most recently served as Vice Provost for Academic Affairs before being named Interim Dean. She received her B.A. in Government and Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and her M.A. in Government and Foreign Affairs from Georgetown University. After completing a dissertation that explored the relationship between U.S. foreign assistance and alignment behavior of recipient governments, she received her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Her research utilizes quantitative analyses to study political behavior in international contexts. Recent papers include an examination of the impact of social media on the Arab Spring, the use of development assistance as a counterinsurgency strategy, analysis of incentive structures and success of microloans, and longitudinal studies of risk factors associated with problem behaviors in children adopted from the former Soviet Union. She has worked with students on various research projects including an evaluation of the services offered by the Battered Women’s Shelter, an evaluation of San Antonio’s public park system, and a survey analysis of local employers’ perceptions of immigrants.

Photo of Associate Dean of Law Ramona Lampley

Associate Dean for Research & Faculty Development Ramona Lampley , School of Law

St. Mary’s University

Lampley graduated magna cum laude from Wake Forest University School of Law in 2004, where she was named Outstanding Graduate from the National Association of Women Lawyers. Following law school, she served as a law clerk for the Hon. Harris L Hartz who sits on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Before joining the faculty at St. Mary’s, Lampley practiced complex civil litigation at Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell LLP in Denver, Colorado, where she specialized in commercial class action disputes, corporate disputes, arbitration enforcement, punitive damages, and professional malpractice. Lampley began her teaching career as a visiting assistant professor at Wake Forest University School of Law from 2007-2008.

Photo of Associate Dean of Business Violeta Diaz of

Violeta Diaz, Associate Dean, Greehey School of Business

St. Mary’s University

Violeta Díaz is Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Finance at the Greehey School of Business. Díaz is an award-winning researcher with 20 years of teaching experience. She is the Faculty Advisor for the $3.7 million Student Managed Fund and teaches Investments and Seminar in Finance. Prior to joining St. Mary’s University, she was Assistant Professor at New Mexico State University for five years where she led the banking program and taught varied undergraduate and graduate courses. Before earning her Ph.D. in Finance from The University of Texas-Pan American, she taught at Monterrey Tech in Monterrey, Mexico.

The Importance of Research in Professional Life: a StMU Alumni Discussion

Sara Guarino, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral fellow at the Dell Medical School

University of Texas at Austin

Sara Guarino is a postdoctoral fellow at Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology at St. Mary’s University (2016) and completed her Honors Scholar thesis studying the development of social behavior in orcas under the mentorship of Dr. Heather Hill. She earned her master’s (2018) and doctoral (2021) degrees in Experimental Psychology at Texas Christian University under the mentorship of Dr. Mauricio Papini. For her Ph.D. work, she trained in the learning and behavioral neuroscience pathway to study the function of brain structures in the modulation of negative emotions induced by unexpected reward loss. While pursuing her doctorate, she discovered the benefits of yoga and mindfulness practices for coping with these unexpected losses, such as those related to the COVID-19 pandemic. For her postdoctoral training, she joined a team of researchers led by Dr. Audrey Brumback to study the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying typical and atypical neurodevelopment. The goal of her work is to advance the research in directions that are relevant to device prevention and intervention strategies aiming to enhance cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functions, using a combination of behavioral (e.g., mindfulness-based practices) and neuromodulation (e.g., brain stimulation therapy) approaches to treat psychological and psychiatric disorders.

Edward Garza

Scientist – Microencapsulation

Pharmaceuticals & Bioengineering Dept, Southwest Research Institute

Edward grew up in San Antonio and graduated from St. Mary’s University in Spring 2019 with a B.S. in biochemistry. Throughout his undergraduate career, Edward participated in research projects off campus at UT Health San Antonio, and on campus under the supervision and guidance of Dr. Jose Tormos. At the end of his senior year, Edward presented research findings from a polymer synthesis project conducted at St. Mary’s for the Spring 2019 American Chemical Society national convention. In July 2019, Edward joined Southwest Research Institute’s microencapsulation team as a scientist, where he currently collaborates with fellow technical, science, and engineering staff in designing, proposing, and executing encapsulation research projects for the public and private sectors.

Valeria R. Garza

Software engineer, USAA

Valeria R. Garza received both her bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering (’18) and MBA (’21) from St. Mary’s University. During the MBA program, she worked with Dr. Ajaya Swain to prepare a business intelligence research project focused on determining key factors in achieving service level agreements (SLAs) for information technology incident resolution. In 2018, Valeria began her professional career at USAA, where she is a software engineer supporting the enterprise’s member digital communication channels (email, SMS, and push). Her technical experience thus far includes the design, development, and production support of reactive Java REST APIs.

Nadeen Abou-Hossa, J.D.

Staff Attorney, Fourth Court of Appeals

Nadeen Abou-Hossa received her Juris Doctor degree from St Mary’s School of Law in 2020. She graduated Magna Cum Laude and was inducted into the John. M. Harlan Society. She received her undergraduate degree in Middle Eastern Studies and Arabic from the University of Texas at Austin.

While attending St. Mary’s University School of Law, Nadeen was a staff writer and then the Managing Executive Editor for The Scholar: St. Mary’s University’s Law Review on Race and Social Justice. While in law school, she authored a published comment on a First Amendment issue related to a Texas Bill. Nadeen also won the Mack Kidd Administrative Law Moot Court Competition and the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. Upon graduation, Nadeen received the Presidential Award and was inducted into the National Order of the Barristers.

Nadeen began her legal career at the Fourth Court of Appeals. She began as a briefing attorney and is now a staff attorney for Chief Justice Martinez. She participated in the 2020 Hispanic National Bar Association Latina Leadership Academy and is currently a member of the 2022 Bexar County Women’s Bar Foundation’s LEAD Academy. Nadeen is also on the Board of Directors for the Bexar County Women’s Bar Association.

Nadeen is also an adjunct professor at St. Mary’s School of Law, where she coaches students to compete in the Hispanic National Bar Association Moot Court Competition and the National Black Law Student Association Moot Court Competition.