βThe Center for Investigations of Health and Education Disparities is a
collaborative effort between UCSD researchers, educators, scholars, and
community leaders within the San Diego area. Through Research, Training, and Outreach,
CIHED and its partners hope to find practical interventions to reduce
the health and educational gaps between ethnic and socioeconomic groups
in the United States.
Dr. Antonio De Maio, Ph.D. CENTER
DIRECTOR
Dr. De Maio is a well-recognized
international expert in the heat shock response field with an active research
group that studies the response to injury at the cellular and systemic levels.
He was president of the
Cell Stress Society International (
https://cellstressresponses.org)
from 2009β2010. Dr. De Maio obtained his Ph.D. from the Weizmann Institute in
Israel and continued with postdoctoral training in the U.S. at The University
of Massachusetts (Worcester, MA) and Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD).
He was appointed a faculty member at Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1994 and
stayed with Johns Hopkins until 2005. In 2006, Dr. De Maio was recruited to the
West Coast, where he joined the faculty of the University of California, San
Diego as a Tenured Professor in the School of Medicine.
Dr. De Maio is an active advocate
for diversity at UCSD and has established several programs aimed at providing
opportunities for students from various underrepresented groups, including
those with disabilities, students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and students
from minority groups that are traditionally underrepresented in science. He is
the Director of Pathways for the Advancement of Diversity in Research and
Education (PADRE), which supports programs that motivate, mentor, and
facilitate the transition of students from disadvantaged economic and social
backgrounds to higher education. Dr. De Maio is also Principal Investigator for
the NIGMS-funded Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) program
and Co-PI of the UCSD Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) program.
Shortly after arriving at UCSD in 2007, Dr. De Maio was presented with a Vice-Chancellor of Health Sciences Equal Opportunity Diversity Award in
recognition of his efforts to recruit underrepresented minority students to
UCSD. In 2010, he was named Mentor of the Year by the Compact for Faculty
Diversity of the Institute on Teaching and Mentoring, which is a coalition of federal and foundation programs that mentor underrepresented students in STEM
careers.