Professor of Surgery (Research)

Overview

Dr. Ayala is Professor of Surgery (Research) and the Director of the Division of Surgical Research at Lifespan-Rhode Island Hospital/the Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University. He has been recognized by his peers through election as a “Fellow”-American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (22’) and was selected as the 2024 "Legacy Awardee" of the Society of Leukocyte Biology (SLB). He was a NIH-NIGMS-Consultant/Panel member for ‘National Advisory General Medical Sciences (NAGMS) Working Group on Sepsis’ (18'-19'). He served as a standing member of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-Lung Cellular Molecular & Immunology (LCMI)-Study Section as well as previously on the NIH-Surgery Anesthesia Trauma (SAT)-Study Section, and has served as an ad hoc on various NIH site visit teams/SEPs/ad hoc review pannels, the Veteran's Administration (VA)-Department of Defense (DoD) Merit Review Board, Wellcome Trust as well as Shriners Research Hospitals (over 12 years). He has been recognized by his peers through election to President (04'-05'), Treasurer (02'-04'), and Scientific Program Chairman (01) of the Shock Society; as selection as Recorder/Executive Council (05'-07') of the Surgical Infection Society, and by appointment to the Society of Leukocyte Biology council (11'-13'). Dr. Ayala was also the recipient of a "Maximizing Investigators' Research Award  (MIRA)" for Established Investigators (R35) from the NIH-NIGMS (16'); the Shock Society's 10th annual 'Scientific Achievement Award' (07'); and the 15th annual 'Distinquished Service Award' (09'). He has over 300 manuscripts/review articles to his credit and has been continuously funded by the NIH since 1991. He is also a member of the training faculty of the Brown University Graduate Pathobiology Program; the Therapuatic Sciences Graduate Program, the Department of Cell Biology, Molecular Biology & Biochemistry Graduate Program; and is an adjunct Professor/mentor in the Univ. R.I. graduate program in the Department of Cellular & Molecular Biology. During his tenure at Brown University and previously at Michigan State University he has had the privilege of mentoring students ranging from undergraduates and medical students to surgical residents, post-doctoral fellows and Junior Faculty.  Research interests include projects looking at: the differential effects of sepsis on immune cell function; the role of programmed cell death/ apoptosis in immune dysfunction observed following hemorrhage and/or sepsis; as well as, the contribution of 'checkpoint' protein/ accessory molecule expression to the pathological process mediating acute lung injury resultant from shock and/or septic insults.

Brown Affiliations

Research Areas

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