Previous Positions

Previous Positions: 

Associate Professor of Clinical Sciences Saint James School of Medicine, Anguilla
Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Toronto, On, Canada

Research Interests

Research Interests: 

Dr Villagomez  research centered in the immunopathology involved in dermatological disorders, with special focus in Atopic Dermatitis and the different pattern of cytokines and chemokines involved during the presentation of the disease. Other interests are also related to the use of the stem cells and their potential to be used to develop regenerative therapies for a wide variety of diseases. This newly acquired interest is also used during the Histology and Cell Biology classes by exposing the students to the most recent discoveries in the treatment of a variety of diseases involving transgenic stem cells and iPS (Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells).

Publications

Publications (selected):

Bae SangJae, Tenma Miwa, Villagomez M Maria Teresa, Takenaka Motoi, etc. Relationships between level of substance P, eotaxin and stress in pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis. Arergy Bumon Kenkyuu Shouroku Shuu (Leading Studies in Allergy) , 2001, p138 
Villagomez MT, Bae SJ, Ogawa I, Takenaka M, Katayama I. Tumour necrosis factor-alpha but not interferon-gamma is the main inducer of inducible protein-10 in skin fibroblasts from patients with atopic dermatitis. Br J Dermatol. 2004 May;150(5):910-6. 
Maria Villagomez, Eva Szabo, Alexey Podcheko, Tianshu Feng, Sylvia Papp and Michal Opas. Calreticulin and Focal-contact-dependent Adhesion. Biochem Cell Biol. 2009 April
Malko AV, Villagomez M, Aubin JE, Opas M. Both chondroinduction and proliferation account for growth of cartilage nodules in mouse limb bud cultures.Stem Cell Rev. 2013 Apr;9(2):121-31

Maria Teresa Villagomez MD, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Histology and Clinical Sciences

Career Profile

Dr. Villagomez received her MD degree from the Universidad Cristiana de Bolivia in 1999 and practiced medicine as a general practitioner in Bolivia with a personal interest in Dermatology. She was awarded a scholarship to pursue her PhD in Investigative Dermatology at the prestigious Dermatology Department of the Nagasaki University Hospital in Japan. She is fluent in Spanish, English and Japanese and has published multiple articles in Japanese.

The focus of her postdoctoral work at the University of Toronto at the Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology was in Cell adhesion. She moved to the British Caribbean in 2010 and has worked full-time as a physician and medical educator with AUIS since 2015. She is the Course Director for Histology and Cell Biology for Year 1 MD students and is a Clinical Skills instructor for Year 1 and 2 students within the Patient-Doctor Skills courses. Her expertise stems from a focus on learning styles of the individual student.

Education

  • MD degree:  Universidad Cristiana de Bolivia
  • Philosophy Doctor: Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Japan
AUIS | Caribbean Medical School