Patricia Sanchez-Diaz, Ph.D., D.V.M., F.A.A.O.

Associate Professor

Dr. Patricia C. Sanchez-Diaz is an Associate Professor at the Rosenberg School of Optometry at UIW, San Antonio, Texas. She obtained her DVM degree (1997) from Facultad de Veterinaria de Caceres (UEx, Spain), and her PhD degree (2002) from Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (UAM, Madrid, Spain). After completing her PhD studies, Dr. Sanchez-Diaz did two postdoctoral training's. During the first one, she studied the molecular basis of antibiotic resistance at the Hospital Ramon y Cajal (Madrid, Spain; Jan 2003-Aug 2004). In September 2004, Dr. Sanchez-Diaz was recruited to the University of Texas HSC at San Antonio for her second postdoctoral training, this one in Molecular and Cellular Biology. Since then, Dr. Sanchez-Diaz's main research has focused on tumor and stem cell biology. She is very interested in signaling pathways and stem-like cancer cells, particularly, in understanding the mechanisms regulating "stemness" and drug resistance and how cancer stem cells can be targeted to prevent tumor growth. Current research interests also include effective teaching and student learning. Dr. Sanchez-Diaz joined Rosenberg School of Optometry full-time with the rank of Assistant Professor in August of 2010 and became a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry in November of 2014.