Mario Romero Ortegal, PhD
Director of Regenerative Neurobiology
Professor of Neurology and Biomedical Engineering
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Educational path
· BS in BioMedicine
· PhD in Neurosciences
· Two prodocotorates (one on Developmental Biology, the other on Molecular Medicine).

Special training for nanotechnology
Other than the procdoctoral training, no.

Tips/Advice to jumpstart a career in nanotechnology
Be very proactive in information seeking so that you are updated on what is happening in the field. Nanotechnology is a very quickly evolving field. Be very aware of the changes being made in the field.

Why did you choose the field of nanotechnology?
It's an exceptional field, and I've always had very much interest in it.

How did you first get into nanotechnology?
It was kind of circumstantial. One of my colleagues is Dr. Ray Baughman at UTD. We were invited to participate in a luncheon where we were basically sharing our research. We came to an immediate realization that we can combine our expertise to answer an important question that will be pertinent to both fields. So he developed a nanotube seed and I've been growing neurons and trying to record from them. So we decided to work together as a result of that meeting. It was a professional meeting, but it was substantial because that is how I became involved in nanotechnology.

What is it like to work in nanotechnology?
It's phenomenal. To me it's an incredible field that will revolutionize science and technology.