Ana Maria Porras, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the University of Florida’s J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, has been awarded the 2024–25 Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering Excellence Award for Assistant Professors.
Porras leads an interdisciplinary research program at the intersection of cell and tissue engineering, matrix biology, and microbiology. Her work aims to uncover how both beneficial and pathogenic microbes influence human health, with a focus on how these microbes remodel the extracellular matrix. She also develops advanced in vitro models that more accurately replicate the features of human tissue in the lab. This cross-disciplinary approach is uncommon in biomedical engineering and has enabled her to uncover novel mechanisms in human-microbe interactions, with wide-ranging implications for cardiovascular disease and microbiome-based therapeutics.
Since joining UF, Porras has built an impressive record of research productivity and recognition. She has secured $2.87 million in research funding as principal investigator. Her major awards include the National Science Foundation CAREER Award and the National Institutes of Health R35 Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA), both of which recognize highly innovative and impactful research programs. Her collaborative efforts span multiple departments across campus, including Neuroscience, Food Science and Human Nutrition, and Microbiology and Cell Science. Her students have also earned prestigious honors such as the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and NIH T32 appointments.
Porras is also a committed educator. She has developed and taught courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, including the newly created Global Health in Biomedical Engineering and the well-established Biomedical Engineering Fundamentals. Her instructional innovations—such as incorporating international virtual exchanges—have enriched the student learning experience. She chairs three Ph.D. committees and has mentored students who have presented at dozens of local and national conferences. In recognition of her teaching contributions, she received the department’s 2023 Teaching Excellence Award and the 2025 Rising Star Award from the UF Center for Teaching Excellence.
Her service contributions are equally distinguished. She has chaired key departmental committees and is actively involved in national professional societies. She has served as a track chair for the Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting and has been part of the organizing teams for the Inclusive SciComm Symposium and the Society for Biomaterials Southeast Regional Meeting. Porras also serves as a reviewer for numerous scientific journals and sits on the editorial boards of GEN Biotechnology and Tissue Engineering Part C. Her national leadership in STEM, particularly through her co-founding of the LatinXinBME community, has been recognized by awards from both BMES and the Society for Biomaterials.