Biobehavioral Research

Biobehavioral Research Centers on Excellence Across the Lifespan

In the School of Nursing, our biobehavioral research focuses on health promotion and improving chronic disease management and prevention.

Biobehavioral Lab

Our Biobehavioral Lab is one of our centers of excellence focused on salivary science and biobanking. It serves as a one-stop shop for students and researchers for designing and conducting research studies involving biobehavioral methods.

The laboratory consists of a wet lab and a behavioral suite. The wet lab is classified as a Biosafety Level 2 facility by the UT Health San Antonio Environmental Health and Safety Department. It has the capacity to conduct assays involving saliva and blood. Several freezers are storing various biological samples from local and national studies.

The laboratory also has resources for various physical assessments including, but not limited to:

• body composition (i.e., Physician scale, COSMED bod pod)
• strength and fitness (i.e., Biodex system 3, Baseline hydraulic hand dynamometer, ParvoMedic Metabolic Card, Stop watch, and Polar heart rate monitor) and cardiovascular function (i.e., sphygmomanometer, oxymeter).

It also has resources for neuropsychological testing including, but not limited to the following:

• Wisconsin Card Sorting Test
• CANTAB (Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery)
• D-KEFS (Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System).

The laboratory has an active collaboration with LabCorp to conduct assays that cannot be done in-house.

For additional information and collaboration inquiries, please contact Dr. Darpan Patel at pateld7@uthscsa.edu