
Bringing right care to
the right population AT
the right time
HEAL Lab
Healthcare Analytics laboratory at utsa

research
In the HEAL LAB, we focus on designing, building, and implementing innovative data-driven systems engineering solutions to improve community health.
Enhancing Equity in Opioid Medication Treatment with Responsive Machine Learning
Role: Co-PI
Period: 10/2023 - 10/2025
This project utilizes causal machine learning to address health disparities in MOUD treatment. It aims to identify subgroups with varying treatment effects and develop personalized buprenorphine treatment adherence prediction models. The outcome is expected to be a framework for improving treatment adherence and mitigating health disparities in MOUD.
Funding
CURRENTly Funded PROJECTS
Population health computational modeling
Tailored policy design and analysis for social, economic and population health outcomes in diverse communities using computational modeling.
Health care data analytics
Applying data analysis techniques to detect behavioral trends using electronic health records.
Health care disparity assessment
Analytical approaches are used to identify and characterize the root causes of health disparities, with a focus on social determinants of health.
Using Machine Learning and Data Analytics Frameworks to
Estimate Medication Use for Managing Challenging Behavior
in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Texas
Role: PI
Period: 10/2024 - 09/2026
This study aims to investigate the utilization and effectiveness of ad-hoc
pharmacological interventions for managing challenging behavior in Texas.
Leveraging longitudinal prescription data, we will analyze patterns of medication
usage, particularly focusing on three categories: agitation and self-injurious behavior
mitigation, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-like symptoms
management, and mood and anxiety disorder treatment
Funding
Team:
- Dr. Yanmin Gong, Associate professor and Microsoft President’s Endowed Fellow in the Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering at The University of Texas at San Antonio - Dr. Yuanxiong Guo, Associate professor in the Department of Information Systems and Cyber Security, Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering, and School of Data Science at The University of Texas at San Antonio - Dr. Cici X.C. Bauer Associate Professor James W. Rockwell Professorship in Public Health (Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology)
Department of Biostatistics and Data Science Director, Center for Spatial-temporal Modeling for Applications in Population Sciences
(CSMAPS) University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health - Dr. Carolina Vivas-Valencia, Assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering at the University of
Texas at San Antonio
Team:
- Dr. Leslie Neely, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at San Antonio
- Dr. Carolina Vivas-Valencia, Assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering at the University of
Texas at San Antonio
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undergraduate students
Dog-toral Trainees
Lola Carantanta
Millie Milonga
LolaCarantanta & MillieMilonga are co-advised by Prof. David Restrepo (https://www.davidrestrepo-research.com). LolaCarantanta & MillieMilonga share a keen interest in treats and peanut butter and enjoy getting pets and going for early morning walks. Occasionally, they join Zoom meetings and are great companions during grant writing sessions.
Alumni – Previous Members
Belem Suarez - The University of Texas at San Antonio, 2023-2024
Isabel Castrillon Acosta - Universidad CES (Medellin, Colombia), Spring 2024
Vaibhavi Sunkara - The University of Texas at San Antonio, 2023-2024
Avery Scurlock - The University of Texas at San Antonio, Fall 2023
Crystal is a student in the bachelor's program in mechanical engineering at UTSA. She
currently serves as the Treasurer for the Society of Women Engineers, where she combines
her academic pursuits with leadership in promoting women in STEM fields. Crystal is also
deeply committed to her personal journey of long-term recovery from drugs and alcohol,
marking August 4, 2020, as her sobriety birthdate. She actively contributes to UTSA's
Roadrunner Recovery program as a work-study student, embodying her dedication to
fostering a supportive collegiate environment. Crystal aspires to merge her engineering skills
with her passion for community support, aiming to make a lasting impact in both fields.
Pronouns: She/her
Hometown: Houston, TX
Hobbies: Dancing, exercising, learning new skills, and hanging out with her 11-year-old son
Email: crystal.holland@my.utsa.edu
Crystal Holland
Principal investigator
Meet the team
Assistant Professor
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Harvard University
Ph.D. and M.S. in Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University
B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, Universidad CES & Universidad EIA, Medellin, Colombia
Carolina Vivas-Valencia, PhD
Dr. Carolina Vivas-Valencia established the HEAL Lab in January 2023 at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). She is leading a multidisciplinary team with a focus on advancing precision population medicine for behavioral health through data analytics.
Dr. Vivas-Valencia is interested in conducting health informatics research to advance the treatment of autism and opioid use disorder. She is also leveraging real-world healthcare data to better understand the impact on health outcomes among pregnant and postpartum populations. Dr. Vivas-Valencia is passionate about making healthcare more accessible, inclusive science, and working with the community to address community-based health problems.
Graduate students
Pronouns: She/Her/Ella
Hometown: Popayán, Colombia
Paula Jaimes is currently pursuing a PhD in Biomedical Engineering at UTSA and UT Health San Antonio. She completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from Universidad Autónoma de Manizales in Colombia. Prior to joining the HEAL Lab, she worked as a research assistant at the Centro de Bioinformática y Biología Computacional de Colombia – BIOS. Paula's research interests focus on prescription patterns for autism and geospatial analysis of opioid use.
Pronouns: She/Her
Hometown: La Plata (Huila), Colombia
Goals: I want to utilize my abilities and skills to assist vulnerable communities through research and by practicing kindness.
Hobbies: Read, travel, experience new things, cook, play video games, and spend time with loved ones
Email: Paula.JaimesBuitron@my.utsa.edu
Paula A. Jaimes Buitron
carolina.vivasvalencia@utsa.edu
Sai is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas at San
Antonio and UT Health San Antonio joint graduate program. He completed his B.S. in
Biomedical Engineering at UTSA in Spring 2024. Before joining the HEAl Lab, Sai served as an
undergraduate research assistant at the ReMeDi Lab under Dr. Teja Guda at UTSA.
Additionally, he served as the president of the Klesse Student Advisory Council and was a
member/mentor in the UTSA Biomedical Engineering Society.
Pronouns: He/Him
Hometown: Rajahmundry,India
Goals: I want utilize my knowledge, skills and abilities gained in my academic journey to
create a equitable and fair health care system.
Hobbies: Traveling, soccer, and writing fictional sci-fi books.
Email: trilochan.tadi@my.utsa.edu
Trilochan (SAI) Tadi
Postdoctoral Fellows
Dr. Sara Abu-Aridah is Postdoctoral Fellow in The Mechanical, Aerospace and Industrial
Engineering Department at UTSA. She holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Penn
State University. Her research focuses on operations research for social good and healthcare
analytics, addressing public health disparities and optimizing resource allocation.
Pronouns: She/Her
Hometown: Irbid, Jordan
Goals: Increase access to healthcare services for our communities and serve them with
sustainable solutions for their well-being.
Hobbies: Anything with my family, Learning, Traveling, Hiking, Cooking with my two
daughters.
Email: sara.abu-aridah@utsa.edu
Sara Abu-Aridah
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Publications
- Hosseini, Mohammad, Peng Gao, and Carolina Vivas-Valencia. "A Social-Environmental Impact Perspective of
Generative Artificial Intelligence." Environmental Science and Ecotechnology (2024): 100520.
- Vivas-Valencia, Carolina, et al. "Factors Associated With Abrupt Discontinuation of Long-Term High-Dose Opioid
Treatment." JAMA Network Open 6.11 (2023): e2341416-e2341416.
- Vivas-Valencia, Carolina, et al. "Assessing the Impact of Indiana Public Law 194 on Curbing the Concurrent Opioid
Prescribing for Indiana Medicaid Enrollees." Substance Abuse: Research and Treatment 17 (2023):
11782218231168722.
- Vivas-Valencia, C., Kong., Adams, N., Griffin, P. (2023) Opioid-Related Treatment Disparities Among Medicaid Enrollees
in Indiana. Health Equity, 7.1
- Vivas-Valencia, C., Zhou, Y., Sai, A., Imperiale, T. F., & Kong, N. (2022). A two-phase approach to re-calibrating expensive
computer simulation for sex-specific colorectal neoplasia development modeling. BMC Medical Informatics and
Decision Making, 22(1), 244.
- Lou, Zhouyang, et al. "Examining how physician factors influence patient satisfaction during clinical consultations
about cancer prognosis and pain." PEC Innovation 1 (2022): 100017.
- Vivas-Valencia, C., Kong, N., & Griffin, P. (2021, May). Quantifying Disparities in Opioid Treatment Among Medicaid
Enrollees. In 42nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Medical Decision Making. SMDM.
- Vivas-Valencia, C., Kong, N., Kim, E., Purzer, S., & Payne, L. (2020, June). An assessment instrument for user-centered
innovation potential among biomedical engineers. In 2020 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Montréal, Quebec.
- Best Paper of the Design in Engineering Education Division
- Kim, E., Purzer, S., Vivas-Valencia, C., Payne, L., & Kong, N. (2020, June). Problem reframing and empathy
manifestation in the innovation process. In 2020 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Montréal, Quebec,
Canada.
- Kim, E., Purzer, S., Vivas-Valencia, C., Payne, L., & Kong, N. (2020, June). Problem reframing and empathy
- Kong, N., Purzer, S., Payne, L., Kim, E., & Vivas-Valencia, C. (2020, June). Research Initiation: Enhancing the Learning
Outcomes of Empathic Innovation in Biomedical Engineering Senior Design Projects. In 2020 ASEE Annual Conference
& Exposition, Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
- Sai, A., Vivas-Valencia, C., Imperiale, T. F., & Kong, N. (2019). Multiobjective calibration of disease simulation models
using Gaussian processes. Medical Decision Making, 39(5), 540-552.
- Hunter, S. R., Applegate, E. A., Arora, V., Chong, B., Cooper, K., Rincón-Guevara, O., & Vivas-Valencia, C. (2019). An
introduction to multiobjective simulation optimization. ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation
(TOMACS), 29(1), 1-36.
- Lee B. Lusted Finalist
- Vivas-Valencia, C., Sai, A., Imperiale, T., & Kong, N. (2017, October). An Effective Two-Phase Response Surface Based
Disease Model Calibration Procedure with a Case Study on Colorectal Cancer. In 39th Annual Meeting of the
Society for Medical Decision Making. SMDM.
- Vivas-Valencia, C., Sai, A., Imperiale, T., & Kong, N. (2017, October). An Effective Two-Phase Response Surface Based
- Mdluli, T., Sarker, J., Vivas-Valencia, C., Kong, N., & Shields, C. G. (2016). Analyzing Patient–Physician Interaction in
Consultation for Shared Decision Making. Healthcare Analytics, 503.
- Top Ranked Abstract Session
- Vivas-Valencia, C. V., Kong, N., Klein, R., Tham, W.K., & Imperiale, T., & Kong, N. (2014, October). A Progressive
Calibration Procedure for Individualized Colorectal Cancer Screening Study. In 36th Annual Meeting of the Society
for Medical Decision Making. SMDM.
- Vivas-Valencia, C. V., Kong, N., Klein, R., Tham, W.K., & Imperiale, T., & Kong, N. (2014, October). A Progressive
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News
in the press
Lab news
July 2024 - Discover more about our lab and the exciting
work being done at MATRIX AI
https://issuu.com/utsanantonio/docs/matrix-
annualreport_2022-2023
December 2023 - UTSA professors work to close opioid
treatment gaps with help of $1 million grant. Read the full
story here: https://klesse.utsa.edu/news/2023/12/13-opioid-
treatment-grant.html
November 2023 - Our latest publication on JAMA Open
Network was highlighted in "Alcoholism Drug Abuse Weekly."
Read the full story here:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/15567591/2023/35/44
August 2023 - Dr. Vivas-Valencia was recently featured in the
newsletter "Brain Waves.". Read the full story here:
https://www.utsa.edu/bhc/BHC-Newletter-FA-2023.pdf
October 2024
*Congratulations to Crystal for being selected by the Minorities Issues Forum to attend the
INFORMS Annual Meeting in Seattle.
September 2024
*Congratulations to Crystal for being awarded the Klesse College Undergraduate Research
Scholarship for the Fall 2024 term
August 2024
*Sai joins the HEAL LAB! Welcome
July 2024
*Our team has been awarded the Transdisciplinary Teams Program (T2) seed grant to
support our research in autism.
April 2024
*Paula got a full scholarship to attend the DAIR3 program at the University of Michigan in
June. The program is supported by NIH and focuses on ethical data management, AI model
design, and reproducibility. We are extremely proud of Paula's big accomplishment during
her first year as a PhD student!
*Congratulations to Brandon, Jack, Luis, Sai and Zack for winning the BMES and Tech
Symposium with their senior design project which aimed at detecting diabetic retinopathy
using artificial intelligence. It was an incredible experience to be their mentor and witness all
the great things they accomplished!
March 2024
*There was great representation and participation from the HEAL Lab at the NSF Spring
School. The event focused on Neuro-Inspired AI, Federated Learning, and Continual
Learning for the Edge.
*During the BME research symposium at UTSA, Paula showcased her work from the first
year at the HEAL Lab. Congratulations to Paula, and we look forward to seeing more from
her!
*Dr. Vivas-Valencia was invited to participate in the HSRU NSF writing workshop! It was
wonderful to meet inspiring faculty from Hispanic Serving Institutions.
February 2024 - Thanks to MATRIX AI for sponsoring Dr. Vivas-Valencia's attendance at the
TAMEST conference in Austin.
January 2024
*We are excited to welcome our first visiting student researcher, Isabel, to the HEAL Lab!
*Vaibhavi and Belem have been awarded the Klesse College Undergraduate Research
Scholarship for the Spring 2024 term. CONGRATULATIONS!!
November 2023
*New publication on “Factors Associated With Abrupt Discontinuation of Long-Term High-
Dose Opioid Treatment”
*Vaibhavi has been accepted into the Pathways to Education Research Training Program.
CONGRATULATIONS!!
October 2023
*Dr. Vivas-Valencia has been invited to speak at the INFORMS Annual Meeting in Phoenix
*Our research on optimal placement of point-of-care devices won the best oral presentation
award at the Zimbabwe National AIDS Council Research Symposium. Congratulations to the
amazing team!
September 2023
*First grant for the HEAL Lab!! Our team has received the NIH AIM-AHEAD Award!
*Belem has been awarded the Klesse College Undergraduate Research Scholarship for the
Fall 2023 term. CONGRATULATIONS!!
August 2023
*As part of the CAREER MODE program, Dr. Vivas-Valencia attended the Mendelian
Randomization Bootcamp at Columbia University in New York.
*Belem, Vaibhavi, and Avery have joined the HEAL Lab! WELCOME!!
July 2023 - Dr. Vivas-Valencia chaired a session and gave a talk at INFORMS Healthcare in
Toronto.
June 2023 - Paula joins the HEAL Lab!!! WELCOME
April 2023
*New publication on “Assessing the Impact of Indiana Public Law 194 on Curbing the
Concurrent Opioid Prescribing for Indiana Medicaid Enrollees”
*Dr. Vivas-Valencia has become a core member of MATRIX AI and a member of the Brain
Health Consortium at UTSA.
March 2023
*Dr. Vivas-Valencia has been selected for Columbia University's prestigious CAREER MODE
program.
*Dr. Vivas-Valencia has been invited to present a seminar at STRECH hosted by UTHealth
San Antonio.
*Dr. Vivas-Valencia has been invited to make a presentation at the RegenMed conference.
February 2023 - New publication on “Opioid-Related Treatment Disparities Among Medicaid
Enrollees in Indiana”
January 2023 - The HEAL LAB at UTSA opens!!
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women in BME social lunch
December 2023
End of the semester celebration
December 2023
TAMEST CONFERENCE
February 2024
NSF SPRING SCHOOL
March 2024
ISABEL’S BIRTHDAY
March 2024
BMES Symposium
March 2024
HSRU NSF WORKSHOP
March 2024
Crystal’s Birthday
July 2024
Belem’s Birthday
August 2024
Paula’s Birthday
September 2024
SOCIAL
INFORMS Committee at Phoenix
October 2023
September 2023
Paula’s Birthday
Winners of the BMES and Tech symposium
Senior Design project: detecting diabetic retinopathy using artificial intelligence
March - April 2024
end of the semester celebration
June 2024
INFORMS ANNUAL MEETING
October 2024
HOLIDAY CARD 2024
END OF THE SEMESTER CELEBRATION
December 2024
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bookshelf
Welcome to the HEAL Lab Bookshelf! Our collection features our favorite non-fiction books on healthcare, data analytics, behavioral health, empowerment, and productivity. We draw inspiration from these books to become better, more responsible researchers, leaders, and mentors, and to find tools to help empower others. #HappyReading!!
#Healthcare #disparities #opioidcrisis #infectiousdisease
#WOMENSHEALTH
#DATAanalytics #MACHINELEARNING #DATAMODELS
#timemanagement #grit #habits #mentoring #lifebalance
#women #empowerment #latinas
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