Christopher M. Valdez, Ph.D.

Research

Dr. Chris Valdez is the Associate Director for Research Operations at the LSOM Office for Research, and an Assistant Professor of Research. With a focus on supporting the LSOM clinical and basic science research mission, Dr. Valdez oversees the Long School of Medicine internal funding portfolio geared towards pilot data development for clinical trials, NIH R01s, and Program Project proposals. In addition, Dr. Valdez developed Elective 5061: Basic Science Training for Medical Students and was awarded a LINC grant to support the course. He is also the Course Director for Independent Research Electives 4010, 4011, and 4012. These courses guide medical students through the completion of clinical and basic science research projects. In AY23-24, 55 students have registered for these courses and have logged 2,250 hours in basic and clinical research laboratories.

Drawing from his background in technical and operational leadership acquired during his tenure with the Air Force Research Laboratory. Dr. Valdez brings basic science research expertise to his operations leadership. As a former Department of Defense principal investigator in the Radio Frequency Branch and a 2021 DoD STEM Hero, Dr. Valdez is recognized as a subject matter expert in neural mechanisms impacted by radio frequency energy. This expertise is instrumental in safeguarding the well-being of our nation’s warfighters in diverse and evolving operational environments, while also informing strategies to counter potential adversary effects.

Dr. Valdez’s career journey in the Department of Defense began in 2016 as a Postdoctoral Fellow, supported by fellowships from both the National Academy of Sciences and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. Beyond his DoD commitments, he has managed the Edison Grant and established the Scientific Training to Advance Research Readiness (STARR) program aimed at empowering junior military scientists and engineers.

Awards & Accomplishments

Biomedical Engineering Proceedings

Knerr, R. M., Mancillas, J., Sedelnikova, A. V., Gamboa, B., Casebeer, M. D., Barnes Jr, R., and Valdez, C. M. (2020, March). Evaluating muscular membrane perturbation upon pulsed electric field exposure. In Optical Interactions with Tissue and Cells XXXI (Vol. 11238, p. 112380X). International Society for Optics and Photonics.

Mancillas, J., Knerr, R., Sedelnikova, A. V., Gamboa, B., Casebeer, M. D., Barnes Jr, R., and Valdez, C. M. (2020, March). Evaluating muscular calcium dynamics upon pulsed electric field exposure. In Optical Interactions with Tissue and Cells XXXI (Vol. 11238, p. 112380Y). International Society for Optics and Photonics.

Tolstykh, G. P., Sedelnikova, A. V., Ibey, B. L., Echchgadda, I., and Valdez, C. M. (2020, March). Pulsed infrared laser activates intracellular signaling in NG108 cells. In Optical Interactions with Tissue and Cells XXXI (Vol. 11238, p. 1123810). International Society for Optics and Photonics.

Rafati, Y., Cantu, J. C., Sedelnikova, A., Tolstykh, G. P., Peralta, X. G., Valdez, C.M., & Echchgadda, I. (2020, February). Effect of microtubule resonant frequencies on neuronal cells. In Optical Interactions with Tissue and Cells XXXI (Vol. 11238, p. 112381E). International Society for Optics and Photonics.

Tolstykh, G. P., Ibey, B. L., Sedelnikova, A. V., Valdez, C. M., Cantu, J. C., & Echchgadda, I. (2020, February). Infrared laser-induced fast thermal gradient affects the excitability of primary hippocampal neurons. In SPIE (Vol. 11238, p. 112380Z).

Valdez, C.M., Jirjis, M. B., Roth, C. C., Barnes, R. A., and Ibey, B. L. (2017). Nanosecond electric pulses modulate skeletal muscle calcium dynamics and contraction. In SPIE BiOS International Society for Optics and Photonics

Patents

Barnes, R. A., Beier, H. T., Ibey, B. L., Roth, C. C., Bixler, J. N., & Valdez, C. M. (2020). U.S. Patent No. 10,557,793. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Affiliations

Service
Council Member, The Educational Opportunity Council in the Academic Opportunity and Educational Excellence Office

Member, Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) Working Group

Publications

Hardenburger, JA., Gamboa, B., Bixler, J., Valdez, C.M., Millis, B., Jansen, ED., Varying laser pulse widths influence infrared neural stimulation efficacy in vitro. Optogenetics and Optical Manipulation 2024 12829, 1282905

Burns JM, Kalinosky BT, Sloan MA, Cerna CZ, Fines DA, Valdez C.M, Voorhees WB. Dilation of the superior sagittal sinus detected in rat model of mild traumatic brain injury using 1 T magnetic resonance imaging. Front Neurol. 2023 Apr 26;14:1045695. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1045695. PMID: 37181576; PMCID: PMC10169716.

Payne JA, Barnes RA, Downey AX, Freeman DA, Johnson LR, Rodriguez RA, Sloan MA, Valdez C.M, Voorhees WB, Whitmore JN. Temperature Dynamics in Rat Brains Exposed to Near-Field Waveguide Outputs at 2.8 GHz. Bioelectromagnetics. 2022 Jan;43(1):14-24. doi: 10.1002/bem.22377. Epub 2021 Oct 31. PMID: 34719046.

Tolstykh, G. P., Valdez, C. M., Montgomery, N. D., Cantu, J. C., Sedelnikova, A., & Ibey, B. L. (2021). Intrinsic properties of primary hippocampal neurons contribute to PIP2 depletion during nsEP-induced physiological response. Bioelectrochemistry, 107930

Valdez, C.M., Barnes, R.A., Roth, C.C., Moen, Erick, Throckmorton, G., and Ibey, B.L. (2018). The interphase interval within a bipolar nanosecond electric pulse modifies bipolar cancellation, BEMS 39 (6), 441-450

Valdez, C.M., Barnes, R.A., Roth, C.C., Moen, Erick, Throckmorton, G., and Ibey, B.L. (2017). Asymmetrical bipolar nanosecond electric pulse widths modify bipolar cancellation. Scientific reports, 7(1), 16372.

Jirjis, M. B., Valdez, C.M., Vedantam, A., Schmit, B. D., and Kurpad, S. N. (2017). Diffusion tensor imaging as a biomarker for assessing neuronal stem cell treatments affecting areas distal to the site of spinal cord injury. Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, 26(2), 243-251.

Barnes, R. A., Roth, C. C., Beier, H. T., Noojin, G., Valdez, C.M., Bixler, J., and Ibey, B. L. (2017). Probe beam deflection optical imaging of thermal and mechanical phenomena resulting from nanosecond electric pulse (nsEP) exposure in-vitro. Optics Express, 25(6), 6621-6643.

Valdez, C. M., Murphy, G. G., and Beg, A. A. (2016). The Rac-GAP alpha2-chimaerin regulates hippocampal dendrite and spine morphogenesis. Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, 75, 14-26.

Jobson, M. A., Valdez, C. M., Gardner, J., Garcia, L. R., Jorgensen, E. M., & Beg, A. A. (2015). Spillover transmission is mediated by the excitatory GABA receptor LGC-35 in C. elegans. Journal of Neuroscience, 35(6), 2803-2816.Spillover transmission is mediated by the excitatory GABA receptor LGC-35 in C. elegans. Journal of Neuroscience, 35(6), 2803-2816. *co-first authorship

Valdez, C. M., Phelix, C. F., Smith, M. A., Perry, G., and Santamaria, F. (2011). Modeling cholesterol metabolism by gene expression profiling in the hippocampus. Molecular BioSystems, 7(6), 1891-1901.

Valdez, C. M., Smith, M. A., Perry, G., Phelix, C. F., and Santamaria, F. (2010). Cholesterol homeostasis markers are localized to mouse hippocampal pyramidal and granule layers. Hippocampus, 20(8), 902-905.