Our Team

Current Team Members:

Dr. Steven A. Romero – Principal Investigator
Dr. Romero grew up in the small town of Socorro, Texas. Dr. Romero completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio and completed his doctoral training at the University of Oregon under the mentorship of Dr. John Halliwill. Dr. Romero then completed a post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Craig Crandall at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine (IEEM) in Dallas. Currently, Dr. Romero is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology and Anatomy and is an Associate Scientist at the IEEM. In his down time, Dr. Romero enjoys the outdoors, BBQing, and watching track and field while enjoying a good craft beer. Dr. Romero also enjoys quality coffee and is always happy to use his barista skills to provide a delicious beverage to subjects after their experimental sessions.

Ysabella Ruiz, BS – Predoctoral Fellow                                                                                                                    Ysabella started her research journey while working with dairy cows at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo where she completed her B.S. in Animal Science. After graduation she left her girls (dairy cows) and began working as a medical assistant apprentice in primary care. Working in patient care made her realize her passion for human cardiovascular physiology, eventually leading her to the Human Vascular Physiology Laboratory! Outside of the lab, you can find her laughing with family and friends or cuddling with her pups- Jude and Dora.

Bri Gilliland – Research Associate
Bri, originally from rural East Texas, moved to DFW in 2020 and is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science at UNTHSC with plans for PA school afterwards. With prior clinical experience as a caregiver, medication aide for Alzheimer’s and Dementia patients, and as a hospital tech in high-acuity units at Baylor Scott and White, she now focuses on physiology research to deepen her understanding of clinical trials and physical medicine to better serve future patients. Outside of school, Bri enjoys camping, traveling, and taking travel photography, as well as spending time with her loved ones and her cat, Chulo.

Harrison Peyrovi, BS – Medical Sciences Research Track
Born in Grapevine, Texas, Harrison Peyrovi graduated from Texas Christian University (TCU) with a BS in Nutritional Science. His passion for healthy living and dieting, developed during his undergraduate studies, led him to pursue research in human cardiovascular physiology. Outside of academics, Harrison enjoys watching and playing soccer, cooking, and exploring the world of coffee.

Alumni:

Rauchelle Richey, PhD
Rauchelle fell in love with human physiology while completing a B.S. in kinesiology at San Diego State University. She took a break from academia to be a stay at home mom and dove deep into the world of endurance racing. After two Ironman races, she decided that she needed a bigger challenge and enrolled at UT Arlington where she recently completed her M.S. in exercise physiology. Rauchelle loves human physiology research, any excuse to exercise, exploring the outdoors, traveling to far away places, and her family of boys most of all! One of her favorite aspects of experimentation is entertaining research participants with her stand-up comedy routine of dad jokes. Don’t worry, the research participants love them too!

Holden Hemingway, PhD
Holden Hemingway received his B.S. in Biology from the University of Kentucky in 2017. He is a third year Ph.D. student in the Physiology and Anatomy department at UNTHSC. His project focuses on vascular ischemia-reperfusion injury, specifically its pathophysiology and therapeutic methods to protect against it. Outside of the lab, he enjoys spending his time cooking and baking in the kitchen or doing some form of cardiovascular exercise. Holden is always focused on subject comfort and does his best to ensure subjects are not without a blanket during studies.

Amy Moore, RN
Amy was born and raised in North Texas, and joined the lab in November, 2019. She received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Tarleton State University in 2017. Her nursing background includes 2 years in the ICU and 1 year in home health with previous non-nursing experience in management, fine dining, and hospitality. She is also a registered yoga instructor and works as an adoption coordinator for a local racehorse rescue in her spare time. Outside of yoga and horses, Amy also loves rock-climbing, traveling, and is a certified Scuba diver. She has 2 boys- a Shepsky named Luke, and an off-track Thoroughbred named Naqafeer.

Stephanie Hope, RN
Stephanie was the first RN to join the Romero lab, during a pause in her travel life, while living in Aledo. Originally from Wyoming, Stephanie attended the University of Sioux Falls for an education in Exercise Physiology and then attended Nursing School at Sheridan College. Although very sad to leave the lab, Stephanie enjoyed her time at UNTHSC and getting to experience a new side of nursing (that she never realized existed!) while participating in experiments as both a volunteer subject and a team member. She is now back on the road, with her husband, 2 small children, and bloodhound, to destinations unknown.

Rachel Engelland, BS
Rachel graduated from Texas A&M University, where she earned a B.S. in University Studies, a major that allowed her to create her own curriculum and explore a wide variety of interests. In addition to the foundations of the Biomedical Sciences, she studied advanced Chemistry, Psychology, Spanish, and Business. Wanting to learn more about biomedical research, she joined the Human Vascular Physiology Laboratory in March of 2018 as a research assistant. After experiencing how exciting and rewarding human research was, Rachel decided to come on as a student. She is currently in her first year of the PhD program in the College of Biomedical and Translational Sciences. When Rachel is not in the lab or studying for her next exam, she likes to relax by reading, meditating, listening to music, going on walks with her dog, petting her cat, spending time with friends and family, and texting quotes from The Office back and forth with her sister.