Cristal Villalba, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Texas at San Antonio

ECC Role: Media Outreach Coordinator-Liaison to PURPOSE Network, PRF Newsletter and IASP Newsletter

Research Goal: To make complex pain science more accessible for people.

Research Focus: Data science, omics analysis, bioinformatics, pain research.

Mentor: Dr. Shivani Ruparel

Dr. Villalba Silva earned her PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil. Her doctoral work investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying lysosomal storage diseases, using bioinformatics tools. Currently, she is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Shivani Ruparel's lab at UT Health San Antonio, where her research focuses on tumor-nerve interactions and oral cancer pain biology using cross-species single-cell and spatial transcriptomics. Outside the lab, Cristal keeps busy petting her cats, gaming on her PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2, and coaching archery as a USA Archery certified Level 3 coach — she brings the same precision and focus she applies to science to the range and to her band!