Bernard Arulanandam

Dr. Bernard Arulanandam was the Jane and Roland Blumberg Professor of Biology and the Vice President for Research, Economic Development, and Knowledge Enterprise (REDKE) at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Dr. Arulanandam has directed the research and economic development enterprise at UTSA, a young, urban serving, multi-cultural, discovery enterprise with 35,000 students, since 2016. He is a strong advocate for multidisciplinary research efforts, building strategic external partnerships, promoting innovation and technology transfer, cultivating faculty and staff professional development opportunities and enhancing research and scholarly activities for students.

Under Dr. Arulanandam’s leadership, he has spearheaded the development of faculty cluster hiring programs that are aligned to the development of research interest groups (RIGs). He has advanced state and federal engagement programs and created forward-thinking institutes and centers to enhance the national visibility and prominence of the institution. He oversaw the implementation of a comprehensive program for engaging with local, state, and federal agencies. This program hosts and sends delegations to federal agencies to secure public and governmental support for initiatives such as forming partnerships with the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Energy. He co-led the creation of UTSA’s National Security Collaboration Center (NSCC), forming a powerful ecosystem of federal, academic, military, and industry partners collaborating on research, education and workforce development in all things cyber, national security and their intersection with biosciences, policy and data sciences. He directed the activities of the Institute of Economic Development (IED), providing professional business advising, technical training, research, market analysis, and strategic planning for entrepreneurs, business owners and community leaders, to generate substantial direct economic impact for the region. He significantly advanced innovation and technology transfer at UTSA through the expansion of the Office of Commercialization and its strong advocacy for innovation, including participation in the NSF I-Corps Program.

As an established Immunologist, Dr. Arulanandam directs a research program that is focused on elucidating host-microbial interactions and the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the induction of immune responses against infectious diseases. Dr. Arulanandam’s interdisciplinary research accomplishments are demonstrated by his awards from the National Institutes of Health, DoD, and Department of Homeland Security, extensive list of research publications and issued patents. Dr. Arulanandam has successfully mentored many students and post-doctoral fellows who have now developed independent productive careers in government, industry and academia.

Dr. Arulanandam has served as the Director of the South Texas Center of Emerging Infectious Diseases, co-led the institutional Public-Health Task Force in response to the on-going pandemic, and currently is an administrator for the Vaccine Development Center of San Antonio. Dr. Arulanandam also serves as the Councilor for the Oak Ridge Association of Universities, a member of the Board of Directors for Biomed SA, Chairman of the Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CyMANII) Governance Board, and on the advisory committee for the National Commission on Innovation & Competitiveness Frontiers.

Dr. Arulanandam was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and received the Fulbright International Education Administrator Award in 2016. In 2017, Dr. Arulanandam was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM). Most recently, he was inducted as a fellow to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) in 2019.

Dr. Bernard Arulanandam obtained a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology at the Medical College of Ohio and received a postdoctoral fellowship at the Albany Medical College in New York and an executive M.B.A. at The University of Texas at San Antonio.