Alberto Aparicio, PhDAssistant Professor

Alberto Aparicio is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioethics and Health Humanities. He completed postdoctoral fellowships at the Global Observatory for Genome Editing, Harvard University, and the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute in Colombia. Dr. Aparicio received his PhD in Science and Technology Studies from University College London, and his MPhil in Technology Policy from Cambridge University. 

At UTMB, Dr. Aparicio develops a research program examining “limit-making” and the establishment of ethical boundaries within the life sciences. His work also encompasses transformations in knowledge production and the political economy of biomedicine. As part of this program, he studies the “longevity biotechnology” community, which seeks to develop interventions to slow aging, rejuvenate the body, or extend human lifespan. He examines the construction of “healthy aging” as a novel paradigm in biomedicine that reflects broader transformations in life sciences research and regulation, along with novel subjectivities and configurations of state-science-society relationships. For the past two years, he has conducted fieldwork in this area, attending and speaking at major longevity biotechnology conferences and policy-related events—becoming a recognized figure in science-society relations and the ethics of longevity.

Dr. Aparicio’s previous research projects have addressed the ethics of safety-by-design and the modification of synthetic microorganisms for environmental release, human-assisted reproduction and the demarcation between legitimate and illegitimate human modification, and the entanglement of biodiversity, innovation, and state-building in the bioeconomy. His doctoral research at UCL explored the construction of biocontainment in synthetic biology as a form of responsibility and governance, along with design principles of safety through the unnaturalness of synthetic biological systems.

Postdoctoral Training, Global Observatory for Genome Editing, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 2021-2023

Postdoctoral Training, Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute, Bogotá, Colombia, 2020-201

PhD, Science and Technology Studies, University College London, London, UK, 2019

MPhil, Technology Policy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, 2013

MSc, Biochemistry, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada, 2009

BSc, Microbiology, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia, 2006

Mailing address:
School of Public and Population Health
University of Texas Medical Branch
301 University Boulevard
Galveston, TX 77555-1150

 Office address:
UTMB Health Clinics (UHC) Building
1005 Harborside Drive, Suite 4.208
Galveston, TX 77555
Phone:409-772-2376
Email: alaparic@UTMB.EDU