Rector Arya

About

Dr. Rector Arya is an Associate Professor at the Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio. Dr. Arya is a biological anthropologist and population geneticist specialized in genetic epidemiology, statistical genetics, and population health. He has been conducting biomedical, behavioral, and genomic research in human populations including Mexican Americans (MAs) using the state-of-the-art analytical technologies for more than 22 years. His areas of expertise include gene mapping and discovery, genetic/molecular epidemiological studies, gut microbiome and omic studies, and modeling genetic and environmental interactions influencing complex diseases. He has been a co-investigator on collaborative studies such as the T2D-GENES, AMP T2D-GENES (National/International Studies funded by NIH - Multiethnic populations including MAs), and INDIGENIUS (US-India collaborative multi-institutional project) consortia. Dr. Arya has contributed substantially to the detection, localization and identification of genetic variants/genes influencing susceptibility to complex diseases such as obesity/childhood obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, fatty liver disease (MAFLD), and other cardiometabolic risk factors in MAs; and the results have been presented at numerous international scientific meetings and more than 70 articles published in peer-reviewed high-impact journals and 7 book chapters/monographs. Dr. Arya’s responsibilities include research, teaching, service and development of programs to teach and train students in public health genetics and genomics and community health at TAMUSA and conduct behavioral and/or medical intervention studies through community engagement to identify social determinants of health and disease for prevention, management, and care and to improve community health including those individuals who are at high risk for such diseases.

Employment

• The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Assistant Professor
  2014 - 2022
• The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Assistant Professor
  2010 - 2014
• The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Assistant Professor
  2004 - 2010
• Texas A&M University – San Antonio Associate Professor
  1922 - Present

Education

• University of Kansas Ph.D
  1991 - 1999

Projects & Funding

Projects & funding information is unavailable.

Publications (2)

• Chapter 12: Mapping of susceptibility genes for obesity, type 2 diabetes, and the metabolic syndrome in human populations.
  2015
  +Save
• Food, dietary intake and feeding practices in urban slums of Visakhapatnam.
  The Indian Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics 1987
  +Save