Prof. Manuela Martins-Green is a Professor of Cell Biology in the Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology at the University of California, Riverside. She came to the USA from Portugal on a Fulbright Fellowship and received her Ph.D. in Zoology with an emphasis in Developmental Biology from the UCD in December 1987. She then held a postdoctoral fellowship at the LBNL and NRSA and was an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Rockefeller University before joining the UC Riverside faculty in 1993 till present. She is an internationally known researcher in the field of response to injury (including injury caused by tobacco toxins), wound healing, and tissue engineering and pioneered the role of chemokines in wound healing and angiogenesis. Dr. Martins-Green has made pioneering contributions to our understanding of the role of chemokines, particularly IL-8, and their receptors in the healing process. Her lab was among the first to demonstrate the critical involvement of chemokine signaling in inflammation resolution, angiogenesis, and granulation tissue formation. Her team developed a unique transgenic humanized mouse model in which human CXCR1 is expressed in all tissues but can be activated in a given tissue by crossing with specific Cre mice. These mice now have both CXCR1 and CXCR2 receptors and can therefore be used to study all of the effects of human IL-8 in vivo, a critical leap forward, given that mice lack a functional homolog of CXCR1 receptor. This model closes a major species gap, allowing for more accurate simulation of human inflammatory and repair processes, and serves as a powerful platform for preclinical testing of targeted therapies for chronic wounds. Her work has laid the foundation for targeted therapies that modulate inflammatory and fibrotic responses, with implications for chronic wounds, fibrotic disease, and cancer. Prof. Martins-Green's research is funded by NIH (NCI, NIGMS, NIAID), AHA, and TRDRP, and she serves on review panels for NIH, DOD, and AHA. As a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and a former Fulbright Scholar from Portugal, she brings both scientific excellence and an international perspective to collaborative research. Prof. Martins-Green’s research has been consistently funded by leading agencies such as the NIH (NCI, NIGMS, NIAID), AHA, and TRDRP, and she has served on peer review panels for NIH, DOD, and AHA. As a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and a former Fulbright Scholar from Portugal, she brings both cutting-edge innovation and an international collaborative perspective to multidisciplinary projects. Her lab’s current focus on the cellular and molecular drivers of wound chronicity directly supports translational efforts in smart wound care and personalized therapies.