About

Karina Gutiérrez García is an Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona, starting her position in 2026. Her research focuses on how bacterial natural products influence communication, competition, and cooperation between microbes and their hosts. Using the Drosophila melanogaster gut microbiome as a model, she integrates genomics, molecular biology, chemistry, and bioinformatics to identify functionally relevant microbial molecules and understand their roles within complex communities. Her work aims to uncover the molecular basis of symbiosis by combining computational and experimental approaches to discover natural products that promote beneficial host-microbe interactions. Her academic background includes a Ph.D. in Biotechnology from the Center for Investigation and Advanced Studies (CINVESTAV) in Mexico City, completed in 2017, and a series of postdoctoral fellowships at Carnegie Science (2019-2025) and the National Laboratory for the Genomics of Biodiversity-LANGEBIO in Irapuato, Mexico (2017-2019). She holds a master's degree in Applied Biotechnology from the National Polytechnical Institute-CIBA and a bachelor's degree in Biology from the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes. Recognized for her emerging contributions to the field, she received the Paul T. Englund Emerging Scholar Award for 2024-2025.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Surgery
• Emergency medicine
• Internal medicine
• Medical emergency
• Physical therapy
• Pediatrics
• Oncology
• Biology

Selected publications

• Age and Sex Comparisons in Pediatric Track and Field Hurdle Injuries Seen in Emergency Departments of the US

  Sports · 2023 · 5 citations

  • Medicine
  • Pediatrics
  • Emergency medicine

  = 0.034). The most common injury mechanism was apparatus-related, with no differences based on age or sex. Injury types and injured body parts differed depending on age and sex in pediatric hurdle injuries seen in emergency departments. These findings may be helpful for injury prevention and medical care for pediatric hurdlers.

  DOI

• Impacts of Neighborhood Characteristics and Surgical Treatment Disparities on Overall Mortality in Stage I Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients

  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · 2022 · 8 citations

  • Medicine
  • Oncology
  • Internal medicine

  Racial/ethnic minority groups in the United States have high renal cell carcinoma (RCC) mortality rates. This study assessed surgical treatment disparities across racial/ethnic groups and impacts of neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics on surgical treatments and overall mortality. Stage I RCC patients diagnosed between 2004 and 2016 from National Cancer Database were included (n = 238,141). We assessed differences in associations between race/ethnicity and treatment patterns using logistic regression and between race/ethnicity and overall mortality using Cox regression with and without neighborhood characteristics in the regression models. When compared to non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs), American Indians/Alaska Natives and non-Hispanic Blacks (NHBs) were more likely not to receive surgical care and all racial/ethnic minority groups had significantly increased odds of undergoing radical rather than partial nephrectomy, even after adjusting for neighborhood characteristics. Including surgical treatment and neighborhood factors in the models slightly attenuated the association, but NHBs had a significantly increased risk of overall mortality. NHBs who underwent radical nephrectomy had an increased risk of mortality (HR 1.15, 95% CI: 1.08-1.23), but not for NHBs who underwent partial nephrectomy (HR 0.92, 95% CI: 0.84-1.02). Neighborhood factors were associated with surgical treatment patterns and overall mortality in both NHBs and NHWs. Neighborhood socioeconomic factors may only partly explain RCC disparities.

  DOI

• Pediatric hurdle-related acute injuries in track and field presenting to US emergency departments: descriptive epidemiology study

  The Physician and Sportsmedicine · 2022 · 5 citations

  • Medicine
  • Physical therapy
  • Emergency medicine

  BACKGROUND: Hurdling is a track event that is unique due to a combination of running and jumping over an apparatus. Since hurdling requires a special skillset with sprinting and jumping, athletes are at risk for various musculoskeletal injuries. However, there has been a paucity of studies describing the epidemiology of pediatric hurdle injuries. PURPOSE: To examine hurdle-related injury types, injured body parts, injury mechanisms, and injury settings in children and adolescents. METHODS: Descriptive epidemiology study. Data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, which represents emergency room visits, was retrospectively reviewed. Injury data involving hurdle injuries was searched during a 10-year period (2008-2017) with hurdlers 18 years old and younger. Injuries were classified based upon injury types, body parts, injury mechanisms, and injury settings. Descriptive statistics were used including mean ± standard deviation, frequency (N), and percentages (%). RESULTS: A total of 749 hurdle-related injuries were found from 333 males (44.5%) and 416 females (55.5%). The top three injury types were fracture (N = 218, 29.1%), joint sprain (N = 191, 25.5%), and contusion/hematoma/bruise (N = 78, 10.4%). The top three injured body parts were ankle (N = 140, 18.7%), knee (N = 120, 16.0%), and wrist (N = 69, 9.2%). The most common injury mechanisms were apparatus-related trips, falls, and landings (N = 594, 79.0%). Finally, injury settings consisted of track and field practices (N = 469, 62.6%), track and field meets (N = 96, 12.8%), and other settings including gym, physical education class, recess, school activities, and camps (N = 49, 6.5%). CONCLUSION: In pediatric hurdle athletes, the most prevalent injury type seen in the emergency room was fracture. Although most hurdle-related injuries occur in the lower extremity, wrist injuries were the third most commonly injured body location. The most common injury mechanism was apparatus-related trip, fall, and landing, and injuries most commonly occurred during track practices. In pediatric hurdle athletes seen in the emergency room, majority of injuries consisted of traumatic fractures and joint sprains at ankle, knee, and wrist, which frequently occurred with apparatus-related trip, fall, and landing mechanisms during track and field practices.

  DOI

Frequent coauthors

• Dai Sugimoto

  Waseda University

  6 shared

• Jacob C. Jones

  Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children

  6 shared

• Pranav Sharma

  5 shared

• Shane M. Miller

  Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children

  4 shared

• Luke C. Radel

  Mayo Clinic in Arizona

  4 shared

• Nathan Lloyd

  University of Nevada, Las Vegas

  4 shared

• David Soma

  4 shared

• Juan Chipollini

  University of Arizona

  4 shared

Awards & honors

• Paul T. Englund Emerging Scholar Award (2024-2025)

Similar researchers at University of Arizona

• Jean-Luc Brédash-175
• Jeremy Garciah-129
• Noam Chomskyh-123
• Katia Cunhah-115
• Lisa M Rimszah-99