Practical science for a stubborn problem: infection.

Dr. Garcia is a translational pharmacologist and microbiologist. For more than a decade, his laboratory at Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital has developed antibiotic-independent ways to prevent infection in orthopedic surgery, work built around a silver carboxylate titanium-dioxide coating that reduces how bacteria adhere to implant materials such as PEEK, spinal rods, and titanium.

A second line of his work makes infection easier to see. His team built rapid, antibody-based visualization assays that detect bacteria and biofilm on surgical hardware, tissue, and synovial fluid, giving clinicians a faster read at the point where infection threatens recovery.

The through-line is practical. Get patients better answers, and better tools, against bacteria that grow more resistant to antibiotics every year. That work is reflected in an issued United States patent, an international patent application, and a further provisional filing.