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Jose A. Canseco

Biography

A first generation Mexican-American, José went to high school in Brownsville, Texas before moving to Houston to attend Rice. As a top student in the bioengineering department at Rice University, José Canseco aspired to become a surgeon. José's career goal was triggered during the summer of 2001, when he volunteered in the Emergency Center at the Texas Children's Hospital. There, he interacted with children with a wide range of illnesses, from those with simple rashes and broken arms to babies with leukemia. "I have always wanted to be a doctor of some sort," he notes, but his experiences at the emergency pediatric center made him realize that, for him, "there is nothing more worthwhile than getting a smile from a child because their body doesn't hurt any more."

In addition to his academic focus, José kept busy during his years in college, working in various capacities at Rice and nearby Baylor College of Medicine and staying engaged in extracurricular activities. During college, he worked as a research assistant for the Baylor College of Medicine and the Rice University Physics and Bioengineering Departments, a teaching assistant for the Rice Biology and Athletic Departments, and as a writing mentor and teaching assistant for The Cain Project in Engineering and Professional Communication at Rice.

José is now an MD/PhD student at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is part of the Harvard/M.I.T. Division of Health Sciences and Technology, and plans to pursue an academic career in sports orthopedic surgery and regenerative medicine research. Currently, José is completing the PhD part of his training at M.I.T. He is conducting research on the tissue engineering of anterior cruciate ligament and articular cartilage from adult stem cells to treat conditions ranging from ruptured ACL to degenerative arthritis.

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