Omaida Velazquez, MD, is Professor and Chair, DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of medicine; Surgeon-in-Chief, University of Miami Health System and David Kimmelman Endowed Chair in Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, University of Miami. Dr. Velazquez is a nationally and internationally renowned surgeon-scientist, recognized within her field and the broader community of physician-scientists, as seen by her induction into the American Society for Clinical Investigators (ASCI). Her preclinical research centers on stem cells and angiogenesis, wound healing, atherosclerosis, critical limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) and limb salvage, all related to peripheral vascular disease (PVD) and vascular complications of Diabetes. She has continuous NIH funding for 20 years. Her discoveries yielded several patents with great translational potential and discovered mechanisms for homing and pro-repair functions of stem cells in post-natal revascularization of ischemic tissue. Dr. Velazquez obtained her B.S. from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1987 and obtained an M.D. degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School. She completed her post-graduate training in General and Vascular Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. Throughout her illustrious career to-date, she has remained double-certified by the American Board of Surgery in both General Surgery and Vascular/Endovascular Surgery.