Niketa A. Patel, PhD, FNAI, is a Professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine at the Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida (USF), and a Research Career Scientist (RCS) at James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital. Dr. Patel has established a robust program in translational research that integrates human studies - utilizing biological samples from participating Veterans and epidemiological studies - with biomarker discovery, pre-clinical elucidation of molecular mechanisms, and targeted drug discovery and validation, all aimed at advancing personalized medicine. Her lab is a pioneer in designing and validating RNA-targeting therapeutics for metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases. Her team extensively works with human adipose-derived stem cells to characterize the genomic landscape in diabetes and obesity. Dr. Patel's research was pivotal in demonstrating that adipose stem cells niche is altered in obesity, significantly contributing to the onset of metabolic diseases associated with obesity. Extending their research to the secretome of human adipose stem cells (hASC), her group showed that exosomes - nanovesicles secreted by hASC - act as a cell-free therapeutic driving regenerative and repair processes in traumatic brain injury and dermal wounds. She currently holds 13 USPTO patents, including ten parent/priority patents representing groundbreaking innovations in the field. Over the years, she has worked across disciplines to innovate and promote technologies developed at USF and the VA hospital, with the goal of transferring them to communities both locally and nationwide. She has successfully trained Veterans to pursue careers in science and continues to mentor clinicians, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate and undergraduate students from USF, guiding the next generation of scientists and innovators.