Dr. Esquivel's role in research is to bring clinical problems to the laboratory to find answers, which in turn, will improve patient care. Thus, his role is translational research in the field of liver and small bowel transplantation. As a senior clinical scientist, he provides leadership over many research projects conducted in the Division of Abdominal Transplantation laboratories. Dr. Esquivel has ensembled an outstanding research team lead by Olivia Martinez, Ph.D. and Sheri Krams, Ph.D. The investigators include undergraduate and post-graduate students, medical students, surgery residents and transplant fellows.

Research projects involve several models of transplantation of the liver, kidney, intestinal and heart transplantation in rodents. The goals of these research projects are to understand the molecular mechanisms of rejection and by manipulating those mechanisms, Dr. Esquivel's group is pursuing full acceptance of the transplanted organs, known as tolerance.