NALA Profile

Personal Interest

Passions: Participating in the creative process of research, for understanding human biology, the discovery of druggable targets and the optimization of therapeutics for cancer and muscular dystrophies. I am passionate about sharing my knowledge and supporting other students interested in STEM. Message for undergraduates in STEM: There is no strict guide on how to succeed in your bachelor, graduate school or your career. My best advice is to follow your passion, accept challenges, understand your needs and seek resources that match those needs, and become the #1 fan of yourself. Recognize you are an important individual needed in the STEM community, and express your desire to stay part of it. Because PR-LSAMP was such a key opportunity that guided me to discover my fit in STEM, I want to contribute to the LSAMP Alumni group: by supporting activities to ensure that the mission of LSAMP is continued, and to help other students in any way I can.

Mentoring Interest

Alumni Recruitment, Attend Conferences, Mentor Students

Areas of Expertise

Public Speaking, Leadership Skills, Research Posters, Research Presentation

Past Research

Rotation experiences at my graduate school: 1. Dr. Rebecca Berdeaux laboratory: studied activation of muscle stem cells after injury, and the relevance of a specific biochemical pathway 2. Dr. Balveen Kaur laboratory: studying oncolytic viruses anti-tumor responses, for treatment of glioblastoma 3. TBD (Undergraduate Research) Dr. Ingrid Montes Organic Synthesis and Chemical Education Laboratory at University of Puerto Rico - Río Piedras campus: "Effect of counterions on the biological activity of ferrocenyl chalcone salt derivatives" (Summer Internship) Dr. Gary Ostroff laboratory at UMass Medical School Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences: "Chemical derivatization of glucan particles for enhanced delivery across the intestinal epithelium"" (Summer Internship) Emulate, Inc.: biotechnology company working on organs-on-chips. Contributed to skin project evaluating topical formulations degradation.

Past Clubs/Organizations

American Chemical Society National Society of Collegiate Scholars Golden Key International Honor Society Susan G. Komen Puerto Rico Millennium Fellowship - 2019 Cohort Station1 Frontier Fellowship - 2018 Cohort