Hispanic Heritage Month is nationally observed every year from September 15 to October 15 to celebrate the background, culture, and contributions of those with Hispanic identities. It was traditionally honored starting on September 15th to commemorate the independence of multiple Latin American countries. As Hispanic Heritage Month has recently wrapped up for this year, UCI ReachOut TeachOut would like to honor and spotlight some of the amazing Hispanic graduate students and faculty in STEM at UCI! Please join us in learning about and celebrating their culture and accomplishments as Hispanic scholars in STEM.
Growing up in Puerto Rico, an island with limited resources, Gimarie had to be focused and determined to achieve her goals. She wanted to overcome her circumstances and serve as an example to her community. She has been involved in community outreach, advocacy, and volunteer mentorship through non-profit organizations, such as the Puerto Rico Huntington’s Disease Foundation. Her current research interests are cognitive functions in neuropsychiatric disorders. She hopes to encourage other underrepresented minorities to pursue STEM higher education. Gimarie is currently a 1st year PhD student in the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Prorgam (INP) at UCI.
Erica is Mexican/American- a dual citizen of both countries. Her dad was Chicano from Los Angeles and her mom is Mayan from Yucatán, Mexico, and both supported her to pursue an academic career in sciences. In high school, she felt supported in her Latinx neighborhood, but as she entered college she felt she didn’t have that same support system. She struggled with classes and felt the impact of underrepresentation of Latinx in the field: She noted that she was never taught by a Latinx STEM professor at UCLA and had very few Latinx classmates. She also struggled with imposter syndrome and was dismissed for poor academic performance. Against her school counselors’ advice to give up on her STEM career, she decided to break these barriers and pursue her dream of becoming the STEM professor she never had. She got back into UCLA and found a lab to do a work-study position where she found a community and the inspiration to keep going. She graduated with her BS in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology in 2019. Erica is now a 2nd year PhD student in the Neurobiology & Behavior department at UCI, working in Dr. Steve Mahler’s lab to study social neuroscience and decision making in the context of drug addiction. She hopes this work gives back to the underserved communities that she is a part of.
As a first generation student, Ashley had no idea what research was or what it entailed. However, after being exposed to it, she grew to love it and is now dedicating her career to it! Ashley is currently a 2nd year PhD student in the department of Biomedical Engineering. Her project focuses on elucidating cancer stemness through the cooperation of the focal adhesions and cellular metabolism.
Dr. Wood was born in Santiago, Chile, and fled Chile with his parents at a young age. After moving around several times, he was raised in Boulder, CO. He completed his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where he researched polio virus using yeast genetics. He then completed his graduate degree at Princeton, studying the molecular biology of cancer, and did his post-doc at UPenn. Throughout his STEM career journey as a Chilean native, he was faced with having to navigate the American education system, working to financially support himself through college, battling imposter syndrome, realizing the underrepresentation of Hispanic scholars within the field, and even experiencing direct racism. Dr. Wood was able to overcome these all of these challenges and started his lab at UCI in 2006. He is currently a Professor and Chair of the Neurobiology & Behavior department. His lab’s research focuses on the epigenetic and molecular mechanisms of long term memory in the context of addiction, aging, and neurodegenerative disease.