Education – Professional Preparation:
2007 Postdoctoral Fellow in Neuroscience University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus
2006 Postdoctoral Fellow in Developmental Biology University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
2002 Ph.D. Degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Purdue University
1996 Bachelor’s Degree in Biology University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus
Academic experience
Teaching Assistant, Department of Biochemistry at Purdue University, Jan. 1999 – May 1999.
Instructor of a Cell Biology course in the Department of Biology at UPR-Humacao, Jan. 2007 – May 2007.
Assistant Professor of General, Developmental, and Cell Biology courses in the Department of Biology at UPR-Humacao, Aug. 2007 – June 2012.
Associate Professor of General, Developmental, and Cell Biology courses in the Department of Biology at UPR-Humacao, July 2012 – June 2016.
Professor of General, Developmental, and Cell Biology courses in the Department of Biology at UPR-Humacao, July 2016 – Present.
Languages:
English and Spanish
Service activities:
Member of our Departmental Seminars Committee, Aug. 2008 – Present.
Departmental nominee for the Institutional Grade Appeal Committee, Aug. 2009 – Present.
Member of UPRH Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, June 2013 – Present.
Emergency contact employee for the Biology Annex Building, March 2015 – Present.
Principal Investigator of a PR-INBRE Research Subaward from the National Institutes of Health, Sept. 2015 – Present.
Program Director of the MARC U-STAR (Maximizing Access to Research Careers Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research) Institutional Research Training Grant from the National Institutes of Health, June 2016 – Present.
Judge for poster presentations at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, Nov 2016.
Principal Investigator of a Puerto Rico Research Relief Grant by the Society for Developmental Biology, Nov. 2017 – Dec. 2018.
Professional development activities
Participant of a Grants Writing Workshop from the PR-INBRE NIH Program, Oct 2016.
Participant in a Workshop of Quantitative and Computational Biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Jan. 2017.
Nikon NIS Elements Imaging Visualization and Analysis Workshop at the UPR Neuroimaging and Electrophysiology Facility, Sept. 2018.
Scientific Teaching Workshop at UPR-Humacao, May 2019.
Workshop on the Grading System in the Moodle teaching digital platform, Oct 2019.
Publication and presentations:
Oral presentation: Expression Analysis of MUSA1 during the Development of the Amphibian Xenopus laevis, Universidad Del Este, RISE-NIH Program, Feb. 2016.
Oral presentation: Studies on the Expression and Function of MUSA1 during the Development of Xenopus leaves, UPR-Cayey, RISE-NIH Program, Jan. 2017.
Poster presentation: “MUSA1 depletion during Xenopus laevis development alters somite shape and structure”, 17th International Xenopus Conference, Aug. 2018.
Poster presentation: “MUSA1 depletion during Xenopus laevis development alters somite shape and structure”, Society for Developmental Biology 78th Annual Meeting, July 2019.
Poster presentations: “Phosphorylation of the Tumorhead Protein during Xenopus laevis Development”, and “The Role of MUSA1 during Somitogenesis in Xenopus laevis”, at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, Nov. 2019.
Certifications or professional registrations:
Society for Developmental Biology Annual Meeting, July 2016.
Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, Nov. 2016.
Program Director’s Meeting of the NIH Division of Training and Workforce Development, June 2017.
Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, Nov. 2017.
Society for Developmental Biology Annual Meeting, July 2018.
Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, Nov. 2018.
Society for Developmental Biology Annual Meeting, July 2019.
Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science Annual Meeting, Oct. 2019.
Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, Nov. 2019.
Current membership in professional organizations:
Society for Developmental Biology.
Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Honors and Awards:
Robert C. Bird Fellowship from the Department of Education of Puerto Rico, Aug. 1992.
Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) Scholarship from the National Institutes of Health, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, and Nov. 1994 – May 1996.
College Graduation Magna cum Laude, University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, June 1996.
Graduate Opportunities Fellowship from Purdue University, Aug. 1997 – July 2000.
Postdoctoral Appointment in a National Research Service Award Institutional Research Training Grant (T32) from the National Institutes of Health, Sept. 2002 – March 2004.
Ruth L. Kirschtein Postdoctoral Fellowship (F32) from the National Institutes of Health, April 2004 – Aug. 2005.
Reviewer for a Panel on Animal Developmental Systems within the Developmental Biology Cluster of the National Science Foundation, April 2011.
Faculty Travel Award to attend a Grants Writing Workshop at the University of Kentucky, May 2011.
Latin America/Caribbean Faculty Scholarship to attend the 17th International Congress of Developmental Biology, April 2013.
Faculty/Student Travel Awards from the Federation of Associations for Experimental Biology to attend the Annual Meeting of the Society for Developmental Biology, and the Xenopus International Conference, July – Aug. 2014.