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Camille Garcia Ramos earned a BS degree in
Applied Physics at the University of Puerto Rico-
Humacao Campus (UPR-H) in 2010. As an
undergrad, she was an NIH-RISE Fellow
working on biomedicine-related research; where
she was able to publish her results in several
journals. During summer 2009 she conducted
research in the area of nuclear physics at the
University of Notre Dame, Indiana. She presented her
intramural research results in different biomedical conferences
at USA (Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority
Participation) and also at several conferences at Puerto Rico.
On August 2010 she was accepted in the PhD program in
Physical Chemistry at UPR-Rio Piedras and was awarded a
PR-LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate Fellow Cohort VIII
Fellowship. Currently she is completing an internship at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison in the area of Medical Physics.
Giselle Flores-Achieved her B.S. in
chemistry at the University of Puerto Rico
in 2005. She is currently a graduate
student the UPR-Rio Piedras as a Ph.D.
candidate. Her research is focused on
developing solid-state formulations of
pharmaceutical relevant proteins to
encounter the mechanism by which these aggregate and unfold.
These research have produced two papers; one published in the
J. of Pharmacy and Pharmacology and the other in BMC
Biotechnology, along with various poster and oral
presentations in national and international venues. She
envisions herself working for the pharmaceutical industry in one
of the R&D teams, developing and enhancing new drugs to
enhance patients’ lives. Giselle is a former PR-LSAMP Bridge to
the Doctorate Fellow Cohort III.
Edwin O. Ortiz-Quiles completed his BS in
Chemistry at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio
Piedras Campus (UPR-RP) in 2009. He
participated in the PR-LSAMP Mentored
Undergraduate Research Program under the
mentorship of Dr. Carlos Cabrera. He
conducted research in electrochemistry and
fuel cells. His work as graduate student began in 2009 in UPR-
RP in the biosensors area, were he completed a publication in
the Journal of Sensors (Vol. 2011, Article ID 735279, 6 pages,
2011. doi:10.1155/2011/735279). He has been awarded a
Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship Cohort VII in 2009. He
began his doctoral thesis project related to solar cells using
superficial and photo electrochemical techniques. Such work
has permitted local and national collaboration with effort
directed to improve the accessibility of solar energy systems
including outreach components.
Maria Ocasio obtained her BS in Coastal
Marine Biology in 2007 at UPR-Humacao.
During her undergraduate studies, she
participated of mentored undergraduate
research sponsored by PR-LSAMP. She
entered graduate school at UPR-Rio Piedras
pursuing a PhD in Marine Ecology and
received the Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship-Cohort VI in
2008. Her graduate studies are focused on the effect of natural
barriers and the presence of predatory fishes on the behavior,
morphology, survival and abundance of the amphidromous
shrimp Xiphocaris elongata. In 2010 María was awarded the
National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship
Program (GRFP). This fellowship is given to the most
competitive graduate students that have the knowledge and
skills to become excellent researchers in STEM fields.
Jaime R. Calzada, is a MS graduate student in the
Physics Department at the University of Puerto Rico,
Río Piedras Campus (UPR-RP). As an
undergraduate, he was active in research in the
nanoparticles field, specifically in the area of field
emission of nanostructures and nanocomposite
materials sponsored by NASA-Center for Advanced
Nanoscale Materials. His work was presented in
various Scientific Meetings sponsored by PR-LSAMP. In 2010 he
received his bachelor’s degree in Physics and began graduate
studies is the Physics Department at UPR-RP. Jaime was awarded
the PR-LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate
Fellowship Cohort VIII. His recent research is focused in Physical
Oceanography, particularly the theoretical modeling of interactions
between oceanic fluid dynamics and coastal erosion in the
Northeastern part of the Island of Puerto Rico
Shakira G. Quiñones-Lebrón graduated from
the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras
Campus (UPR-RP) with a B.S. in Biology in
2010. As an undergraduate, she was part of
the Puerto Rico Louis Stokes Alliance for
Minority Participation Mentored Undergraduate
Research Program where she did research
about how marine vessels noise affects dolphin
communication. She is now a second year graduate student in the
Biology MS program at UPR-RP and a Bridge to the Doctorate
Fellow Cohort VIII 2010. She is one of the few aspiring scientists
studying the ecology of marine mammals in Puerto Rico. Shakira
is also a member of the ARBIMON team, which is a group of
biology and computer scientists developing software for
automated species recognition.
Coral M. Capó-Vélez obtained her BS in Chemistry
from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras
campus (UPR-RP). As an undergraduate, she
participated in a Summer Internship at North Carolina
State University were she worked in Dr. Muddiman’s
laboratory in Analytical Chemistry and the results
from this research culminated in a publication in Rapid
Communications in Mass Spectrometry. At the UPR-RP, she
formed part of the Minority Access for Research Careers (MARC)
program where she presented her research in LSAMP PRISM.
Currently, she is a Doctoral Candidate from the Biology
Department at the UPR-RP and her research evaluates the effect
of the HIV-1 glycoprotein 120 on the central nervous system. As a
graduate student she has had the opportunity to present in several
local and international meetings, including the Puerto Rico
Interdisciplinary Scientific Meeting and she is a recipient of the
Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) fellowship.
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Damaris Suazo obtained her BS in Industrial
Chemistry from UPR Humacao in May 2005. She
was accepted to continue her graduate studies in
Analytical Chemistry at UPR Rio Piedras on August
2005. During her bachelor she had the opportunity
to conduct research in biochemistry sponsored by
the PR-LSAMP program under the mentoring of
Dr.Gabriel Barletta. This research experience encouraged
Damaris to apply to become part of the PR-LSAMP BD program
Cohort III. Damaris finish her MS in 2009 and continued to
complete a PhD at UPR-RP. She has completed several
internships at NASA research centers and collaborated with the
NASA-Center for Advanced Nanoscale Materials. In 2009 was
awarded the Jenkins Fellowship, the first one awarded in the
Puerto Rico jurisdiction.
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