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Leyda Lugo is a Ph.D. candidate in
Analytical Chemistry at North Carolina
State University working under the
mentorship of Dr. L.Sombers. She
graduated from Pontifical Catholic
University of Puerto Rico in May 2008
with a BS in Chemistry. From 2006
until May 2008 she worked with Professor Margarita Rodriguez
under the PR-LSAMP Program. Leyda was awarded with the
NC-LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate Fellow from 2009-2011. She
was also selected to be a Neuroscience Scholar through the
Society for Neuroscience. In March 2011, she preside the
Neurochemistry Oral Session at Pittcon 2011. Leyda has served
as mentor for the Summer Research Internship Program for
Economically Disadvantaged High School Students. As graduate
student, she has been part of three peer review publications.
Mariam González graduated from Pontifical
Catholic University of Puerto Rico in May
2008 obtaining a BS in Chemistry. As
scholar of the PR-LSAMP Program she
worked in Dr. Lizette Santos laboratory. In
2007, she participated in the Summer
Research Opportunity Program (SROP) at
the University of Michigan. Currently, she is
an Immunology Ph.D. candidate at the
University of Michigan. She has been
awarded with several grants as the Molecular Mechanisms of
Microbial Pathogenesis Training Grant, the University of
Michigan Rackham Graduate Student Research Grant and the
Experimental Immunology Training Grant. As graduate student,
she has been part of several publications and has presented her
work in different scientific conferences, including the Annual ASV
Annual Conference and ASM Annual Meeting.
Dr.Randy Vázquez was a PR-LSAMP scholar
at Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico,
from where he graduated in 2003 with a BS in
Biology. As undergraduate he worked on cell
biology and his results were presented in
ABRCMS and NCUR. He graduated with a
Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences in 2010 from the
University of Arizona. At UA he was one of
the founding members of the Black Graduate
Students Association (BGSA-UA), VP/Co-Chair of the Latino/a
Association of Graduate Students in Engineering and Sciences
(LAGSES) and member of the Graduate and Professional
Student Council. Received the Initiative for Maximizing Student
Diversity (IMSD) for Ph.D.’s in Biomedical Science Award and a
two year American Heart Association Fellowship to work at the
University of Arizona Cancer Center.
Yolanda Rentas obtained a BS in
Environmental Sciences in 2007 and a MS
in Biotechnology in 2011 from Pontifical
Catholic University of PR. As an
undergraduate, she participated as a PR-
LSAMP scholar (2003-2007) and presented
her work in several scientific meetings
including NCUR, CUR Posters on the Hill
and BBB Biennial Convention. In 2006, she
received a Citigroup Foundation Grant for a Community Summer
Intern Program (CSIP) at “Centro Interpretativo de Las Salinas
(CILS), Cabo Rojo”. She identified butterfly fauna in the area in
order to establish a butterfly house at the CILS. She collaborated
with the educational program Seeds for the Environment and her
caricatures was used in a children’s book to illustrate
environmental conservation and protection.
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Janice Sotomayor obtained her BS degree in
General Sciences with a minor in Biology from
Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico in
May 2010. As a PR-LSAMP scholar, she
participated in the Bridge from Undergraduate
to Graduate and in Undergraduate Research
working with Dr. Lizette Santos-Santori and Dr.
Adalgisa Batista. She presented her results at
PRISM and ABRCMS. As freshman student,
Janice was accepted in the NIST SURF
Program to work with Dr. N. Lin at the NIST in
Gaithersburg, MD. She also participated in Rutgers/UMDNJ SURP
Program with Dr. T. Kinzy. In summer 2011, she participated in a
Summer Research Program in collaboration with the Lee Moffitt
Comprehensive Cancer Center. Currently, she is a second year
medical student at Ponce School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Marta González is an Immunology Ph.D.
candidate at University of Michigan, Ann Harbor.
In 2005, she graduated from Pontifical Catholic
University of Puerto Rico obtaining a BS in
Chemistry with a minor in Biology. Marta got
her interested in research during her high
schools years when she had the opportunity to
work as a volunteer in doctor Quirk’s laboratory
at PSM. As graduate student, she has been
granted with several awards including the NIH
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service
Awards for Individual Predoctoral Fellowships to Promote Diversity
in Health-Related Research; MMMP Training Grant; NSF Graduate
Research Fellowship Honorable Mention and the Rackham Merit
Fellowship. Marta has being co-author of two publications and has
presented her work at scientific conferences as the 18 th Conference
on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.
Beatriz Pagán earned a BS in Biology from
Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico in
2005, where she was part of MARC and PR-
LSAMP programs. After graduating, Beatriz
participated in a summer research internship at
Northwestern University in the Physiology and
Neuroscience Department. As graduate
student, Beatriz was Vice-president of the
Graduated Student Association and member of
the MBRS-RISE Internal Advisory Committee. She has two
published papers, and three published abstracts. Received two
travel awards from APS/NIDDK to present her work at scientific
conferences and two minority scholar awards from the American
Association for Cancer Research. In 2011, Beatriz graduated from
Ponce School of Medicine with a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences.
Brenda J. Ramos Santana is a PHD candidate of
the Applied Chemistry, Biophysics Program at UPR,
Mayaguez. Her BS (1999) and MS (2003) degrees
are also in Chemistry. She has received awards like
the ACS Presidential Award Chemistry Ambassador
in 2010; the Central New York to Puerto Rico
Alliance for the Graduate Education and the
Professoriate (CNY-PR AGEP) Fellowship 2004-
2006 and the PR-LSAMP Academic Excellence Prize, UPR
Mayaguez in 1997. Brenda´s passion for science started in her high
school years during her Science Fair experiences. She was further
motivated to pursue a career in science by her undergraduate
research and internship experiences. Brenda participated in PR-
LSAMP´s programs as an undergraduate and does it today as a
professor at UPR Aguadilla where she has been working since
2005.