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CBC ALUMNI MAGAZINE
ALUMNI NEWS MORE I came to the University of Arizona in 2013, initially planning to go the pre-pharmacy route and apply to pharmacy school. Along the way, I discovered my passion for Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology. I had no idea how much CBC would help to identify my interests and shape my future. I joined Dr. Roger Miesfeld’s research lab my junior year, and had the most fulfilling research experience I could have imagined. As a result of my amazing experiences through CBC, I realized that graduate school was the right path for me, and applied to PhD programs across the country. It was through my CBC coursework that I identified my interests in a broad spectrum of biochemical and molecular topics. Specifically, I find myself drawn to many research labs that address the topics discussed in Nucleic Acids (BIOC 466) with Dr. Nancy Horton. Without this coursework, I would not be prepared for my upcoming coursework and possible labs to join. I started my first rotation Summer 2017 at the University of Michigan through the Program in Biomedical Sciences. I spent my summer rotation in a lab studying telomeres, and have rotations lined up in labs that study Wnt signaling and long noncoding RNAs, to name a few. If not for the research experiences and classwork that I completed through CBC, I would not be nearly as well prepared for my future as a rotation student and PhD candidate. I cannot thank CBC enough for the amazing advising, academics, professors, and experiences I’ve had. Thank you, CBC!
Gloria Le – BS Biochemistry and BS MCB, 2017
Destinee Ogas – BA Biochemistry, 2017
Involvement in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department has been one of the best decisions I made for my academic career! The degree program gave me a competitive edge while looking for employment here in Tucson. My CV overflowed with leadership, research, and volunteer experience. Since graduation, I received an internship at Icagen for a month, followed by a career opportunity with Ventana Medical Systems in June 2017. I will be performing research on their newest system, the HE-600 with another fellow CBC’er who graduated in 2016! Alumni from this department are everywhere, and I look forward to meeting many more in the future. Elise Muñoz
Elise Muñoz – BS Biochemistry and BS MCB, 2017
I was born a Wildcat. I started going to UA basketball games with my grandparents before I could even walk and grew up listening to countless stories of my parent’s glory days as UA students. I grew up in Nogales, AZ, not too far from Tucson, and still remember all the fieldtrips we took as elementary school students to visit the UA. I think I always knew deep down that I would end up a Wildcat, but in high school I played around with some other ideas. I – like many high schoolers – wanted to go out-of-state for college and try something new. At the time, I didn’t see the UA for all that it could be, simply because it was in my backyard. Looking back at it now, I am so fortunate and overjoyed that I didn’t get my way as a high school senior. I ended up going to the UA and have never once regretted it. Although I may have been confused about where I wanted to go to school growing up, I never doubted that I would pursue a degree in science and the UA played a major role in that as well. As a junior in high school, I had the opportunity to participate in the Keep Engaging Youth in Science (KEYS) research program at the U of A, where for the first time in my life I was able to do hands-on “real” science. After working in the lab for a summer, I decided there and then that I had found something I wanted to pursue – scientific research. In high school, I loved chemistry and my chemistry teacher, Mrs. Valenzuela. She played the biggest role in my decision to pursue a degree in Biochemistry. I honestly had no clue what biochemistry was as a high school senior, but she convinced me
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to give it a try. She was right. I loved it! Over my four years at the UA, I also realized some other interests and pursued majors in Applied Mathematics and Molecular and Cellular Biology as well. With the help of the CBC advising office, I had the opportunity to work in a number of research labs at the UA as I pursued my interest in research. Three out of my four years as a student were spent in the lab of Dr. Daniela Zarnescu focused on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Those years were so influential to my desire to be a scientific researcher and I owe a lot to the motivational people I had the opportunity to work with. The UA opened so many doors for me and I have so many amazing mentors to thank for that. I not only had the opportunity to do all the science I wanted to do, but I also enjoyed so many other things as a UA student. I had my Zonazoo pass every year and missed a total of maybe three basketball games in four years. I participated in an amazing student-run club called Camp Wildcat where I was able to be a camp counselor for Tucson’s youth and meet some of my best lifelong friends. I found all the free food on campus and took advantage of all the perks of being a UA student. I really don’t feel like my time at the UA is over yet, as I only graduated a few months ago. I took some time off of science this summer and took some trips with my friends, explored Yosemite National Park, and backpacked for seven days across Zion National Park. Just a week ago, I moved to San Francisco where I will be pursuing my PhD at the University of California –San Francisco through the TETRAD program – an umbrella biochemistry and cell biology program. For now, I am still just getting situated in a new city and coming to terms with the fact that I am not returning to the UA this year. I am excited and equally nervous for this next chapter of my life, but I am so happy that my previous chapter was spent as a UA Wildcat! Beardown!
Lauren Koch – BS Biochemistry and BS MCB, 2017
Lauren Koch
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY | FALL 2017
Destinee Ogas
I moved to the Big Island of Hawaii and started Pharmacy School at The Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.
David Renner – BS Biochemistry and BS MCB, 2017
The CBC Department at the University of Arizona quickly took me in and made me feel at home after I switched my major from Engineering to Biochemistry and MCB. The advising staff made the transition easy and clearly laid out the new path I needed to take to graduate in four years, helping me each year thereafter. After graduating from the University of Arizona I quickly obtained a Research Technician position in Dr. Timothy Bolger’s lab in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Genetics, in which I completed my senior thesis. I have since contributed to a publication and plan on contributing to more and continuing my research. Next, I want to apply to graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. in Biochemistry. My future career goals are to perform research for commercial firms involved in drug discovery or development. I hope to contribute to molecular and cellular based medicines and to use the knowledge and confidence I have gained from the UA to further science.
David Renner
Dagoberto Robles
Dagoberto Robles – BS Biochemistry and BS MCB, 2017
I am currently obtaining my Master’s in Public Health at The University of Arizona. I plan to continue my studies in hopes of entering medical school in the future. As a student of Epidemiology, my current interests lay in the spread of chronic diseases such as chronic pain and type 2 diabetes. I am also working at research lab that studies chronic pain through the UA Department of Pharmacology. I plan to use my background in science and my current studies in public health to become a well-rounded doctor in the future.
Skyler Smith – BS Biochemistry and BS MCB, 2017
In an odd turn of events, I found myself graduating from the University of Arizona in the summer of 2017, nearly 4 hours from Flagstaff where I first started my undergrad. I had dropped everything and transferred to the UA at the end of my sophomore
Skyler Smith