University of Puerto Rico,
Rio Piedras Campus
viviannamas@hotmail.com
I am a senior student majoring in Integrative Biology at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. I will graduate in May and complete my bachelor’s degree. My goal is to study Pharmacy at the University of Puerto Rico, and pursue my dreams of being a Pharmacist.
Every scientist should have research experience. I like research because we have the opportunity to explore, to continue learning. To continue expanding my horizons I became an undergraduate research student with Dr. Braulio Jiménez-Vélez at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Science Campus. Currently I am working on the concentration of heavy metals in neonates. Toxicology study is important since it is the study of adverse reaction of chemicals in organisms. When I got the opportunity to research at Dr. Jiménez laboratory I was eager to start expanding my knowledge in this field. For my goal of becoming a Pharmacist it is important to know about Toxicology, and the adverse effects of different drugs.
My first research experience was at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus with Dr. Martine Behra. Our study was in the Genetics field, our main focus was the regeneration in a sensory epithelium in the zebrafish. The latter research experience was at San Jose State University with Dr. Miri VanHoven. In this study we used the animal model C. elegans to understand synaptic partner recognition, our main focus was genetics and neuroscience.