| Newsletter
- Fall 2004
Student Profile:
Dania Alarcon-Vargus, PhD
Nearly a decade has passed since I last ran between lectures and the research lab at Barry, and although my physical location has changed, the drive to learn, explore, and teach science has not.
The importance and promise of scientific research was first presented to me through participation in the MBRS program at Barry. The MBRS program exposed me to a number of scientific venues that I otherwise would not have encountered. Among the many benefits of the program, I was able to perform research on a focused topic. My mentors, Dr. Elizabeth Hays and Dr. Laura Mudd, taught me the importance of seeing strong female leaders taking part in the sciences, while successfully balancing career with family life. Overall, participation in the MBRS program helped me to develop better communication skills, time management skills, and a sense of professionalism and dedication that has been instrumental in my scientific career thus far.
During my sophomore year in 1992, I worked with Dr. Elizabeth Hays analyzing the role of specific drugs on skeletal muscle energy depletion. Subsequently, I worked in the neurobiology lab of Dr. Laura Mudd exploring the therapeutic potential of growth factors in promoting neuronal survival. As part of a summer research internship, I worked in the lab of Dr. Luis Belardinelli in the Pharmacology Department of the University of Florida. During this time, I established an alternate model system to study G protein function.
Participation in the MBRS program afforded me the opportunity to attend scientific meetings twice a year as well as interesting seminars and workshops dealing with a variety of areas of study in Biology. Presentation at scientific meetings helped prepare us to analyze and communicate our scientific data, in posters as well as talks. It also exposed us to other minority role models actively taking part in scientific research.
After graduating from Barry in May 1995 with a B.S. in Biology (cum laude), I worked in the lab of Dr. Wilma Friedman in the Pathology Department of Columbia University. As part of the Alzheimer’s disease unit, we pursued combinatorial growth factor therapy in promoting neuronal survival. During this time, I applied to graduate programs and decided to attend Mount Sinai Graduate School of Biological Sciences.
As a graduate student in the lab of Dr. Ze’ev Ronai in the Ruttenberg Cancer Center of Mount Sinai, I was involved in analyzing the activity of tumor suppressors and oncogenes in the transformation of cells. During my time as a graduate student, I had my daughter, Maya Nicole Vargas, with my husband Jesus who was also a graduate student at the time. I was supported by a pre-doctoral NRSA grant, and completed projects leading to the publication of six first-author publications and one co-author publication. Balancing family life with completion of our Ph.D. projects was challenging, but it was a feat I feel I had been prepared for because of the excellent role models I had encountered throughout my life…both within my family (my mother, sister, and grandmother) as well as my mentors at Barry in the MBRS program. I graduated in November 2003.
I am currently in a postdoctoral fellowship in the lab of Dr. Ganjam Kalpana at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine investigating the role of cyclin D1 in rhabdoid tumorigenesis. I am also a teaching assistant, Adjunct Assistant Medical Professor, for the “Molecules to Cells” course taught to medical students of City College of New York. In this capacity, I lead small group discussions to expand on a variety of lecture topics covered throughout the semester. This teaching opportunity and various science conferences and day-to-day lab encounters have allowed me to become a role model to minority women and to help them realize that it is entirely possible to have a fruitful career and a happy, healthy family as well.
Dania Alarcon-Vargus with her husband Jesus and daughter, Maya Nicole |
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