Michelle Juarez

SD-IRACDA Fellow, Cell and Developmental Biology
University of California, San Diego


Hello! My name is Michelle Juarez. I was born and raised in city of Los Angeles, within sight of Dodger Stadium. I completed my B.S. in 1998 at the University of California. Berkeley. In an effort to experience life beyond the great state of California, I attended graduate school at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. My dissertation research was done at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory with Dr. Marja Timmermans. After defending my thesis in the summer 2004, I escaped the winter weather of New York and returned to California to begin a postdoc with Dr. William McGinnis at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). In addition to my research, I have become very active in undergraduate teaching, postdoctoral advocacy, and science outreach. I have completed a “teaching postdoc” in the San Diego – IRACDA program, lecturing at San Diego State University. I have become involved in local, regional, and national postdoc organizations through working with the UCSD – Postdoctoral Scholars Association, the University of California – Council of Postdoctoral Scholars, and the National Postdoctoral Association. One of my favorite activities has always been science outreach. As an undergraduate at Berkeley I never had the opportunity to benefit from outreach programs. Then as a graduate student I was supported by an AGEP program and discovered the wealth of resources available to students. Since becoming a postdoc I have taken an active role in the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) promoting undergraduate science achievement, encouraging graduate student to complete their degrees, and highlighting the many needs of postdocs as they progress toward future science careers and their important roles in leading the future of science. I enjoy meeting new people and sharing my experiences with them, hoping to help them succeed on their path!

Click here to edit your profile