Lab Members

Yan completed her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at University of Minnesota and M.S. in Microbiology at Arizona State University. She is interested in the mechanistic links between microbiome and IBD. In the lab, Yan runs experiments, performs data analysis, manages inventory, and maintains lab equipment. Outside of work, she enjoys rock climbing, reading, and doing jigsaw puzzles.

Mayra received her B.S. in Biology and Biotechnology Specialization at the National School of Biological Sciences of the National Polytechnic Institute, Mexico. Mayra is the research coordinator for the DAIN study in collaboration with the University of Puerto Rico. 

"My career as a scientist has been shaped by my strong desire to understand how systems, the world, and the universe work. It is very interesting to me to understand how microbial colonization starts in the gut as an infant and how external factors such as nutrition and habits are related to the increasing number of diseases, syndromes, and functional aberrations. I am currently coordinating the Dieta Antiinflatoria  (DAIN) study for patients with Crohn's disease in Puerto Rico. In my spare time, I enjoy reading poetry, and about history, arts, politics, and science. I love to watch movies and documentaries."

Camilla is a registered dietitian with 7 years of experience in dietetics and an expert on the IBD-AID. Camilla takes a holistic approach to health and sustainable behavior changes. Her interests include inflammatory bowel disease, digestive diseases, cardiovascular health, and weight management.

"As a RD, I am interested in nutritional epidemiology. Continuing our research with diet and the microbiome will assist in the development of nutritional guidelines for management of inflammatory bowel disease and other gastrointestinal disorders. The goal is to understand diet-disease relationships and use diet for chronic disease prevention. Outside of research, I love hiking, reading non-fiction, and yoga."

Daniela completed her B.S. in Biology at the Universidad de Los Andes, Venezuela, and her Ph.D y Microbiology at the University of Puerto Rico. Daniela is interested in understanding the balanced relationship between a host and its microbiomes and studying what happens when this equilibrium is disrupted by practices of our lifestyle. In the lab, she works with the data that just came out from a particular experiment or project. She first does the data cleaning and has it ready to process it. Then, she analyzes it and generates plots and tables that help interpret biological phenomena. Daniela discusses and proposes different approaches to how to process and treat the data to extract the most relevant information. In her free time, she loves dancing, climbing, and doing outdoor activities.